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May, 1910 'TAE MARINE REviEWw 205 Commerce of Lake Superior T HAS frequently been stated in the columns of THe Marine RE- VIEW that there is no adequate measure of the port to port com- merce of the great lakes, and, therefore, no way of determining the total com- merce of the great chain of waters. However, it is fair to assume that more than half of the commerce: of the lakes passes through the canals at Sault Ste. Marie; and it is fortu- nate indeed that records at this point are very reliably 'kept by the offi- cials in charge of the United States and Canadian canals. Supt. Louis C. Sabin has just submitted to Col. C. McD. Townsend for transmission to the secre- tary of war the exhaustive report. of canal commerce for 1909 that is known 4s the mile-ton report: ~~ ithe= repo shows that, $36,291,948 was paid as car- rying charges to vessels that moved a7 895,149 tons of freight through the canals in 1909, and that the total value of the freight was $626,104,173. The cost per ton per mile of moving this freight was 0.78 of a mill, as against 0.69 of a mill in 1908, 0.80 of a mill in 1907, 0.84 of a mill in 1906, 0.85 of a mill in 1905, 0.81 of a mill in, 1904, 0.92 of a mill in 1903, and 0.89 of a mill in 1902. The total freight traffic of 57,895,149 net tons for the season of 1909, when compared with the season of 1908, shows an increase of 40 per cent or 16,504,592 tons. All the items of freight show an increase when compared with the season of 1908. The total number of passengers was 59,948, an increase of 6,661. Vessel passages' through both canals numbered 19,204, showing a gain of 4,023 or 26 per cent. The total lockages numbered 13,571, a gain of 2,886 or 27 per cent. The season of navigation continued for a period of 7 months and 27 days, dur- ing which time the average monthly freight traffic was 7,328,500 net tons. The traffic through the American canal was 52 per cent of the total freight, and 46 per cent of the total number of passengers carried, the amounts be- ing 30,132,374 tons of freight and 27,736 passengers. Compared with the season of 1908, there was an increase of 1,475,- 077 tons of freight or 5 per cent, and 4,657 passengers or 20 per cent. The American canal opened April 20 and closed Dec. 11, 1909, making the length of its season 236 days. The traffic through the Canadian canal was 48 per cent of the total freight and 54 per cent of the passengers carried, the amounts being 27,762,775 tons of freight and 32,212 passengers. Compared with the season of 1908, there was an increase of 15,029,515 tons of freight or 118 per cent, and 2,004 passengers or 7 per cent. The Canadian canal was opened April 21 and closed Dec. 16, 1909, making the length of its season 240 days. Total freight carried, tons....... - 57,895,149 Total tons net register.......... 46,751,717 *hotal milestones ts. aoe 46,812,929,345 Total valuation placed on freight Carnied ee ee a ee $626,104,173 Total amount paid for freight Carried: o.oo eee io a ane $36,291,948 Total number of registered ves- ' sels' using Canals. ..0,. 870 Total number of passages by unregistered crafts carrying breight.o.. ee Cer er a 242 Total valuation placed on reg- istered: vessels: 4.0. See. as $126,899,000 Total number of passengers trans- MPOLbGds ue aa ee eee ee 59,948 Average distance freight was car- Tied smiles si Ss Vek cies 809 Average cost per ton for freight ~ transportatrone i066 ee ee $0.63 Average cost per mile per ton, iS ae Ne ees 78 Average value per ton of freight CATIMCd.' . Leal ee yes tear ee $10.81 Time American canal was oper- ated days oho: Gon ee A 236 Time Canadian canal was oper- ated, (days 20. dees 240 Freight carried by-- Registered vessels, tons....... 57,871,097 Unregistered vessels, tons..... 24,052 American vessels, per cent.... 94 Canadian vessels, per cent...:. 6 Passengers carried by-- American vessels, per cent.... 39 Canadian vessels, per cent.... 61 Average number 'of vessels pass- ing per day-- Through "Poe: lock: 3.0 nese 35 Weitzel: lock is sc oe ee ee 22 Canadian lock <5... i ae 27 Poe, Weitzel and Canadian locks 80 The number of registered vessels of 600 ft. and over in length, using the canal in trade to and from Lake Su- perior, was 5; of 500 to 600 ft. in length, 106; of 400 to 500 ft. in length, 157; of 300 to 400 ft. in length, 161; of 200 to 300 ft. in length, 224;' of 100 to 200 it. in length, 121; of less than 100 ft. in length, 8. The maximum freight traffic for a single day was on Aug. 26, 1907, of 20 ft. 1 in. The largest single cargo carried through the canals in. 1909 con- sisted of 13,664 tons. on the steamer E. Y. Townsend. The greatest amount of freight carried was 312,196 tons by the steamer E. Y. Townsend. The greatest number of miles run were 44,- 443 by the steamer E. Y. Townsend, while the greatest number of mile-tons was 280,610,200 by the steamer E. Y. Townsend. The following table will prove interesting as showing the dis- . tribution to other lakes of freight bound eastward from Lake Superior and also the district from which freight bound to Lake Superior originated: EAST BOUND. From Lake Superior ports to-- ake: Michipan sports..3¢%..5, 6,812,298 Lake: siluron ports... .. ace esee ce 1,682,300 Lake iKirie "ports. 0s 2.6 eae aa 37,142,094 bake: !Ontari0 ports....0. cee 742,394 Total' os eae cas aie 46,379,086 WEST BOUND. To Lake Superior from-- ake Michigan -portsiee 25 cee sete 204,900 dke GEturons, pores 200s secre a 342,316 Dake: Brie ports. ise. cvs eeehecss 10,665,898 hake *Ontario,. ports. 3.2.) ec weet 302,949 otal <a cci ee con cee 11,516,063 In connection with the foregoing table, there is also the following summary of. relative values of the different com- modities passing through the canals: Per cent. Coal (anthracite and bituminous)... 4.64 Cereals (wheat, rye, oats, corn, bar- ley, fax? and: HOUW) on. 26 ccs 31.60 Tron (Ore ei Ge eit ies ores ieeacs 23:30 Iron (manufactured and pig iron)... 5.89 Copper (refined and concentrates)... 5.20 Lumber) tiie ce east se 1.94 All others products. i300 we cn 27.40 100.00 The American canal records show that vessels necessarily spent 22,585 hours and 34 minutes in canal, or an average q 'ESTIMATED VALUE OF TOTAL FREIGHT PASSING THE CANALS AT SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN, AND ONTARIO, FOR THE SEASON OF 1909. ITEMS. (Coal, anthracite! 2c. ya eu rcne wie Net tons..... Coal... bituminous (i6.5 60. os os Net tons..... POUL. cs oS ee tees pee ee te Barrels....... Wheat: si es eee a ie Bushes... cs Grain, other than wheat........ Bushels: 3% Wton. Ore acess: ae eee ee Net tons... .. Manufactured iron = sos). ess se Net tons..... Pie AON yes eee ees ee Net tons..... Copper (refined and concentrates).Net tons..... Vea Dek esac he ene Cac ee wee oa Ve at. B...M.. ae asso ateiaig cee siete tae ap Barrelses: 2: Silver Ofte o ace. pep ones ode oe Wet tons, ..3: Building stone ......+++eeeeeees Net. tons. ...% General merchandise Totals 0 oie 0.6 6. pie he Celera © 06h Peele OB 6 8 0h8 0 m8 62s w Quantity. Price per Unit. Valuation. milan 1,412,387 $ 5.47 $4,725,797 eee: 8,527,639 2.50 21,319,098. ee ene 7,094,175 5.40 38,308,545 sae 113,253,901 1.06 120,048,775 maa se 46,519,451 85 39,541,533 wey ee 40,014,978 3.65 146,054,670 se elas 481,627 75.00 36,122,025 one 40,654 17.40 - 707,380 5 oe 127,212 256.00 32,566,272 poe 552,380 22.00 12,152,360 Say ps 651,091 25 488,318 Sees 1,784 10.00 17,840 bie 1,140,344 150.00 171,051,600 Shae weitere. $626,104,173 when 487,649 tons passed through the canals on 121 vessels, having an aggre- gate registered tonnage of 287,385. Twenty-five new vessels were put in commission for the Lake. Superior trade in 1909. They were all steamships for freight traffic. Ten of these new ves- sels are 500 ft. or more in length and carry from 10,000 to 13,200 net tons of freight in a single cargo on a draught of 2 hours 2 minutes, which includes time waiting for lockage and passage through locks and canal, the latter being 1 3-5 miles long. Other delays at canal, which included taking on supplies, wait- ing for daylight or favorable weather, amounted to 10,531 hours and 52 min- utes. Delays to vessels due to operating railway swing bridge amounted to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Trains were de-