might." It took the Parliament only five days to pass the necessary eight war bills, and to appropriate $50,000,000 for war expenditures. This sum was to be raised by increasing the customs and excise duties on sugar, spirits, coffee, and tobacco. Meanwhile patriotic enthusiasm was rampant throughout the length and breadth of the land. Manitoba was offering to create a battalion of infantry; Hamilton Gault of Montreal was equipping a special regiment, the "Princess Patricia's Light Infantry," at a cost of $100,000; the Dominion government was donating 1,000,000 bags of flour to Great Britain; the Hindus of Vancouver were offering to equip 500 Hindu soldiers who had seen service in India; Mr. J. K. Ross generously gave $500,000 to the finance minister, out of a fortune made in Canadian coal and iron; the province of Quebec proffered 4,000,000 pounds of cheese; Nova Scotia promised 100,000 tons of coal; J. C. Eaton of Toronto gave $100,000 for a battery of quick-firers and offered his yacht Florence, the fastest on the Great Lakes, as well as his wireless station at Toronto, the most powerful north of Long Island, for the use of the government; Prince Edward Island came forward with 100,000 bushels of oats, British Columbia with 25,000 cases of tinned salmon, Manitoba with 50,000 bags of flour, Ontario with 250,000 bags of flour, Saskatchewan with 1500 horses; Sir Thomas Shaughnessy donated a hospital ship to be equipped by the women of Canada; the Bank of Montreal contributed $100,000 and the Canadian Pacific a like amount; and a Patriotic Fund was started by popular subscription, which by October 12 exceeded $5,000,000. Gratifying as were such manifestations of loyalty, they would not fight the Empire's battles. Now the Canadians sighed for warships to offer; fortunately Canada was able to purchase two powerful submarines, just completed for Chile, and to place them at the Admiralty's disposal, together with the Canadian cruisers Niobe and Rainbow. And as for soldiers, Canada immediately offered to send an expeditionary force of 20,000 or more, and issued a call for volunteers. So generous was the response, that within three weeks there were 32,000 men in the Canadian training camp at Valcartier, preparing for active service, and almost 10,000 others under arms; while 150,000 had volunteered their services and were waiting only to be called. Consequently Colonel Hughes, minister of defense, was able to announce that the Canadian expeditionary force would be increased to 31,200 men and 7500 horses. The expeditionary force of over 30,000 was dispatched, and Canadian soldiers were sent to garrison Bermuda and Newfoundland, and still there were as was announced on October 12 -some 200,000 men drilling in Canada. On October 18, Sir Robert Borden declared that Canada would keep 30,000 volunteers continually in active training, to be drawn upon in units of 10,000 at regular intervals during the course of the war. The first Canadian contingent, which was transported by giant liners to gladden the eyes of English folk at Plymouth (where the Canadian expeditionary force arrived on Oct. 14, 1914), and to share in the battle for Britain, was but the beginning. Not to be overlooked was the effect of the war in welding together the French and the English factions in Canada. The friction between French Canadians and English Canadians had been especially irritating before the outbreak of the war. In Ontario, for example, the question of teaching French in schools in French districts was so warmly agitated that an Irish professor was removed by the FrenchCanadian authorities of Ottawa University and the English-speaking students went on strike in April. Similarly in Montreal old jealousies were revived by the election of a French-speaking mayor for the term which had customarily been given to one of English extraction. Where the English-speaking population prevailed, the French had for long years been subjected to slights, it was argued, and therefore in places where the French element was in a majority the English could hardly complain if their privileges were curtailed. Again in Winnipeg the issue was raised, this time on religious rather than linguistic grounds, when in April a big Catholic banquet refused to give the King precedence over the Pope on the list of toasts. Several prominent persons placed a political interpretation upon this incident and accused the Catholics-who were largely French Canadians of being disloyal to the King; but this quite unjustifiable accusation was strenuously repudiated by the Catholics, who demonstrated their unimpeachable patriotism by singing the National Anthem at their banquet before honoring the toast of "the Pope." Bishop Fallon of London, who was the principal speaker, even carried the war into the enemy's camp by saying, "It is late in the day to teach us a lesson in loyalty, with Sir Edward Carson drilling to drive the Empire to irremediable ruin." But all these petty quarrels and misunderstandings vanished in a moment when war was declared, and while Frenchmen and Englishmen fought side by side in the Old World, French and English Canadians in the New World were drawn together in a new bond of union. To the 2400 FrenchCanadians who joined the first contingent Colonel Hughes paid unreserved tribute of praise; in addition, with the warm approbation of Sir Robert Borden, the French Canadians of Quebec and Ontario undertook to raise a special French regiment; and it was suggested that 15 French regiments might eventually be formed. For other items of interest see articles on the separate Provinces of the Dominion. CANADIAN RAILWAYS. See CANADA. CANALS. Aside from the Panama Canal which is discussed under its own head some of the more notable work of the year is outlined in the following paragraphs. CAPE COD CANAL. The Cape Cod Canal, the construction of which had been under way for a number of years, was formally opened on July 29, 1914, and communication established between the waters of Buzzards Bay on the south and those of Cape Cod Bay on the north, shortening the distance between Vineyard Sound and Boston by about 70 miles, and eliminating considerable danger due to hidden reefs and banks along the coast of the cape, and the prevalence of fogs. The canal is a sea-level canal without locks, and practically a straight line with but a single curve. It is lighted by electricity at night, so that a passage can be made at any time either night or day. The railway and highway bridges, which are modern, are structures mostly of the bascule type, having a width of 150 feet in clear between the piers. For the greater part of its length the canal has a bottom width of 100 feet and a depth of 25 feet at mean low water, and at three points the bottom width is increased to 250 feet so as to make passing points for vessels, while in the approaches a width of 250 350 feet is maintained in the channel which extends to deep water at both ends of the canal, the two approaches having a combined length of about five miles. In addition to the excavation an important engineering feature was the massive breakwater, 3000 feet in length from the shore line, to protect the entrance of the canal from filling in by the action of the waves, in addition to forming a shallow harbor for shipping. The excavation for the most part was done by hydraulic dredges. There were two of these machines, capable of handling 4000 cubic yards per day, and the most difficult part of the work, which aggregated the handling of 20,000,000 cubic yards, was to remove a deposit of bowlders, some of which were of large size. These were excavated by a type of steam shovel. In addition to its commercial features the Cape Cod Canal forms a link in the scheme of water commerce along the Atlantic Coast and thus possesses some strategic and military value. The water traffic from the south to New England amounts annually to $25,000,000, a large part of which is coal, and the increased safety and shortening of the trip around the cape were expected to prove important commercial factors for New England. The tolls for passage through the canal as set at the time of opening ranged from $3 for motor boats and other small craft to $70 for freight vessels of from 950 to 999 tons. Those over 1000 gross tons were to pay 10 cents per gross ton for each passage. At the time of opening, the Cape Cod Canal as finished was fully 25 feet deep at low water, except for about one mile in its central portion, where dams separating the two parts had been placed, there being at this time only about 18 feet depth at this portion. During the remainder of the year this central section was being removed and the canal generally put in order for deep draft ships in the spring of 1915. The work of improvement undertaken during the closing months of the year in cluded the lighting of the channel with electric lamps for a 500-foot distance, the placing of piles at either end and near the approaches, where vessels might moor, and other work necessary to the passage of large steamers and deep draft barges in the summer of 1915. The United States government was engaged in installing buoys in the Buzzards Bay approach and constructing a lighthouse on the end of the breakwater in Cape Cod Bay. From the time of opening to the end of the year yachts, fishing schooners, and other small craft to the number of 600 passed through the new channel and the number was increasing daily. In bad weather, which occurred off Cape Cod during December, the canal was eagerly availed of by such craft. Towards the end of the year lower tolls through the Cape Cod Canal were made effective to meet the needs of crude material carriers engaged in traffic to and from New Eng land. Vessels carrying loads through the canal were thus entitled to use the canal free when returning empty. NEW YORK BARGE CANAL. During the year the engineers of the western division of the New York State Barge Canal prepared plans for the construction of a section of the canal under six railroad crossings at Rochester and six west of that city. This work had been postponed on ac count of litigation as to the right of the State to exercise eminent domain in the case of the land occupied by the railroads. It was decided that the State had this right, but it must build and maintain approaches necessary for crossing the railroads. By the end of September it was stated that about 70 per cent of the work on the canal between Buffalo and Albany had been turned over by the contractors to the State. The total length of waterway involved in the improvement of the various systems, embraced in the New York Barge Canal, including the lakes forming a part thereof, was approximately 530 miles, 435 of which were embraced in the improvement of the Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals, and 95 of which were embraced in the Cayuga and Seneca canal system. Of this total mileage the State Engineer and Surveyor of New York reported that there had been completed to Dec. 1, 1914, approximately 300 miles on the Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals improvement and 70 miles on the Cayuga and Seneca canal improvement, making a total of 370 miles of completed waterway of dimensions sufficient to accommodate Barge canal craft. Or in other words, approximately 70 per cent of the entire length of the contemplated improved canal system had been completed to Barge canal dimensions on that date. Of those portions which had not been completed in their entirety it was conservatively estimated that the work for such sections was at least 80 per cent completed and that the balance of the work necessary to complete such sections should be performed in such time as to permit the entire Barge canal system being utilized sometime during the navigation season of 1916 or by the spring of 1917 at the latest. The State Engineer and Surveyor of the State of New York reported to the legislature on Dec. 29, 1914, that of the total amount of work contracted for there has been performed work amounting approximately to $72,700,000 and there was uncompleted on contract approximately $8,500,000 worth at the end of the fiscal year. On the Cayuga and Seneca Canal at the end of the fiscal year there had been placed under contract work to the amount of $4,852,735, on which there had been completed $3,058,572. At the end of the year all the important structures provided for in the Barge Canal system had been completed with the exception of the guard gate and dam at Rochester, which had been delayed on account of the railroad crossing interference and the delay in providing a scheme of construction in the Genesee River. The completion of the dam at Crescent was to be hastened so that the work would be finished prior to the opening of navigation in the spring of 1915, and make possible the canalization of the Mohawk River from Waterford to Schenectady. By the spring of 1916 it was estimated that the canal from the Hudson LAKE STEAMER "JAMES A FARRELL" IN NEW CANAL AWAITING THE FIRST DOWN LOCKAGE. River at Waterford to the city of Oswego on Lake Ontario would be completed to the Barge Canal Terminals, and that portion of the Erie Canal from the junction of the Erie and Oswego Canals at Three River Point as far westerly as the old canal aqueduct in the Montezuma Marshes was nearly completed at the end of the year, as was also the connecting channel from Onondaga Lake to the Seneca River, while in the vicinity of Lyons changes in the plans had somewhat delayed the work. In regard to providing Barge Canal Terminals as authorized by Chapter 746 of the Laws of 1911, by the end of 1914 contracts had been entered into for the construction of terminal walls, piers, etc., at Erie Basin in Buffalo and Gowanus Bay in New York City, at Oswego, at Thomson and at Troy. Terminal contracts were completed at Fonda, Frankfort, Herkimer, Ilion, Ithaca, Little Falls, Lockport, Whitehall, and Albany, while the construction operations at Schenectady, Amsterdam, Fort Plain, and Plattsburgh were practically completed. Contract plans were prepared for other places and for incidental works involved, while much was done in the way of considering plans for operating machinery and warehouses for the handling and storing of freight. ST. MARYS FALLS CANAL. On October 21 the Davis lock, the new third lock, and the separate canal on the American side at Sault Ste. Marie were opened to commerce. The new lock is 1350 feet long between gates, affording a usable length of not less than 1300 feet with a width of 80 feet and a least depth of 241⁄2 feet over the sill. The new separate canal had a width of from 260 to 300 feet. The increased depth of the lock made it no longer necessary for the heaviest draft vessels to use the Canadian canal on account of the limited depth of about 18 feet at low water through the Poe or second American lock. On the first down lockage two steamers carrying 23,000 tons of ore were passed through. The first appropriation for the work was made in 1907 and excavation was in progress since 1909, the masonry being built in 1912 and 1913 and the machinery and gates during 1914. There are two pairs of operating gates in each of the locks so that the total length of the masonry is 1750 feet. The new lock can be filled or emptied in a little more than six minutes, and will accommodate two of the largest lake steamers with one operation. The new canal is crossed by a long Straus bascule bridge, carrying a railway track. During the season of 1914, which was 214 days, the number of vessel passages through the Sault Ste. Marie canals aggregated 12,639 for the United States canal, and 6078 for the Canadian canal, making a total traffic of 18,717 vessels. The net registered tonnage was 24,690,381 for the United States canal and 17,295,985 for the Canadian canal or a total of 41,986,639. The more important items in the list of articles carried through the canals eastbound were iron ore, 31,410,069 tons, wheat 150,284,095 bushels, and grain 68,338,072 bushels, while westbound 2,240,505 tons of hard coal and 12,246,716 tons of soft coal were the more important articles of commerce. THE HOHENZOLLERN CANAL. This canal, joining the rivers Oder and Spree, and connecting Berlin, the capital of Germany, by water with Stettin on the Baltic Sea, 150 miles distant, was opened on June 17 by the German Emperor. The history of this canal dates back to 1669, and its completion marks an epoch in the development of German inland waterways, but it has had other effects in producing cheap transportation in Germany. It makes it possible for vessels of 600 tons and under to go to Berlin from the Baltic, with a saving of more than 50 per cent in freight rates as compared with those of the railways. The canal cost $12,500,000, and it was estimated that some $3,000,000 worth of freight would be shipped annually through the new waterway, while there would be a corresponding benefit to the important seaport of Stettin on the Baltic. KIEL CANAL. During the year the new locks of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal or Kiel Canal were formally opened on June 24. This canal, which was completed in 1895 after eight years of work, extends from the mouth of the Elbe on the North Sea to Kiel on the Baltic, a distance of about 60 miles. It was constructed to have a normal width of 72 feet at the bottom and 220 feet at water level, with a depth of 291⁄2 feet. This canal is an important element in the German scheme of naval defense, and the reconstruction of the locks and increased depth have resulted largely from military necessity. The locks as first built were 492 feet long, 82 feet wide, and 32 feet deep, being arranged to take care of the large tide variations at the western entrance, and the differences and variation of water level in the Baltic, due to gales. The locks at Kiel remained open most of the time, while those at the Elbe were operated only at certain times. The reconstruction of the canal, begun in 1907, involved its enlargement so that when finished in 1914 it had a width of 335 feet at the surface and 144 feet at the bottom, and a depth of 36 feet, while new locks were built at each end. These new locks have an available length of 1082.6 feet and a width of 147.6 feet, while intermediate gates could be used to have a chamber 328 feet long. These locks are of greater length than those of the Panama Canal. The cost of reconstructing the canal was approximately $55,000,000. BALTIC-BLACK SEA CANAL. During the year a favorable report was submitted by the commission appointed by the Russian Duma and Senate in 1910 to consider the proposed BalticBlack Sea canal scheme. The project involved the canalization of the Dnieper and the Dwina, the former flowing into the Black Sea at Kherson and the latter into the Gulf of Lavonia at Riga. These two rivers are separated by a divide at their sources, and they would be connected here by artificial waterways, so that the total length of canal of 1540 miles would be established. NORWAY. During the year the scheme for a waterway between Lake Mjösen, Norway and the sea was brought up and a part of the canalization of the Glommen River was proposed. This would involve building several dams on the section from Vamma to Mörkfas, so as to make the Glommen navigable from Oieren to Sarpsborg and on to Fredericksstad. Natural locks would have to be constructed and various schemes of locks and tunnels in order to make a passage from Scarpsfos Falls feasible. CANAL TOLLS. See PANAMA CANAL TOLLS. |