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328 500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,590 1,000 500 ‘BE VSED, FIG. canal. Typical of this opinion is the statement that “were the proposed canal anywhere’ else—in a word— were its location suitable for an all- the-year-round service, instead of some six months only, and were the navigation troubles of the St. Lawr- ence a little less menacing, a reason- able plan might be set up for the pro- ject ---” A statement like this does not, in the writer’s opinion, represent the truth. It is true that there will be no all-year-round navigation, because the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence river are closed by ice during the winter months; but that does not mean that the navigation is limited to six months. Statistics show that the port of Montreal is open about 7% months, and that Buffalo is ice-free about 8 months. During 1921, Montreal was open to traffic from March 29 to Dec. 14, which is 8% months. We may, therefore, predict that the canal will be kept open about 7% months, which is the average length of the lake season. Profits in a Short Season Because the shipping season is rath- er short, it does not at all follow that the shipping can not be profitable. NUMBER OF _' STEAMER TONNAGE DEADWEIGHT - STERMERS CAPACITY CURVE F2B curve C 6.000 13,000 eo a ee sa coo| | |Vaemarectsreameme | | |! i) | | (noes esn| ae aa bend 24 TET laa oe TL | Wbeer| ces rapw 23] |Q/ ene or | | fara orierersets | | |\ | PAN A aoe bate Pepe, Pop P| Pepa slg ag alg sig gig fe $8 sg 88 8/8 $8 88 § B SIS SIM US Sle le Slr GQ Sid wie s/f ¥ s MEGISTERED GROSS TONNAGE 8 y ° a X% NOTE THESE VESSELS HIVE NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN PERCENTAGES GIVEN ALTHO THEY MIGHT OCCASIONALLY MARINE REVIEW 3,000 i 2—ANALYSIS OF WORLD STEAMER TONNAGE SHOWING, AVERAGE VESSEL DRAFT The present enormous traffic on the lakes is certainly not carried at a loss; in fact, it is generally recognized that nowhere in the world is cargo transported and handled at a lower cost—in spite of the short season. The Baltic trade is another example of a comparatively short shipping sea- son, There is no doubt that navigation through the St. Lawrence river and the Gulf of St. Lawrence is more dangerous than in the open Atlantic, and that the underwriters, therefore, have a good reason’ for their higher rates of insurance on this route. But that does not keep even some of the larger Atlantic liners from making regular sailings. to. Montreal; and: the statistics show that the traffic of this port is increasing more rapidly than that of any other port on the Atlantic coast. What types of vessels will be able to use “the canal? This will. of course, depend on the size of the locks and on the depth of the chan- nels. The plans call for locks of the same dimension as in the new Wel- land canal; that is, 800 feet long, 80 feet wide, and a depth of 25 feet. All lockports and other structure, how- ever, will be constructed to permit August, 1922 a future increase in depth to 30 feet. The canal section will have a min- imum of 220 feet width, and 25. feet depth, which in the future may be increased to 30 feet. In the open river and lakes, there will be a minimum width of 450 feet. Average Depths of Steamers Fig. 2 shows the world’s steamer tonnage arranged according to the registered gross tonnage. From an analysis of the statistics, the follow- ing conclusions may be drawn Of ocean going steamers of over 3000 tons dead weight about 53 per cent draw less than 23 feet and 94 per cent have a depth of less than 28 feet. A depth in the canal of 25 feet will permit the passage of an ordi- nary steamer of about 6700 tons dead weight at 23 feet draft. An increase to 30 feet will make it possible for vessels of about 13,000 tons dead- weight at 28 feet draft to navigate the canal. Fig. 2 gives also the ocean going tonnage of the United States mer- chant steamers in 192). From this ‘it will be found that about 51 per cent of them have a draft of less than 23 feet and 95 per cent of them will draw less than 28 feet. These figures clearly show that there is at present a very big ton- nage which could use the canal. Some of these ships, like passenger vessels and tankers, which are specially con- structed for certain trades, will, of course, not be suited for the Great Lakes; but most of the ordinary cargo steamers will be able to navigate them. Ocean going vessels: will not be able to compete successfully with the pres- ent lake freighters in transporting iron ore and coal, because their construc- tion is not, without changes, suited for the methods of loading and un- loading now used around the _ lakes. A large amount of grain and general cargo, however, may be carried by them to deep water ports. Lake Vessels Will Benefit The depth in: the Great Lakes ports must, of course, ‘be increased. This will permit many of the hig lake freighters to load down deeper and thus considerably increase their car- rying capacity. Incidentally, this will make the question of a legal loadline for the lakes rather pertinent. The shipowners who now _ contemplate building lake freighters do well if they take into consideration that the draft in the future surely will be in- creased. On a 600-foot lake freighter, an increase in draft of one foot may