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January, 1921 panies operate in a smaller way and with fewer boats; but promise ito be growing factors in barge canal ac- tivities. An admitted weakness of present operations on the barge canal is in the terminals at both ends of the route. Those in Buffalo are declared entirely inadequate to care efficiently for the increased freight traffic ex- pected within the next few years. This applies particularly to handling westbound freight. A comparative- ly small amount of this cargo is in bulk. Unloading falillities, including warehouses, generally are on _ the scale of a number of yealrs ago. Mod- ern unloading plants are admittedly a necessity to successful competition with the railroads on this westbound business. Loading of eastbound grain, lum- ber and coal at Buffalo is éxpédi- tiously handilled with present equip- ment; but need for improvement is seen in facilities for putting the smail- er unit freights such as rails, pig iron 'and machinery on board the boats without delay and without cost- ly 'transfers. Location of terminal docks at points, which do not give requisite transfer falcilities to and from railroads, is another weakness in the present organization of cana! transportation calling for remedy. Improvements Planned That steps already are being taken by canal operators 'to put themselves in better competitive position is seen in real estate activities along the river and canal stretches in the vicinity of Tonawanda, the western terminus of the barge canal. News of transfer of a nuniber of tracts in that vicinity has come out during the past year, in which ownership is traced to canal companies and are believed to have been made in the interest of terminal improvements. Winning of the suit by the city of Buffalo, which opens Grand island in the Niagara river to vehicle trafific, is taken by some to portend terminal development there. At New York, the facilities are pro- nounced more adequate to present demands: but it is declared they will have to be modernized in many in- stances to meet the demands of the more diversified freights which it is predicted barge canal boats will carry in the future. In the matter of rates, the canal has demonstrated a great saving is possible wander costs of rail trans- portation. In.some instances, this is shown to run as high as 40 per cent. As in the past, grain shipping by canal competes sharply with that by rail. Coal and lumber, also, are car- ried at rates greatly to the advantage THE MARINE REVIEW of the canal carriers. During the past year, a considerable amount of pig iron was shipped east by furnaces at Buffalo. This is a trade for which the students of canal transportation see a rapid development. Rails also, in increasing tonnages were carried this year. The new types of barges, with their greater length and larger hatches aided this traffic. Barges of at least one line are being made with hatches 70 feet long especially to handle rail shipments. Rogers, Brown & Co. Buffalo Union Furnace Co., and the Wickwire plant were among the shippers of plig iron during the past season. The. fatt of there beiie. no fail; and-canal joint rates operates soime- what against the canal on tonnage criginating inland bound for the' east. Lake-and-canal rates are quoted and considerable through business on this joint biasis is taken. The railroads Mak for 1920 Index OPIES of the complete index of THe Marine Review for 1920 are now available for free distri- bution to subscribers. The striking developments in marine affairs con- stantly taking place during the. past year add to the value of this con- venient index. This will be appre- ciated particularly since the index is prepared in the same size as the ' regular issues, This permits the in- dex 1o be bound with the regular copies and form a convenient and permanent reference for all import- ant marine events of the past year. Subscribers can obtain copies by writing direct to the circulation de- partment, THE Marine RevIEw, Cleveland. always lhave failed to co-operate with the canal and still remain obdurate. The canal, however, enjoys an ad- vantage in being able to make its own rates on bulk cargo. While class rates are fixed and their com- petitive status thus established, the canal transporters are able to under- bid on bulk freight as they see fit. And the cheaper operating costs en- able them to do so, effectually. The element of 'time is found at present to operate somewhat in favor of the railroads. While freight is about four days "from the rails," that is before it is placed on main lines, actual running times are faster. About the same time is required to finally place cars at unloading points. The time on the canal between Buffalo and New York or vice versa is about ten days. This leaves a day or so in favor of the railroads on average time. Improved piloting, which will permit more extensive night run- ning, will, it is pointed out, cut down the time on the canal considerably. _cef entering oo Six days is the mark being aimed at by operators. "his will give a safe miargin under the railroad time with average conditions. Many and varied interests are in- vestigating the possibilities of the new barge canal with the end in view into its activities. Of these one is the Northern Pacific rail- road. This comlpany has had inves- tigators on the ground during the past summer gathering data on the feasibility, it is reported, of building a fleet of smal! steel lumber carriers to Operate both on the lakes and on the canal. Its representatives are un- derstood to have been well pleased with the opportunities offered by the - canal for through transportation of lumber from northwestern lake ports. An official of the Toledo Com- merce \iclub, tlso; made. investiga- tions in the interest of a proposed enterprise to. be backed by capital in that city. These, with pending smaller de- velopments of canal service, promise rapid. expansion of canal activities - wiithin the next few years. Book Review Exporters Gazetteer of Foreign Mar- kets: By Lloyd. RK. -Morris, researcy editor the American Exporter; 775 pages, 53%, x. 8% inches; cloth; maps, charts and tables; published by Amer- ican Exporter; for sale by MARINE REVIEW; price $10, prepaid. This book was prepared to provide ir. readily accessible form a resume of facts about the world's markets useful for purpose of reference by. American business men. The scope of the, bock was determined to a con- siderable extent as a result of the actual experience of the editor in pro- viding data of similar nature upon re- quest to manufacturers and exporters, forwarding agents and others. The conclusion of the war resulted in the creation of 13 new independent states in Europe and one in the near east as well as territorial changes in nine other European nations. Par- ticular attention is given in this book to these new states and a fund of information regarding 'their trade laws, both temporary and settled, is given in detail. Heretofore detailed information re- garding foreign markets generally has been obtainable only from widely scattered sources, many published in foreign languages. Weights, measures and moneys named in these foreign publications usualiy were those of the country of publication. This book converts these data into terms and amounts with which Americans are | familiar. The information is presented in concise form.