[1] Great Falls was a pioneer among the cities of the state in the
development of a park system. When the city was first settled its
site was a "barren tract of sand, thinly covered with buffalo-grass
and patches of sage brush." The first settler, Paris Gibson, of
Minneapolis, began the planting of trees, which, though not
indigenous, grew well. The city's sidewalks are bordered by strips of
lawn, in which there is a row of trees, and the city maintains a
large nursery where trees are grown for this purpose. A general state
law (1901) placing the parking of cities on a sound financial basis
is due very largely to the impulse furnished by Great Falls. See an
article, "Great Falls, the Pioneer Park City of Montana," by C. H.
Forbes-Lindsay, in the _Craftsman_ for November 1908.
GREAT HARWOOD, an urban district in the Darwen parliamentary division of
Lancashire, England, 4-1/2 m. N.E. of Blackburn, on the Lancashire and
Yorkshire railway. Pop. (1901) 12,015. It is of modern growth, a
township of cotton operatives, with large collieries in the vicinity. An
agricultural society is also maintained.
GREATHEAD, JAMES HENRY (1844-1896), British engineer, was born at
Grahamstown, Cape Colony, on the 6th of August 1844. He migrated to
England in 1859, and in 1864 was a pupil of P. W. Barlow, from whom he
became acquainted with the shield system of tunnelling with which his
name is especially associated. Barlow, indeed, had a strong belief in
the shield, and was the author of a scheme for facilitating the traffic
of London by the construction of underground railways running in
cast-iron tubes constructed by its aid. To show what the method could
do, it was resolved to make a subway under the Thames near the Tower,
but the troubles encountered by Sir M. I. Brunel in the Thames Tunnel,
where also a shield was employed, made engineers hesitate to undertake
the subway, even though it was of very much smaller dimensions (6 ft. 7
in. internal diameter) than the tunnel. At this juncture Greathead came
forward and offered to take up the contract; and he successfully carried
it through in 1869 without finding any necessity to resort to the use of
compressed air, which Barlow in 1867 had suggested might be employed in
water-bearing strata. After this he began to practise on his own
account, and mainly divided his time between railway construction and
taking out patents for improvements in his shield, and for other
inventions such as the "Ejector" fire-hydrant. Early in the 'eighties he
began to work in conjunction with a company whose aim was to introduce
into London from America the Hallidie system of cable traction, and in
1884 an act of Parliament was obtained authorizing what is now the City
& South London Railway--a tube-railway to be worked by cables. This was
begun in 1886, and the tunnels were driven by means of the Greathead
shield, compressed air being used at those points where water-bearing
gravel was encountered. During the progress of the works electrical
traction became so far developed as to be superior to cables; the idea
of using the latter was therefore abandoned, and when the railway was
opened in 1890 it was as an electrical one. Greathead was engaged in two
other important underground lines in London--the Waterloo & City and the
Central London. He lived to see the tunnels of the former completed
under the Thames, but the latter was scarcely begun at the time of his
death, which happened at Streatham, in the south of London, on the 21st
of October 1896.
GREAT LAKES OF NORTH AMERICA, THE. The connected string of five
fresh-water inland seas, Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and
Ontario, lying in the interior of North America, between the Dominion of
Canada on the north and the United States of America on the south, and
forming the head-waters of the St Lawrence river system, are
collectively and generally known as "The Great Lakes." From the head of
lake Superior these lakes are navigable to Buffalo, at the foot of lake
Erie, a distance of 1023 m., for vessels having a draught of 20 ft.;
from Buffalo to Kingston, 191 m. farther, the draught is limited, by the
depth in the Welland canal, to 14 ft.; lake Superior, the largest and
most westerly of the lakes, empties, through the river St Mary, 55 m.
long, into lake Huron. From Point Iroquois, which may be considered the
foot of the lake, to Sault Ste Marie, St Mary's Falls, St Mary's Rapids
or the Soo, as it is variously called, a distance of 14 m., there is a
single channel, which has been dredged by the United States government,
at points which required deepening, to give a minimum width of 800 ft.
and a depth of 23 ft. at mean stage water. Below the Sault, the river,
on its course to lake Huron, expands into several lakes, and is divided
by islands into numerous contracted passages. There are two navigated
channels; the older one, following the international boundary-line by
way of lake George, has a width of 150 to 300 ft., and a depth of 17
ft.; it is buoyed but not lighted, and is not capable of navigation by
modern large freighters; the other, some 12 m. shorter, an artificial
channel dredged by the United States government in their own territory,
has a minimum width of 300 ft. and depth of 20 ft. It is elaborately
lighted throughout its length. A third channel, west of all the islands,
was designed for steamers bound down, the older channel being reserved
for upbound boats.
Between lake Superior and lake Huron there is a fall of 20 ft. of which
the Sault, in a distance of 1/2 m., absorbs from 18 to 19-1/2 ft., the
height varying as the lakes change in level. The enormous growth of
inter-lake freight traffic has justified the construction of three
separate locks, each overcoming the rapids by a single lift--two side by
side on the United States and one on the Canadian side of the river.
These locks, the largest in the world, are all open to Canadian and
United States vessels alike, and are operated free from all taxes or
tolls on shipping. The Canadian ship canal, opened to traffic on the 9th
of September 1895, was constructed through St Mary Island, on the north
side of the rapids, by the Canadian government, at a cost of $3,684,227,
to facilitate traffic and to secure to Canadian vessels an entrance to
lake Superior without entering United States territory. The canal is
5967 ft. long between the extremities of the entrance piers, has one
lock 900 ft. long and 60 ft. wide, with a depth on the sills at the
lowest known water-level of 20-1/2 ft. The approaches to the canal are
dredged to 18 ft. deep, and are well buoyed and lighted. On the United
States side of the river the length of the canal is 1-2/3 m., the
channel outside the locks having a width varying from 108 to 600 ft. and
depth of 25 ft. The locks of 1855 were closed in 1886, to give place to
the Poe lock. The Weitzel lock, opened to navigation on the 1st of
September 1881, was built south of the old locks, the approach being
through the old canal. Its chamber is 515 ft. long between lock gates,
and 80 ft. wide, narrowing to 60 ft. at the gates. The length of the
masonry walls is 717 ft., height 39-1/2 ft., with 17 ft. over mitre
sills at mean stage of water. The Poe lock, built because the Weitzel
lock, large and fully equipped as it is, was insufficient for the
rapidly growing traffic, was opened on the 3rd of August 1896. Its
length between gates is 800 ft.; width 100 ft.; length of masonry walls
1100 ft.; height 43-1/2 to 45 ft., with 22 ft. on the mitre sill at mean
stage.
The expenditure by the United States government on the canal, with its
several locks, and on improving the channel through the river,
aggregated fourteen million dollars up to the end of 1906.[1] Plans were
prepared in 1907 for a third United States lock with a separate canal
approach.
The canals are closed every winter, the average date of opening up to
1893 being the 1st of May, and of closing the 1st of December. The
pressure of business since that time, aided possibly by some slight
climatic modification, has extended the season, so that the average date
of opening is now ten days earlier and of closing twelve days later. The
earliest opening was in 1902 on the 1st of April, and the latest closing
in 1904 on the 20th of December.
The table below gives the average yearly commerce for periods of five
years, and serves to show the rapid increase in freight growth.
_Statement of the commerce through the several Sault Ste Marie canals,
averaged for every five years._[2]
+------------+--------+------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| | Pass- | Registered | Passen-| Coal. | Flour. | Wheat. | Other | General | Salt. | Iron Ore. | Lumber. | Total |
| Years. | ages. | Tonnage. | gers. | Net Tons. | Barrels. | Bushels. | Grains. |Merchandise.| Barrels.| Net Tons. | M. ft. | Freight. |
| | | | | | | | Bushels. | Net Tons. | | | B.M. | Net Tons. |
+------------+--------+------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
| 1855-1859* | 387 | 192,207 | 6,206 | 4,672 | 19,555 | None. | 34,612 | 2,249 | 1,248 | 27,206 | 320 | 55,797 |
| 1880-1884 | 4,457 | 2,267,166 | 34,607 | 463,431 | 681,726 | 5,435,601 | 936,346 | 81,966 | 107,225 | 867,999 | 79,144 | 2,184,731 |
| 1885-1889 | 7,908 | 4,901,105 | 29,434 | 1,398,441 | 1,838,325 | 18,438,085 | 1,213,815 | 74,447 | 175,725 | 2,497,403 | 197,605 | 5,441,297 |
| 1890-1894 | 11,965 | 9,912,589 | 24,609 | 2,678,805 | 5,764,766 | 34,875,971 | 1,738,706 | 87,540 | 231,178 | 4,939,909 | 510,482 | 10,627,349 |
| 1895-1899 | 18,352 | 18,451,447 | 40,289 | 3,270,842 | 8,319,699 | 57,227,269 | 23,349,134 | 164,426 | 282,156 | 10,728,075 | 832,968 | 19,354,974 |
| 1900-1904 | 19,374 | 26,199,795 | 54,093 | 5,457,019 | 7,021,839 | 56,269,265 | 26,760,533 | 646,277 | 407,263 | 20,020,487 | 999,944 | 31,245,565 |
| 1906 alone | 22,155 | 41,098,324 | 63,033 | 8,739,630 | 6,495,350 | 84,271,358 | 54,343,155 | 1,134,851 | 468,162 | 35,357,042 | 900,631 | 51,751,080 |
+------------+--------+------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+---------+------------+---------+------------+
* The first five years of operation.
Around the canals have grown up two thriving towns, one on the Michigan,
the other on the Ontario side of the river, with manufactories driven by
water-power derived from the Sault. The outlet of lake Michigan, the
only lake of the series lying wholly in United States territory, is at
the Strait of Mackinac, near the point where the river St Mary reaches
lake Huron. With lake Michigan are connected the Chicago Sanitary and
Ship canal, the Illinois and Michigan, and the Illinois and Mississippi
canals, for which see Illinois. With lake Huron is always included
Georgian Bay as well as the channel north of Manitoulin Island. As it is
principally navigated as a connecting waterway between lakes Superior
and Michigan and lake Erie it has no notable harbours on it. It empties
into lake Erie through the river St Clair, lake St Clair and the river
Detroit. On these connecting waters are several important manufacturing
and shipping towns, and through this chain passes nearly all the traffic
of the lakes, both that to and from lake Michigan ports, and also that
of lake Superior. The tonnage of a single short season of navigation
exceeds in the aggregate 60,000,000 tons. Extensive dredging and
embankment works have been carried on by the United States government in
lake St Clair and the river Detroit, and a 20-ft. channel now exists,
which is being constantly improved. Lake St Clair is nearly circular, 25
m. in diameter, with the north-east quadrant filled by the delta of the
river St Clair. It has a very flat bottom with a general depth of only
21 ft., shoaling very gradually, usually to reed beds that line the low
swampy shores. To enter the lake from river St Clair two channels have
been provided, with retaining walls of cribwork, one for upward, the
other for downward bound vessels. Much dredging has also been necessary
at the outlet of the lake into river Detroit. A critical point in that
river is at Limekiln crossing, a cut dredged through limestone rock
above the Canadian town of Amherstburg. The normal depth here before
improvement was 12-1/2-15 ft.; by a project of 1902 a channel 600 ft.
wide and 21 ft. deep was planned; there are separate channels for up-
and down-bound vessels. To prevent vessels from crowding together in the
cut, the Canadian government maintains a patrol service here, while the
United States government maintains a similar patrol in the St Mary
channel.
The Grand Trunk railway opened in 1891 a single track tunnel under the
river St Clair, from Sarnia to Port Huron. It is 6026 ft. long, a
cylinder 20 ft. in diameter, lined with cast iron in flanged sections. A
second tunnel was undertaken between Detroit and Windsor, under the
river Detroit.
From Buffalo, at the foot of lake Erie, the river Niagara runs
northwards 36 m. into lake Ontario. To overcome the difference of 327
ft. in level between lakes Erie and Ontario, the Welland canal,
accommodating vessels of 255 ft. in length, with a draught of 14 ft.,
was built, and is maintained by Canada. The Murray canal extends from
Presqu'ile Bay, on the north shore of lake Ontario, a distance of 6-1/2
m., to the headquarters of the Bay of Quinte. Trent canal is a term
applied to a series of water stretches in the interior of Ontario which
are ultimately designed to connect lake Huron and lake Ontario. At
Peterboro a hydraulic balance-lock with a lift of 65 ft., 140 ft. in
length and 33 ft. clear in width, allowing a draught of 8 ft., has been
constructed. The ordinary locks are 134 by 33 ft. with a draught of 6
ft. When the whole route of 200 m. is completed, there will not be more
than 15 m. of actual canal, the remaining portion of the waterway being
through lakes and rivers. For the Erie canal, between that lake and the
Hudson river, see ERIE and NEW YORK.
The population of the states and provinces bordering on the Great Lakes
is estimated to be over 35,000,000. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, south of
lake Erie, there are large coal-fields. Surrounding lake Michigan and
west of lake Superior are vast grain-growing plains, and the prairies of
the Canadian north-west are rapidly increasing the area and quantity of
wheat grown; while both north and south of lake Superior are the most
extensive iron mines in the world, from which 35 million tons of ore
were shipped in 1906. The natural highway for the shipment of all these
products is the Great Lakes, and over them coal is distributed westwards
and grain and iron ore are concentrated eastwards. The great quantity of
coarse freights, that could only be profitably carried long distances by
water, has revolutionized the type of vessel used for its
transportation, making large steamers imperative, consolidating
interests and cheapening methods. It is usual for the vessels in the
grain trade and in the iron-ore trade to make their up trips empty; but
in consequence of the admirable facilities provided at terminal points,
they make very fast time, and carry freight very cheaply. The cost of
freight per ton-mile fell from 23/100 cent in 1887 to 8/100 cent in
1898; since then the rate has slightly risen, but keeps well below 1/10
cent per ton-mile.
The traffic on the lakes may be divided into three classes, passenger,
package freight and bulk freight. Of passenger boats the largest are 380
ft. long by 44 ft. beam, having a speed of over 20 m. an hour, making
the round trip between Buffalo and Chicago 1800 m., or Buffalo and
Duluth 2000 m., every week. They carry no freight. The Canadian Pacific
railway runs a line of fine Tyne-built passenger and freight steamers
between Owen Sound and Fort William, and these two lines equal in
accommodation transatlantic passenger steamers. On lake Michigan many
fine passenger boats run out of Chicago, and on lake Ontario there are
several large and fast Canadian steamers on routes radiating from
Toronto. The package freight business, that is, the transportation of
goods in enclosed parcels, is principally local; all the through
business of this description is controlled by lines run by the great
trunk railways, and is done in boats limited in beam to 50 ft. to admit
them through bridges over the rivers at Chicago and Buffalo. By far the
greatest number of vessels on the lakes are bulk freighters, and the
conditions of the service have developed a special type of vessel.
Originally sailing vessels were largely used, but these have practically
disappeared, giving place to steamers, which have grown steadily in size
with every increase in available draught. In 1894 there was no vessel on
the lakes with a capacity of over 5000 tons; in 1906 there were 254
vessels of a greater capacity, 12 of them carrying over 12,000 tons
each. For a few years following 1890 many large barges were built,
carrying up to 8000 tons each, intended to be towed by a steamer. It was
found, however, that the time lost by one boat of the pair having to
wait for the other made the plan unprofitable and no more were built.
Following 1888 some 40 whale-back steamers and barges, having oval
cross-sections without frames or decks, were built, but experience
failed to demonstrate any advantage in the type, and their construction
has ceased. The modern bulk freighter is a vessel 600 ft. long, 58 ft.
beam, capable of carrying 14,000 tons on 20 ft. draught, built with a
midship section practically rectangular, the coefficient frequently as
high as .98, with about two-thirds of the entire length absolutely
straight, giving a block coefficient up to .87. The triple-expansion
machinery and boilers, designed to drive the boat at a speed of 12 m. an
hour, are in the extreme stern, and the pilot house and quarters in the
extreme bow, leaving all the cargo space together. Hatches are spaced at
multiples of 12 ft. throughout the length and are made as wide as
possible athwartships to facilitate loading and unloading. The vessels
are built on girder frames and fitted with double bottoms for strength
and water ballast. This type of vessel can be loaded in a few minutes,
and unloaded by self-filling grab buckets up to ten tons capacity,
worked hydraulically, in six or eight hours. The bulk freight generally
follows certain well-defined routes; iron ore is shipped east from ports
on both sides of lake Superior and on the west side of lake Michigan to
rail shipping points on the south shore of lake Erie. Wheat and other
grains from Duluth find their way to Buffalo, as do wheat, corn (maize)
and other grains from Chicago. Wheat from the Canadian north-west is
distributed from Fort William and Port Arthur to railway terminals on
Georgian Bay, to Buffalo, and to Port Colborne for trans-shipment to
canal barges for Montreal, and coal is distributed from lake Erie to all
western points. The large shipping trade is assisted by both governments
by a system of aids to navigation that mark every channel and danger.
There are also life-saving stations at all dangerous points.
The Great Lakes never freeze over completely, but the harbours and often
the connecting rivers are closed by ice. The navigable season at the
Sault is about 7-1/2 months; in lake Erie it is somewhat longer. The
season of navigation has been slightly lengthened since 1905, by using
powerful tugs as ice-breakers in the spring and autumn, the Canadian
government undertaking the service at Canadian terminal ports, chiefly
at Fort William and Port Arthur, the most northerly ports, where the
season is naturally shortest, and the Lake Carriers' Association, a
federation of the freighting steamship owners, acting in the river St
Mary. Car ferries run through the winter across lake Michigan and the
Strait of Mackinac, across the rivers St Clair and Detroit, and across
the middle of lakes Erie and Ontario. The largest of these steamers is
350 ft. long by 56 ft. wide, draught 14 ft., horse power 3500, speed 13
knots. She carries on four tracks 30 freight cars, with 1350 tons of
freight. Certain passenger steamers run on lake Michigan, from Chicago
north, all the winter.
The level of the lakes varies gradually, and is affected by the general
character of the season, and not by individual rainfalls. The variations
of level of the several lakes do not necessarily synchronize. There is
an annual fluctuation of about 1 ft. in the upper lakes, and in some
seasons over 2 ft. in the lower lakes; the lowest point being at the end
of winter and the highest in midsummer. In lake Michigan the level has
ranged from a maximum in the years 1859, 1876 and 1886, to a minimum
nearly 5 ft. lower in 1896. In lake Ontario there is a range of 5-1/2 ft.
between the maximum of May 1870 and the minimum of November 1895. In
consequence of the shallowness of lake Erie, its level is seriously
disturbed by a persistent storm; a westerly gale lowers the water at its
upper end exceptionally as much as 7 ft., seriously interfering with the
navigation of the river Detroit, while an easterly gale produces a
similar effect at Buffalo. (For physiographical details see articles on
the several lakes, and UNITED STATES.)
There is geological evidence to show that the whole basin of the lakes
has in recent geological times gradually changed in level, rising to the
north and subsiding southwards; and it is claimed that the movement is
still in gradual progress, the rate assigned being .42 ft. per 100 m.
per century. The maintenance of the level of the Great Lakes is a matter
of great importance to the large freight boats, which always load to the
limit of depth at critical points in the dredged channels or in the
harbours. Fears have been entertained that the water power canals at
Sault Ste Marie, the drainage canal at Chicago and the dredged channel
in the river Detroit will permanently lower the levels respectively of
lake Superior and of the Michigan-Huron-Erie group. An international
deep-waterway commission exists for the consideration of this question,
and army engineers appointed by the United States government have worked
on the problem.[3] Wing dams in the rivers St Mary and Niagara, to
retard the discharges, have been proposed as remedial measures. The
Great Lakes are practically tideless, though some observers claim to
find true tidal pulsations, said to amount to 3-1/2 in. at spring tide
at Chicago. Secondary undulations of a few minutes in period, ranging
from 1 to 4 in., are well marked.
The Great Lakes are well stocked with fish of commercial value. These
are largely gathered from the fishermen by steam tenders, and taken
fresh or in frozen condition to railway distributing points. In lakes
Superior and Huron salmon-trout (_Salvelinus namaycush_, Walb) are
commercially most important. They ordinarily range from 10 to 50 lb. in
weight, and are often larger. In Georgian Bay the catches of whitefish
(_Coregonus clupeiformis_, Mitchill) are enormous. In lake Erie
whitefish, lesser whitefish, erroneously called lake-herring (_C.
artedi_, Le Sueur), and sturgeon (_Acipenser rubicundus_, Le Sueur) are
the most common. There is good angling at numerous points on the lakes
and their feeders. The river Nipigon, on the north shore of lake
Superior, is famous as a stream abounding in speckled trout (_Salvelinus
fontinalis_, Mitchill) of unusual size. Black bass (_Micropterus_) are
found from Georgian Bay to Montreal, and the maskinonge (_Esox
nobilior_, Le Sueur), plentiful in the same waters, is a very game fish
that often attains a weight of 70 lb.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--E. Channing and M. F. Lansing, _Story of the Great
Lakes_ (New York, 1909), for an account of the lakes in history; and
for shipping, &c., J. O. Curwood, _The Great Lakes_ (New York, 1909);
_U.S. Hydrographic office publication_, No 108, "Sailing directions
for the Great Lakes," Navy Department (Washington, 1901, seqq.);
_Bulletin No. 17_, "Survey of Northern and North-western Lakes," Corps
of Engineers, U.S. War Department, U.S. Lake Survey Office (Detroit,
Mich., 1907); _Annual reports of Canadian Department of Marine and
Fisheries_ (Ottawa, 1868 seqq.). (W. P. A.)