Show AV re at lakes kes tour 4 power from niagara turns the wheels of industry prepared Pre by national geographic society wash agton D c service JF OAR CAR or by steamer a trip la B around round the great lakes Is a L tour of american commerce and industry if they only lay there basi basl ing in the sun or raging with storms our inland seas would be fin gressle but they have served amer lea as no inland sea has served adoth er land at every corner of the great I 1 akes and bei because use of them busy cities have risen on the bani s of a hun tired dred tiny creeks commerce has planted its loading piers or eleNa elevators tors our bridges crossed our lakes as ore before they crossed a river scarcely a skyscraper whose framework fiame work has not wallowed allowed in the swell of our big sea water before combing our urban skies the story of our great lakes Is one of evabey cheap freight rates of marvelously active fre gaters of fur and lumber iron and grain in the days when the principal crop of america was cold bred fur the st lawrence was the gateway to our mid west fur was the incentive of nico let jo iet marquette and la salle to whom the watershed betheen beaw een the great lakes and the wide api ppl basin was familiar while the british were still settling the seacoast around the lakes fur ceded its mary place to grain or lumber HI III awatha s forest primeval crashed be tore fore paul bunyan s saw and ax then came iron I 1 at the northern end of the lakes whole rust red mountains of ore stood ready for the steam shovels coal moved north and iron south a combi nation providing profitable return car goes wherever a creek creel reached the south shore of lake erie coal and ore were vere tossed back and forth by car tip pie and cla clamshell nishell buffalo a busy port buffalo is a busy gateway to the great lakes reg on protected from early traffic competition by the niagara falls which were later to furnish its light and power this rich inland port stands at the east end of the upper likes pikes and the west end of the only convenient break in the appalachians had an indian interpreter not made a mistake it would have been called beaver a startling but suitable name for this busy creek creel side port A dozen railways now obscure the fact that buffalo is not a creature of the plains but an aquatic city founded on the creek that still sustains it its real greatness began on october 20 1825 when the seneca clief started down the 4 foot deep erie canal on june 22 1933 at chicago salt water from the gulf of mexico was blended with lake michigan water when a flotilla of api ppl river barges bearing spices coffee and su gar arrived at lake mich gan the 9 foot channel does today what river and glacier did more than once in the past links the great lakes with the gulf it took years for joliet s dream of a lakes to gulf water way to come true four routes to tidewater tid evater now exist the illinois waterway w th tb a 9 foot channel the new york state barge canal and its branch to oswego both with a depth of 12 feet and the st lawrence canals fin in which there are 14 feet of water the deepest artificial link is the new welland canal wl acir not only has 30 feet of water on the sills of its spectacular locks loc I 1 s but also at s accomplish es the steepest lift feet in 25 miles while retaining its preeminence pre eminence in the transfer of grain buffalo has since become our milling metropolis in october 1839 when the brig Os ceola brought 1078 1678 bushels of wheat from chicago to buffalo it took sev en days to unload the cargo buffalo buffalos s 29 elevators could now unload that much wheat in less than nine seconds let were they empty it would take e eight hour days to fill them to their capacity of 50 bushels bulk wheat rides from the head of lake superior to the foot of lake erie for about three cents a busl bust el but flour cant be handled in bulk like so much ore or limestone and as a con sequence milling has moved east to a center within miles of anich live 80 60 per cent of our population Clev cleveland elands s cuyahoga Cuya hoga flats like buffalo cleveland owed its early greatness to a creek chic see ret reianes aries high up in the foot tower of cleveland union station look down in spirit as in truth on Cuya hogi flats prom from a towel owned by rall railway ways they can easily identify the Is te to of a cinal canal bed buried un ler a calir ad r of nay vay in the mot str 1 I 1 ng un t of cleveland s amb bious C ty vi 11 athin a cita cit they suney the ugly valley alley which interrupts the plateau alone wl ich the spacious city sprawls the cu Cua al loga oga Is but one of in many any crooked slow slim smelly little riv ers iri with oil edged with rust and crossed by dull black bridges which obsequiously enter the great lakes a es tl TI the best place to study lake shipping would be from a viewing stand off alpena with most roost of the 2 great lakes vessels aggregating 3 tons capacity a fabric of 0 traffic up and down the likes lakes what city has influenced modern mankind more than detroit its busl bust nessi ke stoves and oil burning fur naces hae supplanted the fro romantic mantle hearth its drugs have aided he healani alini around the globe its electric orators have helped banish the iceman most revolutionary of all it put horse po power under the feet of man where les are made most of america americas s automobile fac tortes are adjacent to the great lakes with 50 tons a year of iron ore and coal being borne south and north along the detroit water front and mil lions of tons of limestone from calcite and alpena passing its wharves detroit seems the natural center for au to mobile production but the motor magnates emphasize the human side in king olds leland and ford the city had a group of ingenious restless brains whose value was immeasurable north of detroit there Is limestone and salt and enough fish to fill solid cars which are rushed through to chi cago and new york there are even at times special whitefish planes which fly the food to d stant cities but with such exceptions as port huron bay city alpena calcite muskegon and gary the lake shore in summer Is largely a playground upper michigan pictures hiawatha as a golfer laying a super course which starts at denorn nee Es canaba and manistique Manis tique continues at delightful blaney park and st ignace before cross ing to mackinac Mackl nac island and back to ce darville near les chennaux Ch eneaux islands plays on both the michigan and on tario tarlo shores of the soo drives past newberry and Mun munising ising to marquette and ishpeming in the iron country cie detours tours into the copper territory at cal amet and houghton II hancock takes a look at the B g sea water at on nonagon before turning from woods to irons at ironwood and iron river and then rounds homeward to menominee via crystal falls and iron mountain lake michigan s influence on climate may be measured by orchards from the chernes cherries of traverse city to the peace orchards near bouth south haven the michigan shore Is one vast fruit belt the cool lake breezes from the west retard the blossoming and so prevent damage by frost Cher ryland of n thanks to the tempting influence of green bay over whose portage father marquette and jollet joliet first reached the MIssI mississippi sippI door county Is wisconsin s cher ryland in the canning factory at sturgeon bay neatly operatives wait for the red cascade of cherries to come pouring down into their machines what between cherries and summer r resorts door county Is a busy place and from the observation towers of pen and potawatomi tomi state parks one looks down on a wonderland 0 forest and water tourists resorts and cherry orchards decorated with signs reading pick your own one cent a pound it Is a long jump westward from Cher ryland to duluth superior tt the bb ee huskiest twins on the lakes their rl valry keeps alive local spirit but their combined strength Is of world wide lin two sand pits enclose the most pic tur esque and remarkable harbor of all those around our inland seas with 49 miles of frontage and 17 miles of dredged channels to the northwest a bluff rises so steeply from the water that those who approach over the two main highways suddenly look over the edge of the plateau upon this expanse of city and harbor As long as grain Is grown and he che ones mines bold out duluth superior will rank high among the ports of the world As far as gra n goes they la far behind fort william and port ar thur but down from the plateau comes a never ending procession of ore trains ind back go the coal trains that carry I 1 eat to the I 1 omes and fuel to the fac tories tortes of our great northwest duluth superior as far as tonnage goes ranks second only to new york |