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Show IN SLUMP PREPARED FOR ' BIG LAKE TRAFFIC GAIN Equipment for Greatest Shipping Trade In the World Has Been Enlarged Chicago, Jan. 24. The official closing clos-ing of navigation on tho great lakes, which may bo expected any day now, since the See has begun to form in the Soo and the Straits of Maclnac, will mark the end or one of the most Important seasons in the history of these great . Inland weas, which now carry, according to Governor John-sen John-sen of Minnesota, a larger volume of traffic each year than the combined foreign commerce of all the nations on the globe. While the actual ton-rage ton-rage this year shows a falling off, due partly to the business depression, important projects to increase the carrying car-rying capacity of the fleets and Improve Im-prove harbor facilities have been set on foot that will assure a greater volume vol-ume of traffic than any that has been dreamed of before, and the next season sea-son already promises to break all previous records. Everywhere plans aro on foot for deepening harbors and Increasing docknge. New steamships are being built and railroads are extending their terminals. Canada is not falling fall-ing behld the United States in this particular. The Grand Trunk system, sys-tem, which connects with more' shipping' ship-ping' points on tho great lakes than cny other railroad has announced the establishment of a new port on Georgian Bay, with mammoth elevators elevat-ors to store the wheat of the western provinces. Two giant steamers have been ordered by the same road, whose lines north of Lake Huron and Superior Super-ior are being extended every day. And this is only what one railroad Is doing. Few people realize the important part the great lakes play In the commercial com-mercial life of the north American continent or the story of development and progress that is told by the en ormous growth of the lake traffic since tho eighties. One-third of the tonnage registered nnder the American Amer-ican flag belongs to the lake fleets. In the last twenty years one billion tons of freight have been shipped over these Inland waters an average distance of 1000 miles and last jear four times as much tonnage cleared the docks at the 'S'oo" as passed through the Suez canal. The growth in the size of the lake craft Is no less striking. In the CO's the bulk of tho freight was handled In schooners of 500 or 600 tons burden, bur-den, with a few "propellers" and "sldo-v. "sldo-v. heelers," that still relied on sails as much as on 6team for their motive power. The giant steamers that now plough the waters of Superior, Huron end Michigan are many of them 600 feet long with a gross tonnage of 7000 and a carrying capacity of 12,000 tc ns of cargo. Hand Jn hand with this enormous growth In the size of the steamboats has gone the gigantic work of deepening tanals and harbors har-bors to accommodate them. Uucle Sam's bill for this work to date has be-on upwards of $75,000,000. The Canadian government has spent ally about December 12, but the records rec-ords which have been kept since 18S1 show that it has been known to close as earl as December 2 and as late as December 21. even more than this and from the first has shown a keen realization of the great commercial possibilities oi this vast natural highway, the navigable navi-gable length of which is over 1400 miles. The latest developments, and the most important ones, are those undertaken by the Grand Trunk system. sys-tem. The establishment of terminals at Tiffin, on Georgian Bay,, will create cre-ate a new port and one which will differ from any other northern one on the five lakes In that it can be kept open all the year round. This will be accomplished by the use of icebreakers. ice-breakers. At present much of tho grain from western Canada that leaves Fort William, on Lako Superior, goes to Buffalo. Elevators are now being Luilt at Tiffin that will take care ot part of this, whence -it will be shipped ship-ped through eastern Canada to tidewater. tide-water. The elevator is an immense affair with a storage capacity of 10.-000,000 10.-000,000 bushels and an unloading capacity cap-acity of .40,000 bushols an hour. Four years ago there was no harbor at this point When the railroad men first came to the place there was nothing but a wilderness of pine stumps and brush and where the steam dredges are now working were only rocks and waves. The greatest increase in the carrying carry-ing capacity on the lake is that which will be made by the new fleet of fast steamers which is belug built by the Northern Navigation company. These vessels will carrv passengers as well as freight and will set new speed records rec-ords between Fort William and Sar-nia Sar-nia The first of them, the Ifamonic, which has Just been launched, Is a good typo of the new capacious liners which are rapidly displacing the miscellaneous mis-cellaneous craft of the old days. The Hamonlc Is now the fastest vessel on the lakes. She is 365 feet long, has a gross tonnage of 5,000, and can carry 100.000 bushels of wheat besides the passengers. Ships like this are veritable ver-itable ocean liners, with all the accommodations ac-commodations that would be found on a trip across the Atlantic. The" bulk of the tonnage on the Groat Lakes 90 per cent of it consists con-sists of Iron ore, coal, grain and flour and lumber. The iron ore originates on Lake Superior and moves east It forms half the tonnage. Tho coal is largelv westbound freight and forms one-fifth of the total tonnage. The grain, flour and lumber moves east for the most part and passes through the "Soo" or the Straits of Mackinaw. It is estimated that cargoes worth over half a billion dollars pass through tho "Soo" canal every year. There are nearly 200 ports on the Great Lakes, and new ones are occasionally occa-sionally created. Nearly all these are closed for traffic when the ice sets In In December. Lighthouse service stops at that dato and insurance companies com-panies decline further veBscl risks until un-til Bprlng. The exact date of closing varies somewhat, according to the season sea-son and the locality, hut the official dato is based on the closing of the ca-nal ca-nal at Sault Ste Marie. This is usu- |