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22 Moe Ke oe ON. CE NEEDED IMPROVEMENT IN CHANNELS Another Crossing at the Lime Kilns and a Third Lock at the Sault--President Livingstone's Annual Report Mr. William Livingstone, president of the Lake Carriers' association, discussed many points of interest to vesselmen in his annual report. Among them was another crossing at the Lime Kilns and another lock at the Sault. He said: Owing to the large increase of tonnage on the lakes and the new record established during the past year in the size of vessels and the rapidly growimg congestion which already exists on the Lime Kiln crossing, it makes it imperative and of the utmost importance that we should bend all of our energies to secure at the earliest possible moment the passage of a bill for an appropriation for the construction of a new crossing at the Lime Kilns. The tonnage of the lakes has increased so enormously in the last ten years, and seemingly bids fair to increase at a still more rapid rate the next decade, that 90 per cent of the risk of navigation now is in collision. Our modern ships are built on such lines and of such construction that the dangers of shipwreck or stress of weather have been reduced to a minimum. 'The result is that our greatest danger in naviga- ting the great lakes is from collision in the narrow channels, and should one of our large modern ships be sunk in the crossing, blocking the channel, it would tie up the entire ton- nage of the lakes until she was removed, and the loss entailed thereby would be difficult to estimate. Great as the necessity was for the building of the new canal now tinder construction at the St. Clair Flats, there is still a greater necessity for this crossing at the lower end of De- troit river. The risk under present conditions is. very grave and constantly becoming more so. 'The loss entailed by the sinking of the little steamer John N. Glidden last year in the Flats canal, and which only partially obstructed: the canal, but entailed great loss to carriers and shippers, is too recent an object lesson to be forgotten. The sinking of the steamer W. L. Brown at the Lime Kiln crossing a year ago, and which only partially blocked the channel, is a recent example of the great loss which may occur at any time at a single channel. The steamer Douglas Houghton, in 1900, before the present improvements were completed in the "Soo" river, blocked the entire navigation of the upper lakes for a whole week and entailed an immense loss at that time to vessel owners and shippers. Therefore every possible effort should be made to secure the passage of a bill for the building of a new channel, as even with the greatest success which we could hope to attain in the passage of the bill, long before a second channel could be completed the present channel will have become an absolute menace to navigation and utterly unable to accommodate the rapidly growing tonnage of the lakes without serious detentions and danger. In this connection we have been at work for over a year endeavoring to secure the removal of the railroad bridge be- tween Grosse Ile and Stony island. This bridge was built originally in 1872 and 1873 by the Canada Southern Bridge Co., an auxiliary corporation to the Canada Southern Railway, which crossed the Detroit river for the purpose of transport- ing cars to the Canada side of the river in connection with the Canada Southern Railway. It is a low bridge with no draw, resting on stone piers in the river, with a 150-ft. span. I am pleased to state that we have finally succeeded in getting the bridge condemned by the war department, and that quite a portion of the bridge with its abutments in the river is to be removed so that it can be used for navigation by May 1, and the Michigan Central Railroad Co., who now own the bridge, have agreed to have the work of removal completed at that time. With the removal of this bridge a channel of moderate depth would be obtained between Grosse Ile and Stony island, Sugar island and Bois Blanc island, which could be used by MR WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, President Lake Carriers' Association. passenger and light-draft vessels, and would to some extent relieve for the time being the congestion we now have on the present Lime Kiln crossing. By asking for a preliminary examination, and if approved, the United States engineers, by sweeping the channel, removing some boulders, hum- mocks, ete., could, at a comparatively reasonable expense, get a fair depth of water for passenger and light-draught ves- sels, which could be steadily improved thereafter. When the Poe lock was built it was built for 20-ft. naviga- tion, but since that time (20 years) Lake Huron has lowered somewhat, and there is only about 19.2 ft. average depth over the sill. Col. Davis' proposition is to deepen St. Mary's river so as to have ar ft., and therefore the lock must have that depth over the mitre sill. The same reasons which make it an absolute necessity that we should have a new crossing at the Lime Kilns are of equal force and necessity for the new lock at the "Soo." A good deal of trouble was found taking vessels out of the Poe lock, but by opening two valves in the upper gate a current was obtained through the lock which floated them out. There has been considerable discussion among the engineers as to the site best adapted for the purpose. Col. Davis, United States engineer in charge, has recommended putting in a lock about 1,300 ft. long and 7o or 75 ft. wide, figuring on the basis of a maximum length of vessels of 600 ft., and 60 ft. beam, and have them go through the lock tandem. It is estimated that the construction of this lock will take about four years. Last year it took 1 hour and 24 minutes to get vessels from one end of the canal to the other. He be- lieves that a saving of time can be accomplished by this plan. The estimated cost of the new lock will be about $3,- 300,000, and as soon as the new lock is completed, the mitre