When it was announced in the _Lumberman_ that the barge Wahnapitæ had
carried a cargo of 2,181,000 feet of lumber, letters were received
asking if it was not a typographical error. It was thought by many
that no boat could carry such a load. For the purpose of showing the
barge on paper, a photograph was obtained of her when loaded at
Duluth, which is herewith reproduced. The freight rate obtained to
Tonawanda was $3.75 a thousand, which footed up to a total of
$8,178.75 The owners of the boat, however, were not satisfied with
such a record, and proceeded to break it by loading at Duluth
2,409,800 feet of lumber, which also went to Tonawanda, and which is
put down as the biggest cargo of lumber on record. At the latter place
the cargo was unloaded on Saturday afternoon and Monday forenoon--one
working day. It will be readily understood that the money-making
capacity of the barge is of the Jumbo order also.
[Illustration: THE BARGE WAHNAPITÆ, LOADED WITH 2,181,000 FEET OF
LUMBER.]
The barge is owned by the Saginaw Lumber and Salt Company and the
Emery Lumber Company, and cost $30,000. She is 275 feet long and 51
feet beam. The lumber on her was piled 22 feet high and she drew 11
feet of water. Had she been 10 inches wider, she could not have passed
through the Soo canal. The boat was built on the Saginaw river a year
ago last winter, and was designed for carrying logs from the Georgian
bay to the Saginaw river and Tawas mills. The Canadian government,
however, increased the export duty on logs, and the barge was put into
the lumber-carrying trade--_N.W. Lumberman._
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