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1903.] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. 25 the lake harbors have now over 20 ft. depth of water, and many have only 16 to Io ft. __ The locks are to be each 600 ft. long, 60 ft. wide and with lifts varying according to topographical conditions. The locks at the Niagara escarpment have a lift of 4o ft. each. Where flights of locks are used, the locks are in duplicate throughout. The lock-gates are to be steel double-leaf miter gates with horizontal girder frames, The annual cost of maintenance and operation of the water- way is estimated by the commission at $2,343,478, which, it may be parenthetically remarked, is not so very much more than the state of New York now pays to maintain the old Erie canal. The maximum annual traffic capacity is estimated at 36,608,000 tons, when all the locks are made in duplicate. The probable traffic is not likely to exceed 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 tons. It may be noted that the speed provided would make quicker passage for freight from Chicago or Duluth to New York than is now at- tained by railway freight in passing between these terminals. FAVORS THE 1,000-TON BARGE CANAL. _ Of course the views of the Engineering News in the fore- going article are at variance with those of very competent au- thorities, especially Maj. Thomas W. Symons. Mr. Gustav H. Schwab of New York also believes the Engineering News to be wrong in its conclusions. In a communication to the New York Tribune, he says that it is incontestably true that the lake- steamer could not compete in canal traffic with the cheap canal barge, as the cost of construction, as well as the cost of maintenance, of the lake steamer is far in excess of that of the canal barge or fleet of barges. He continues: "But there is another potent reason why the 21-ft. canal de- signed as a waterway for lake steamers from the western lake cities to New York would, in the opinion of those who have care- fully examined this question, not fulfill its purpose. At the pres- ent day the lake steamer, laden with grain from the upper lake ports, on reaching Buffalo discharges her cargo alongside and into a shore elevator, whence the grain is transferred to canal boats that proceed to New York and deliver their cargo alongside and into the ocean steamer through floating elevators. Should the lake steamer take the place of the canal barge and carry the grain through to New York, she could not transship her grain directly into an ocean steamer, as she could not go alongside the ocean steamer, owing to the conditions in New York harbor and for other reasons; but there would necessarily be an intermediate transfer from the lake steamer into a barge or boat, whence the grain would be conveyed to the ocean steamer, being pumped into her hold through a floating elevator. There would, therefore, be no gain whatever in a through shipment from the_western lake ports to New York, but, on the contrary, as transfer charges on grain in New York are considerably higher than in Buffalo, there would be an increased expense, raising the cost of the trans- portation charge on the grain. "Andrew Carnegie has made the following statement in this connection: 'It would never pay to run big ships from Buffalo to New York through any canal, not even a ship-canal. It is much cheaper to transfer from a 10,000-ton lake vessel to a 1,000- ton barge, and send it through the canal at low speed, to be un- loaded alongside into ocean-going ships, than to send ocean or lake vessels through the canal.' " Concerning the ability of the lake steamer to engage during the winter in ocean traffic, Mr. Schwab says: "Any one familiar with the construction of lake and ocean steamers respectively would not consider 'such winter use of lake steamers in ocean coastwise traffic practicable, and the under- writers would certainly not take any risks on such steamers. The insurance companies declare that the lake steamers of the present day are totally unfit for ocean navigation of any kind during the winter season. To secure the ability of the steamers to navigate the ocean, even in coastwise service, as well as the lakes, they would require to be of much heavier construction and of dif- ferent design, very materially enhancing their cost. I may say here that those familiar with ocean shipping entirely disagree with the views quoted in the deep waterways commission's re- port on this subject. However, there are other and far stronger reasons why this 21-ft. ship-canal proposition should not receive the countenance of the people of New York. The construction of such a canal, it is universally assumed, would be a subject to be undertaken by the national government, and this would neces- sarily involve the abandonment or the transfer of the Erie canal to the United States government. On this subject I cannot do better than quote from the remarks made by Hon. Abram S. Hewitt at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, Mar. 24, 1808, in opposition to a resolution which was introduced in the chamber permitting New York to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the canals to the United States. Mr. Hewitt on this occasion uttered the following solemn and em- ' phatic warning: : "When we transfer the Erie canal to the custody of the United States, it passes out of the control of its friends into the hands, possibly, of its enemies, and certainly into the hands of its rivals. Nothing that may be done in the way of construction of new routes to the gulf or to the Atlantic by the government of the United States or by other states, or by private enterprises, can, by any possibility, interfere with the ability of New York to take care of itself by the enlargement of the canal, if necessary, to a 1,500-ton barge capacity. That is our privilege; that is our right; that is our duty. When you turn this right and privilege and N duty over to congress, in what shape will it be found? The appropriation for the maintenance of the canal must be made in the river and harbor bill. If, by any possibility, the bill should fail for a single year, there would be no money to maintain the canal as a free highway. And more than that, if the proposition is made for congress to spend the money to enlarge the canal, or for its annual maintenance, you ask the gentlemen who, by your own confession, are profiting by the present condition of the canal, its insufficiency to do the work--you ask them to vote the money of the United States to build up the port of New York and to help the merchants and shipping of New York; and how much sympathy are you going to get from these rival cities on the gulf and on the Atlantic shore? Do you suppose they are going to spend the money of the United States to enable New York to do the work cheaper than they can? The result would be that the canal would not be maintained, even if it were once con- structed, which I am sure from my knowledge of national af- fairs will never be the fact; but, if it were constructed, it would very soon be abandoned, it would cease to be maintained, and we should be left without redress--without remedy of any kind whatever.' "The people of New York should carefully ponder these words of Mr. Hewitt. I for one believe that if this question is put before them with all the facts necessary for their judgment, | the people will in no uncertain tone decide against a national ship- canal and in favor of the 1,000-ton barge plan, which is the result of the most careful investigation and research on the part of competent engineers and business men during the last four years." LAKE MICHIGAN GRAIN SITUATION. In a letter to the correspondents around the lakes, P. H. Fleming & Co., vessel agents of Chicago, make the following summary of grain in store at Chicago, South Chicago and Milwaukee: Week of Same week. Mar. 14, 1903. in 1902. Wheat. 2. es PESeo oo 11,767,950 _ COM... cl aes C7 ag 7,004,610 Oats: oe a ee 2,279,508 Other graim 3° 4,223.) 1.1e0.000. 1,300,000 Total... -.. 4.4. 24,040,032 22,082,003 The Chicago agents estimate that there is now afloat 3,- 500,cco bu., compared with 2,680,c00 bu. on the same date a year ago. On Jan. 15 last, when there was practically no grain afloat, the stocks in elevators aggregated only 18,251,230 bu., so that there has been an increase in stocks of more than 6,000,000 bu. since the middle of January, not including the 3,500,c00 bu. afloat, which exceeds the grain afloat last year. The movement of wheat and oats has been normal, but open weather con-. ditions and car shortage have developed a peculiar and conges: ted condition in corn, relief from which is expected only in an early opening of navigation. 'It would seem that there should be a very heavy movement of corn in June, but predictions as to grain freights at this time, even with the expectation of a fait movement of grain from Lake Superior ports, would be hazard- ous in the absence of a settlement of ore-freight contracts and information as to the extent to which the lake fleet will be tied up by these contracts. A BIT OF EARLY LAKE SUPERIOR HISTORY. Mr. John G. Parker, one of the oldest residents of the upper peninsula of Michigan, writing to the Review says: : "T receive the Review every Saturday night and I take pleas- ure in reading it. I see a photo in the Review of Capt. George P. McKay. In the summer of 1846 his father sailed the schooner Napoleon. John Hellerand, mate, was landine freight in his yawl, only 5 ft. of water being in Ontonogan river. It came on to blow, the boat could not get back and the crew stayed with us on the Fur Trader, of which Capt. Ripley was master. I was mate of the Fur Trader. Capt. McKay let go anchor, stood off in the lake and hove to until the sea went down. His son, George, was cabin boy. When they came back they finished landing the freight." On the recommendation of Supt. Kimball of the life saving service, the secretary of the treasury has forwarded a gold life saving medal to Keeper George N. Gray of the life saving sta- tion at Charlotte, Lake Ontario, for "extreme and heroic daring in saving life from the perils of the sea." On Dec. 15, 1902, Gray, with his crew, in the face of extreme personal danger, effected the rescue of four men and one woman from the schooner John R. Noyes, which was wrecked twenty-three miles from the Charlotte station. Gray and his men were under oars constantly for fifteen hours, rowing about sixty miles in an open boct and in a heavy winter sea. This rescue is regarded by Supt. Kimball as one of the most remarkable in the history of the service. Mutual Transportation Co. is the name of the organization that is to operate the six freight steamers recently purchased from the Northern Steamship Co. by a syndicate representing the line boat interests of Buffalo. Gibson L. Douglas is man- ager of the new line. | | | | ! |