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The Fire Tug Edward M. Cotter photographed as she was making her way through the Welland Canal System. THE GREAT LAKES AREA The Great Lakes area, bounded generall on the north by Canada and on the south by the United States, contains obably the greatest industrial complex of the world. The steel plants here pros hicln more than 30% of the world’s steel, have called for over half a century upon the iron resources (and the coal and limestone) of the continent. And the extensive agricultural areas have pro- duced vast harvests of grain which have been transported in large measure b: way of the lakes route and by means, largely of specially developed ships, during the navigation season. The variety of general cargo that moves on the Great ae and the Seaway is most diverse however and is present also in considerable volum: ith an area of about 1 "260,000 square miles (one-sixth of North pmerc and a population of about 65 million (slightly less than one-third the com| United States-Canadian population), it produces about 78 percent of the North erican steel, adds half the value of its manufactures and produces more than 40% of its food and fee To handle inland traffic ‘there has developed a special type of vessel, ae North American “laker ese vary in size, but the smaller ones are tend in 10 dis- appear from the stem, outmoded by the large-size ships, many o' hich are as much as 730 feet in length with a 75-foot beam. Today there is “alk of still longer Ships to be built, up to 1000 feet in length. ese large ships can carry cargoes of up to 25,000 tons of iron ore or 1,000,000 bushels of grain and are no longer confined to the Great Lakes but may proceed by means of the Seaway, to ocean y of the world’s largest Merchant ships come into the Lakes by means of the! Seaway. Some of these vessels exceed 550 feet in length and can carry a cargo of over 14,000 tons into or out of the Great Lakes. constuction of large locks and the deepening of channels from Sault higan to Montreal, ue ‘on the world’s longest stairway has brought shi be all nations to our doorst tep: e heartland of America to the ‘heartland of the World, we dedicate this book.