THE ST. LAWRENCE COAL TRADE.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14982, 1 June 1914, Page 8

THE ST. LAWRENCE COAL TRADE.

Some facts which have a special interest in view of the presont catastrophe were given to a representative of "The Press' - -yesterday by a resident of Christchurch. There is quite a ror gular little fleet of six or eignt colliers, ho said, plying on the St. Lawrence between Sydney (Nova Scotia) and Montreal, and from Louisburg to Boston, during the summer months. These boats carry some half a million tons of/coal annually. The St. Lawrence is one of the worst parts of the world in.respect of fog, and heavy fogs aro frequont there even in the Bummer. Narrow escapes from collision owing to this cause are frequent. Our informant himself had an experience of this kind in 1905, when the Dominion, on which he was travelling, narrowly missed another vessel in a fog. Or" course, boats are supposed to' slow down in a fog, but as a matter of fact the colliers do not usually 6i__en pace much, as it is necessary for them for trade reasons to make rapid trips. In this way the dangers of the navigation of the river are materially increased.