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A FEW HISTORICAL FACTS AND THE CANALS--Continued a is, 15 miles. With the present prevailing stage of water the ag depth is 19 feet. By the old Lake George route the distance from Point Detour to Point Iroquois is 75 miles, and the depth, 15 feet. The present Hay lake channel was opened in 1894 and shortened the route from Detour to the Soo, 10 miles. The new route, known as the Neebish channel, was opened in 1908. This route leads to the westward of Neebish island and the plan is to use this channel for down bound boats and the present channel for up bound boats. Both channels will be the same from the canal down to Hay lake. They then branch off, one going on each side of Neebish island, and coming together again in Mud Lake. The new west channel will not shorten the route from Detour to the Soo. The St. Joseph channel branches off from the Hay lake channel at the foot of Sugar island, just below the dike. This channel leads into the North channel. The navigation of the St. Mary's river is governed by a strict set of rules and regulations. The St. Mary's falls have a drop of 20 feet and are overcome by the locks at the canal. These rapids are about a half mile wide and three-fourths of a mile long. THE ST. CLAIR RIVER Length, Fort Gratiot to old ship canal, 40 miles. The current in the rapids at Fort Gratiot is 5 miles an hour. The current entering the canal is about 144 miles an hour; abreast of Port Huron, St. Clair and Marine City the current averages 2 miles an hour. DETROIT RIVER Length, Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, 28 miles. The current at the Limekiln Crossing averages about 214 miles an hour while for the balance of the river the average current is about 114 miles an r. - NIAGARA RIVER Length, Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, 33 miles. Current at Buffalo, 4to 7 miles an hour; current in whirlpool rapids, 30 miles an hour. The lower portion of the river, from Lake Ontario to Lewiston (7 miles) is from 30 to 70 feet deep. 280,000 cubic feet of water enters Niagara river from Lake Erie every second. The fall in Niagara river from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario is 326 feet. ST. LAWRENCE RIVER Length, from Lake Ontario to the Straits of Belle Isle, nearly 1,200 miles. There are many dangerous rapids in the St. Lawrence, all overcome by Canadian canals. From Lake Ontario to Quebec the drop is 249 feet. A boat passing through the St. Lawrence river, from Lake Ontario to the sea, would go through six canals with a total length of 45 miles. There are 21 locks in these canals and the total lift is 207144 feet. These canals are all between Lake Ontario and Montreal. From Montreal eastward to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, there is a channel for deep draft ocean going vessels. From Lake Ontario to Montreal the draft water is limited to 14 feet. Tidewater is reached about midway between Montreal and Quebec. Spring tide rises 1845 feet at Quebec. Salt water becomes noticeable about 30 miles below Quebec. As one crosses the Jacques Cartier Bridge from the Island of Montreal to the South Shore of the St. Lawrence, the pool of Mon- treal Harbour may be seen to the right and then the beginning of the Seaway channel on the South Shore close to the southern end of the bridge. A new bridge span, replaces the former one in the ele- vated bridge structure. From the bridge or the shore road may be obtained a view of the entrance to the Seaway channel. Ships sail here on their way for some 1,300 miles further, if need be, into the heart of North America. _ Turning to the right (from the bridge) and following Quebec Highway #3, the traveller will see a two-mile-long channel leading to the first lock of the Seaway at St. Lambert. Here ships will be lifted some 15 feet from the level of Montreal Harbour to the level of the Laprairie Basin and thence will travel 8% miles in closed channel to the second lock at Cote Ste. Catherine. This lock, as will the other 6 new Seaway locks and the 7 lift locks on the Welland Ship Canal will have the following dimensions: Length over- all--860 feet, Width--80 feet, Depth over lock sills--30 feet. COTE STE. CATHERINE LOCK The Cote Ste. Catherine Lock, which will require 24,000,000 gal- lons of water to fill, will be able to be filled or emptied in less than 10 Minutes. It will lift ships from the level of the Laprairie Basin 30 feet up to that of Lake St. Louis. The function of this lock is to by-pass he Lachine Rapids, a classical barrier to navigation to those seeking to penetrate further since the time of the French explorer, Jacques artier, in 1935, After a short stretch of channel the ships enter Lake St. Louis and Proceed some 12 miles by dredged channels to the Lower Beau- tois Lock at the head of the lake. The minimum widths of chan- nels are as follows: 200 feet wide with 2 embankments--canals 300 feet wide with 1 embankment--canals 450 feet wide in open reaches, ie, dredged channels and lakes. The depth of the canals and channels will be 27 feet. THROUGH CAUGHNAWAGA TO BEAUHARNOIS Leaving Caughnawaga, the visitor proceeds on Highway No. 3 through Chateauguay, scene of a battle in the War of 1812, and through the town of Beauharnois. At lower Beauharnois Lock which the visitor reaches on High- way No. 3 just past the Beauharnois Powerhouse, a ship will be lifted 41 feet and then travel a % mile canal to the Upper Beauharnois Lock. This lock will also lift the ship 41 feet and it can then proceed via the Beauharnois Canal some 13 miles to Lake St. Francis. In- spection of the locks is possible here and the visitor then returns to No. 3 highway and proceeds via a 4-lane tunnel and some miles of road to cross the St. Lawrence River and the Soulanges Canal at Coteau, Quebec. This canal is one of the 6 outmoded St. Lawrence Canals which offered 14-foot depth. Completed in 1899 it served Canadian ships and those of many other nations faithfully for over half a century. ON TO CORNWALL The visitor turns through a cloverleaf and proceeds via Highway No. 2 west (toward Toronto) through part of the Provinces of Que- bec and Ontario to Cornwall on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. It is at the upper end of Lake St. Francis, which, like Lake St. Louis, is a widening of the St. Lawrence River. Far to the left may be seen the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. The lake, however, is entirely in Canada and it is at Cornwall that we find the river's south shore becomes part of the United States--the State of New York. The United States built 2 locks in their territory and a joining canal of about 10 miles in length. This will enable ships to proceed from Lake St. Francis into the power pool or Lake St. Lawrence in International waters, the differ- ence in ievel being some 90 feet. _, This power pool was created by giant dams built by power en- tities in the Province of Ontario and the State of New York, and at Cornwall a view of the international powerhouse may be obtained. Westward of Cornwall, 6 old towns have been removed and the in- habitants and many of their homes relocated in new communities on higher ground. Sites of the old communities lie under water. IROQUOIS LOCK AND DAM At the head of Lake St. Lawrence, the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority of Canada built the most westerly of the new Seaway locks. Here ships by-pass the Iroquois Control Dam which controls the level of Lake Ontario. The Iroquois Lock was the first completed of these Seaway locks and underwent final tests in the fall of 1957. The first ship to pass through this lock did so November 20, 1957. It has been in use since May 26 of 1958. Less than five years from the first blast, which took place No- vember 17, 1954 for excavation of the channel between Jacques Cartier and Victoria Bridges, near Montreal, ships began sailing the St. Lawrence Seaway with the commencement of the navigation sea- son of 1959. Costs of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project will be over one billion dollars, ($1,000,000,000). Costs for the navigation facili- ties will be recovered through tolls on shipping using the Seaway. The costs for power facilities will be paid by the users of electricity produced. BLACK ROCK SHIP LOCK The contract for the lock was let by the government in 1908 and construction was started the same year. The lock has a length of 650 feet and a width of 70 feet. It overcomes a five-foot lift and is one of the greatest engineering feats undertaken by the government on the Great Lakes. It is 24 feet deep and large enough to accommodate the largest of the lake freighters. In preparing for construction of the lock the building of the largest cofferdam ever constructed was necessary. It was consid- erably larger than the one used in raising the Maine from Havana harbor. It was 947 feet long and 260 feet wide. The lock is in the Black Rock harbor between Squaw island and the mainland. Its completion and the finishing of other harbor and river work gave it a 23-foot channel from the Erie basin to Tona- wanda. WELLAND CANAL Background Information The Welland Canal became part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and was transferred from the Canals Branch of the Department of 237