GIGANTIC WATERWAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21553, 26 July 1933, Page 9

GIGANTIC WATERWAY

CHICAGO TO NEW ORLEANS LINCOLN'S HOPE . REALISED } An event of first importance to the f United States of Anieriea was celebrated last month, when tho Illinois Waterway, linking; the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico, was opened by the United States Minister of War, Mr. G. H. Dern. With the arrival of tho first tow of barges direct from New Orleans that long-deferred hope of Abraham Lincoln has at last become reality. The new waterway is hailed as a factor likely to restore economic balance in the nation and to place mid-west industry and business on a parity witli seaboard States. The chief spectacle at the ceremony of dedication was the arrival of tho barge flotilla, bringing the first commercial cargo of spices, coffee and sugar from New Orleans, a total distance of 1000: miles. With- the completion of the Missisippi \ alley system of water transportation, the destiny of this great region becomes manifest. In this valley, so aptly termed the storehouse of the nation, are produced 70 per cent of the country's agricultural products, 50 per cent of its manufactured goods, 60 per cent of its exportable surplus, while within its giant embrace reposes 98 per cent of the country's iron ore deposits, 82 per cent of its coal and 70 per cent of its petroleum, \ - - • Costing 102,000,000 dollars to construct (£20,000,000 at par), the waterway extends 96 miles from Lake Michigan, at Chicago, to the Illinois River at Utica, Ulinpis. Five locks, capable of lifting and lowering 30,000 tons of freight a day and separated by miles of virtual lakes, make possible the operation of the channel, the two euds of which differ in elevation by 129 ft. When the present scheme to provide navigable water from the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic, by way of tho St. Lawrence River, is completed, a voyage as unique as any in the world, will become possible. Vessels "will be able to enter the Great Lakes by way of the St. Lawrence, passing the famous Niagara Falls en route, and to continue their voyage through the Illinois Waterway, down the Illinois River, into the mighty Missisippi and finally out into the Gulf of Mexico.