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14 MARINE REVIEW. [February 27, SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL. In previous issues the Marine Review has outlined the program for the semi-centennial celebration of the commencement of work upon the first canal at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., including the form of authorization submitted for adoption by congress. The benefits to be realized from the unique presentation of information as to the unprecedented half century development of the industrial progress of the northwest will be unques- tionably immense. However, considerable work will have to be done to keep Congressman Sheldon's resolution on the calendar until it is adopted. There are over 11,000 bills awaiting action by the house and over 30,000 have already been introduced into congress this session. Therefore much THE ORIGINAL SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL LOCK, COMPLETED IN 1855. watching will be necessary to guide Mr. Sheldon's resolution through this mass of undigested legislation. The Review has in preparation a leaflet revealing the importance of this waterway to the commerce of the United States which it will mail to anyone who desires it. The construction of the first canal at Sault Ste. Marie was attended with untold difficulties. In 1853 the upper peninsula of Michigan was a remote spot upon this great globe. It was, in fact, practically unknown. Today these obstacles would be laughed at. Money and modern methods have simplified them; but this merely illustrates the tremendous industrial revolution which has taken place during the past fifty years. There is no picture in contrasts like it. The upper peninsula could not furnish the men to dig the canal. The village of Sault Ste. Marie was the only settle- a was prosecuted with the utmost energy, as Many as 3,000 men being em- ployed upon it at one time. The Review publishes herewith a photograph of the original lock through which all the commerce of Lake Superior passed for a great many years. It was a state canal but in 1881 Michigan transferred it to the United States government, which, during that year, added a supplemental lock. ie : Look at the conditions prevailing now and then. In 1853 every one of the many thousand kegs of powder used was transported to the Sault from the states of Connecticut and Delaware. The nearest machine shop was several hundred miles away with no practicable means of communica- tion during five-twelfths of the year. The nearest telegraph station was at Detroit, 450 miles distant. Business letters in mid-winter required six weeks to reach New York and return a reply. All drilling had to be done by hand. The only way to hasten work was to put on more men. In the dead of winter the thermometer frequently registered 35° below zero and the shortness of the day left only eight hours of sunlight. During the hours of such extremely low temperature one man was detailed to stand at the head of each of the runways for barrows with orders when he saw a face frostbitten to rub it with snow until circulation was restored without the barrow man leaving his work. | ce Today this great canal, three times enlarged and still inadequate to the demands upon it, is the unrivalled commercial canal of the world, Last year 25,582,038 tons of freight were carried through it. Through the Canadian canal 2,821,027 tons were transported, making the total com: merce of Lake Superior 28,403,065 tons. The Sault Ste. Marie canal was opened for 230 days during the year. Suez, which is opened all the year round. carried 9,378,152 tons in 1900, the statistics for 1901 not yet being available. The new canal at Kiel carried 4,282,094 tons. These figures reveal the giant stature of Sault Ste. Marie among the canals of the world, Accompanying this article will also be found a picture of the Poe lock at Sault Ste. Marie constructed by the federal government. Shipping interests throughout the great lakes are manifesting much interest in the proposed celebration, while all the great industries of Lake Superior are vitally concerned in it. WHAT DID MR. CARNEGIE SAY? Now the burning question is, What did Andrew Carnegie say? Mr, W. D. Forbes of Hoboken, N. J., has taken the pains to write to the American Machinist as follows: "In speaking of Mr. Carnegie you say concerning his epitaph that he said "Here lies a man who knew how to get around men much cleverer than himself.' This is not what Mr, Carnegie said. I sat within a few feet of him and am positive that his expression was: 'Here lies a man who knew how to get around him men much cleverer than himself.' There is a vast difference in the two state- ments and I think it is a matter of justice to Mr. Carnegie that you make the correction." The American Machinist, however, insists that it quoted Mr, Car- negie correctly. As corroborative evidence it offers that the statement was made by Mr. Carnegie as a joke and was so regarded by those who NEW CANAL AT SAULT STE. MARIE OPENED FOR USE IN 1896-7, ment, a mere handful of men of whom the greater number were Indians and half-breeds. Detroit was the nearest city of any importance to the Sault and men and provisions had to be secured there. Five hundred men were obtained at Detroit and taken to Sault Ste. Marie on one of the large lake steamers. A commissariat was organized on the passage, and as soon as the landing was made, horses were hitched up into teams, the lumber hauled to the canal reservation, and in forty-eight hours the 'men were housed in improvised buildings and regular meals provided for them On June 4, 1853, the third day after landing, the workmen were organized into working gangs of thirty. each under selected foremen, and formed in ranks, while Mr. Charles T. Harvey, the contracting engineer broke ground and wheeled out the first barrow full of excavated material. He was greeted with cheers, and for twenty-two months thereafter the work heard it. Now the first version is a joke, but if the word "him" is inter- polated it becomes at once a serious statement. The only person who can settle the issue is Mr. Carnegie himself, It is reported that the Minnesota Iron Co. has discovered a large body of ore on the Vermillion range in the swamp south of Tower Junc- tion. Diamond drills have penetrated a body of hard blue ore, such as 1S found in the Minnesota mines near by, and below this at some depth was found a grade of ore much like that in the Chandler mine. The New Orleans Ship Building & Docking Co. has been chartered by the state of Louisiana with a capital stock of $5,000,000. C. M. Jessup is the president of the company.