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26 Domestic Commerce on the Great Lakes. ~The volume of lake traffic during the season of 1908 as measured by domes- tic shipments of merchandise from va- rious lake ports was 60,518, 024 net tons, compared with 83,506,991 net tons and 75,609,648 net tons shipped during the 1907 and 1906 seasons. The considerable decrease noted in the 1908 total was due mainly to the smaller shipments of iron ore, though the shipments of all other items except hard coal and salt also show smaller totals than a year ago. The iron-ore shipments by lake during the year, exclusive of 229,426 gross tons exported to Canada, as reported to the bureau, totaled 24,939,185 gross tons, compared with 40,727,972 gross tons re- ported for the 1907 season. The largest shipping ports in the order of their im- portance were Duluth, credited 'with 8,761,304 gross tons; Two Harbors, 5,558,028 gross tons; Superior-West Su- perior, 3,463,774 gross tons; Escanaba, 3,208,866 gross tons; Ashland, 2,474,167 gross tons; Marquette, 784,212 gross tons; Presque Isle, 681,105 gross tons. The greater part of this ore, namely, 20,444,751 gross tons, was received at the Lake Erie ports of Ashtabula, Cleve- land, Buffalo, North Tonawanda,' Lor- ain, Fairport, Erie, Toledo, Huron, 'and Sandusky. The rest is credited mainly to Chicago, Indiana Harbor, Gary, Mil- waukee, and Detroit. About a million gross tons of ore is credited to the two new receiving points of Indiana Har- bor and Gary, thus placing Chicago and vicinity on practically the same _ level with Cleveland as an ore-receiving cen- ter. As compared with the dock managers' figures of season shipments, published by the Marine Review, 25,427,094 gross tons, the bureau figures disclose a short- age of about half a million tons. The reasons for this difference would seem "to be twofold. First. Exports to Can- ada which figure as part of the total shipments in the Martne Review returns do not enter the bureau total as shown above. Second. The bureau ' returns coming as they do from receiving ports credit the shipping ports with the same quantity of iron ore that is unloaded at the, receiving port or ports. As a matter of fact, the weight of the ore cargo when placed aboard the vessel is in all cases higher than the weight of the same cargo when determined at the port of discharge, as a certain amount of moisture included in the original weight has = evaporated. The Ma- *Compiled by the Bureau of Statistics, Wash- ington, D. C, 'ports, Tae Marine REVIEW RINE REVIEW figures received from the dock managers at shipping ports ap- parently state the original weight of the cargo including moisture. That this ac- counts for part of the difference be- tween the bureau figures and the trade figures can be seen from the fact that the difference in the iron-ore receipts at Lake Erie ports is much smaller rel- atively than the difference between the figures of shipments, the total receipts at these ports as reported to this office being 20,444,751 long tons, while the figures published by the Marine REVIEW are 20,414,491 tons. Domestic grain shipments by lake dur- ing the past season aggregated 111,213,- 910 bu. of which 57,754, 183. bu. , con- stituted wheat; 22,546,795 bu. corn; 15,- 701,406 bu. oats; 13,516,156 bu. barley, and 1,695,370 bu. rye. The total 1908 grain movement by lake shows a 22.8 per cent decrease from the 1907 total. The largest relative loss of almost 50 per cent is shown in the shipments of corn. The lake movement of oats de- clined about 24 per cent, while ship- ments of other grains likewise show perceptible decreases as compared with 1907 totals. Of the total domestic lake shipments of wheat during the year 1908 about three-quarters are credited to Duluth-Superior, and the total ship- ments for the year about 43% million bushels, pre- sents but a small decline from the 1907 total. Milwaukee increased its shipments from 2,883,116 bu. in 1907 to 4,187,973 bu. for the 1908 season. The decline in the total is due entirely to the large loss in domestic shipments from Chicago from 14,448,231 bu. in 1907 to 8,865,197 bu. in 1908. About 8&8 per cent of the wheat receipts is credited to the port of Buffalo, while the only other ports showing receipts in exeess of one mil- lion bu. for the year were Chicago, De- troit, and Erie. About 21.4 million bushels of corn, or about 95 per cent of the total domes- tic shipments for the year proceeded from Chicago; Milwaukée being the only other port which shipped a quan- tity in excess of one million bushels. The principal ports of destination of these shipments were Buffalo, which is credited with over 70 per cent of the entire domestic lake receipts of this article, and Ogdensburg, which received about 3.4 million bushels or 18 "per cent of the total. domestic lake receipts of corn for the year. The bulk of domestic lake shipments of oats was more evenly distributed among the ports of Milwaukee, Chicago, Manitowoc, Du- from those two. luth, and Superior; the 1908 figures pe- ing in all cases below those for 1907. The main receiving ports for this ar ticle, just as in 1907, appear to have been Buffalo, Ludington, Grand Haven, and Cleveland. Duluth, Superior, and Milwaukee led in the domestic ship- ments of barley, which were directed mainly to Buffalo. The comparatively unimportant domestic shipments of rye proceeded chiefly from Duluth, Kewau- nee, Superior, and Milwaukee, and were destined in main part to Buffalo and Ludington. 'The domestic shipments of flaxseed for the year, 15,610,219 bu. dif- fer but 'slightly from those for the pre- ceding seeason, 15,647,509 bu., and pro- ceeded mainly from Duluth-Superior; the principal port of destination was Buffalo, which partook of over 84 per cent of the total domestic receipts of the article. Smaller receipts are cred- ited to Cleveland, Toledo, and Chicago. The 1908 shipments of flour, 1,188,831 net tons of 10 barrels each, likewise present a smaller total than for the preceding year;, shipments proceeded mainly from Chicago, Milwaukee, and Duluth-Superior while Manitowoc, Buf- falo, Erie, Fairport, Grand Haven, and Ludington were the main receiving ports in the order of importance. Al- most two-thirds of the entire domestic lake receipts of flour is claimed by Buf- falo. The annual lumber shipments, 944,- 742,000 ft. were 32 per cent below the total reported for the year 1907. This decrease was due probably not so much to the general business depression as to the gradual exhaustion of the lum- ber supply in the territory bordering on the lakes. It seems probable that with the further depletion of the pine forests contiguous to the lakes and rivers flowing into the lakes the impot- tance of the cheaper water route will grow less and less, and that rail- roads will find it correspondingly easter to compete successfully with the lake carriers for the transportation of lum- ber in the lake region. The movement of pig iron and iron manufactures dur- ing the year reflected the prevailing 1- dustrial depression, the respective a8- gregates, 90,407 gross tons of pig iron and 325,207 net tons of iron manufac- tures, falling far below like totals for the preceding pear. The season ship- ments of salt, 619,788 net toms, and 135,693 net tons, were those of copper, totals for in excess of corresponding the 1907 season. The shipments of hard coal, chiefly from Buffalo, Oswego, and Erie, 4,189,-