CANADIAN WATERWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 336, 24 October 1908, Page 5

CANADIAN WATERWAYS.

GEORGIAN BAY SCHEME. NEW GRAIN ROUTE TO THE ATLANTIC. (BI IILEQBArH—PBESS ASSOCIATION'—CO I'Tit I GUT. I Ottawa, October 22. Tho Dominion Premier, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, has announced that' if the revenue continues to increase- at ■' the present rate, the Georgian Bay Canal, 20ft. 'deep, and costing 19 million sterling, will be begun the moment tho : transcontinental railway (tho Grand Trunk) is completed. .■ . \ ESTIMATED COST. SAVING IN. TIME AND DISTANCE. Writihg under date August 14,' the Montreal correspondent of the "Financial Times" says:— 'The project lor a deej> Waterway coiiilectilig the upper Great Lakes with the sea by way of the St. Lawrence River has progressed to such a point that it is probable work upon this enterprise will be sanctioned within the next year by the Canadian Parliament. Another' survey has been made of the proposed route by the engineer in chief of the canal, Which shows that the cost of completing tile waterway for navigation will be considerably less than the original estimate, which was nearly twenty millions sterling. The. last survey has taken up the: western section; where the. work is most difficult. Jlt ; has been ascertained that a channel of a depth of at least 22 feet can be completed from tho western terminus of the waterway on Georgian Bay to Lake Nipissing, the highest point on the route, at a total cost of but .£3,0(10,000, where the first estimate was. about •£4,000,000. This -saving will be effeoted because several changes, can bo rnade in the line of the waterway which will lower' the oxponse for construction. "The outsido estimate of the total' cost iis now placed at about <£15,000,000, which' is considered- -small .i in.y-qontjgsgfc wijjh tho groat traffic which it will 'accommodate betweon the interior of America and the seaboard, and the fact that.the .depth will permit ooean steamships carrying fully 8000 tons of cargo to -load directly. at. the. terminals of the railways on tho upper lakos and carry freight in bulk to Liverpool, Loiidon, Manchester, and' other foreign ports without transfer. The saving in tho transportations of grain, live stock, and other export products from Western America, it is estimated, would not only pay the interest on a bbnd ■ issue of J!20,000,000 at 5 percent;, but all of the expenses of maintaining the channel in operation, including the expense of ice-breakers,, which ,may bo required to prolong tho season of navigation in the spring and fall. The actual outlay for maintaining the waterway itself would bo an insignificant sum, since it would merely represent tho wages on, the lock tenders, and tho few slight repairs which inight ■ be needed from time -to time. ;TW: sitlidti6n-: of the'waterway is. ■ feuch; -that there is no possibility of. damage from floods such.as .may be incurred on the, Panama Canal, and no gVeat.-dams or other protection works are necessary. "The saving, in time and distance which the Georgian Bay and Ottawa route, as it is called, would have can be appreciated by contrasting it with soirle of the waterways and railroad routes which at present connect the interior of the* country with Atlantic Cities. The total distance oovered from Chicago to Liverpool by the lakes and the Erie Canal to New York is 4955 miles, of whioli 920 is by the Lakes, 3511 by canal, 145 on the Hudson River, and 3540 oh the sea. The distance, if land transportation is substituted between Buffalo and New York, is 4913 miles. By way Of tho proposed canal the ontire distance is but 4070 miles, for .the reason .that the length of tho inland waterway. to Montreal is 950 miles, while .tho St. Lawrence seaport is 425 miles nearer • Liverpool than New York. Contrasting the northern passage with that by way of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrehoe River, tho former is found to be 340 miles shorter. If two vessels Started from Chicago to Montreal, leaving at the same. time and travelling- at tho same rate of speed, tho. one going by the Goorgian Bay roiite. woiild be within 170 miles of Montreal when the one taking the present route reached the AVelland Canal. ■' This calculation is made after. allowing for the time required to pass through both lock systems. The estimate shows. that the average time for a trip from Chicago to Montreal and return by way"of Georgian Bay would be ID days, including • time iu port. By tho present route it would be 22J days. "Prom Fort William on Lake Superior a ■cargo of grain shipped to Liverpool by way Of New York must 'travel 4929 miles exact measurement. By way of Georgian Bay, however, the distance is only 4123 miles. Here is a saving of over 800 miles alone in favour of tho Canadian system. -Fort William will probably bo on? of the main loading points for oceans vessels utilising the canal, since it is not only one of the main terminals of the Canadian Paoific, but Of tile Chnadlln Northorn and of the Grand Trunk Pacific. The Canadian Pacific , and Canadian' Northern now have lines running directly from Fort William through Manitoba, Alberta, and # other grain and cattle raising adjacent."