A PASS—THE ROUTE OF A RAILWAYA PASS—THE ROUTE OF A RAILWAY
Rivers.—River-valleys are closely connected with the economic development of a country. Navigable rivers are free and open highways of communication. In newly settled countries the river is always the least expensive means of carriage, and often it is the only one available for the transportation of heavy goods.
In late years, since the railway has become the chief means for the transportation of commodities, river transportation has greatly declined. The river-valley, however, has lost none of its importance; in most instances it is a naturally levelled and graded route, highly suitable for the tracks of the railway. As a result, outside of the level lands of the Great Central Plain, not far from eighty per cent. of the railway mileage of the United States is constructed along river-valleys.
Plateaus.—Plateaus are usually characterized by broken and more or less rugged surface features. As a rule they are deficient in the amount of rainfall necessary to produce an abundance of the grains and similar food-stuffs, although this is by no means the case with all.
Most plateaus produce an abundance of grass, and cattle-growing is therefore an important industry in such regions. Thus, the plateaus of the Rocky Mountains are famous for cattle, and the same is true of the Mexican and the South American plateaus. The Iberian plateau, including Spain and Portugal, is noted for the merino sheep, which furnish the finest wool known. The plateau of Iran is also noted for its wool, and the rugs from this region cannot be imitated elsewhere in the world.
Plains.—Plains are of the highest importance to life and its activities. Not only do they present fewer obstacles to intercommunication than any other topographic features,but almost always they are deeply covered with the fine rock-waste that forms the chief components of soil. Plains, therefore, contain the elements of nutrition, and are capable of supporting life to a greater extent than either mountains or plateaus. About ninety per cent. of the world's population dwell in the lowland plains.
The Great Central Plain of North America produces more than one-quarter of the world's wheat, and about four-fifths of the corn. The southern part of the great Arctic plain, and its extension, the plains of the Baltic also yield immense quantities of grain and cattle products. The coast-plains of the Atlantic Ocean, on both the American and the European side, are highly productive.
River flood-plains are almost always densely peopled because of their productivity. The bottom-lands of the Mississippi and the Yangtze Rivers are among the chief food-producing regions of the world. Lacustrine plains, the beds of former lakes, are also highly productive regions. The valley of the Red River of the North is an example, and its wheat is of a very high quality.
Fertile coast-plains and lowlands that are adjacent to good harbors, as a rule are the most thickly peopled regions of the world. In many such regions the density of population exceeds two hundred or more per square mile. The reason is obvious. Life seeks that environment which yields the greatest amount of nutrition with the least expenditure of energy.
The study of a good relief map shows that, as a rule, the Pacific Ocean is bordered by a rugged highland, which has a more or less abrupt slope, and a narrow coast-plain. Indeed, the latter is absent for the greater part. The slopes of the Atlantic, on the other hand, are long and gentle—being a thousand miles or more in width throughout the greater part of their extent. The area of productive land is correspondingly great, and the character of the surface features is such that intercommunication is easy.
A RIVER FLOOD-PLAIN—A REGION ADAPTED TO CULTIVATIONA RIVER FLOOD-PLAIN—A REGION ADAPTED TO CULTIVATION
The result of these conditions is evident. The Atlantic slopes, though not everywhere the most densely peopled areas, contain the great centres of the world's activities and economies. In the past 400 years they have not only overtaken the Pacific coast races, but have far surpassed them. They are now entering upon a commercial invasion of the Pacific nations that is resulting in a reorganization of the entire industrial world.
Topography and Trade Routes.—As the settlement and commerce of a country grow, roads succeed trails, and trails are apt to follow the paths of migrating animals. Until the time of the Civil War in the United States, most of the great highways of the country were the direct descendants of "buffalo roads," as they were formerly called.
In the crossing of divides from one river-valley to another, the mountain-sections of the railways for the greater part follow the trails of the bison. This is especially marked in the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Chesapeake and Ohio railways; in some instances the tunnels through ranges have been constructed directly under the trails. The reason is obvious; the instinct of the bison led him along routes having the minimum of grade.
Throughout the Mississippi Valley and the great plains the Indian trails usually avoided the bottom-lands of the river-valleys, following the divides and portages instead. This selection of routes was probably due to the fact that the lowlands were swampy and subject to overflow; the portages and divides offered no steep grades, and were therefore more easily traversed.
WHERE COMMODITIES ARE EXCHANGED—NEW YORK CITY WATER-FRONTWHERE COMMODITIES ARE EXCHANGED—NEW YORK CITY WATER-FRONT
Harbors.—Coast outlines have much to do with the commercial possibilities of a region. The "drowned valleys" and similar inlets along the North Atlantic coast, both of Europe and America, form harbors in which vessels ride at anchor in safety, no matter what the existing conditions outside may be. As a result, the two greatest centres of commerce in the world are found at these harbors—one on the American, the other on the European coast.
From New York Bay southward along the Atlantic seaboard there are but few harbors, and this accounts for the enormous development of commerce in the stretch of coast between Portland and Baltimore. San Francisco Bay and the harbors of Puget Sound monopolize most of the commerce of the Pacific coast of the United States. South America has several good harbors on the Atlantic seaboard, and in consequence a large city has grown at the site of each. On the Pacific coast the good harbors are very few in number, and they are not situated near productive regions.
Asiatic peoples, as a rule, are not promoters of foreign commerce, and, those of Japan excepted, the only good harbors are those that have been improved by European governments. These are confined mainly to India and China. The many possible harbors make certain a tremendous commerce in the future. Africa has but very few good harbors. There are excellent harbors in the islands of the Pacific, and many of them are of great strategic value as coaling stations and bases of supply to the various maritime powers.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
The Pennsylvania Railroad has found it more economical to tunnel the mountain-range under Horseshoe Curve, near Altoona, than to haul the trains over the mountains; discuss the details in which there will be a saving.Why are rugged and mountainous regions apt to be sparsely peopled?The first valuable discovery in the Rocky Mountains was gold; what were the chief effects that resulted?Would the industries of the Pacific coast of the United States be benefited or impaired by the existence of a coast-plain?Which are more conducive to commerce—the large mediterraneans, such as the Gulf of Mexico, or the small estuaries, such as New York Bay? Discuss the merits or demerits of each.What are the chief products of mountains, of plateaus, of lowland plains?
The Pennsylvania Railroad has found it more economical to tunnel the mountain-range under Horseshoe Curve, near Altoona, than to haul the trains over the mountains; discuss the details in which there will be a saving.
Why are rugged and mountainous regions apt to be sparsely peopled?
The first valuable discovery in the Rocky Mountains was gold; what were the chief effects that resulted?
Would the industries of the Pacific coast of the United States be benefited or impaired by the existence of a coast-plain?
Which are more conducive to commerce—the large mediterraneans, such as the Gulf of Mexico, or the small estuaries, such as New York Bay? Discuss the merits or demerits of each.
What are the chief products of mountains, of plateaus, of lowland plains?
COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE
Adams's New Empire—Chapter I.Redway's Physical Geography—Chapter IV.A topographic map of the United States.
Adams's New Empire—Chapter I.
Redway's Physical Geography—Chapter IV.
A topographic map of the United States.
MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALLMEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL
Inits effect upon life and the various industries of peoples, climate is a factor even more important than topography. Of the 53,000,000 square miles of the land surface of the earth, scarcely more than one-half is capable of producing any great amount of food-stuffs, and only a very small area can support a population of more than one hundred people to each square mile.
Climate and Habitability.—In the main, regions that are inhabited by human beings produce either food-stuffs or something of value that may be exchanged for food-stuffs; and inasmuch as food and shelter are the chief objects of human activity, regions that will not furnish them are not habitable.
The growth and production of food-stuffs is governed even more by conditions of climate than by those of topography. Thus the great Russian plain is too cold to produce any great amount of food-stuffs, and it is, therefore, sparsely peopled. The northern part of Africa and the closed basins of North America and Asia lack the rainfall necessary to insure productivity, and these regions are also unhabitable. The basin of the Amazon has a rainfall too great for cereals and grasses, and the larger part of it is unfit for habitation.
All the food-stuffs are exceedingly sensitive to climate. Rice will not grow where swampy conditions do not prevail at least during part of the year. Turf-grass will not live where there are repeated droughts of more than threemonths' duration, and corn will not ripen in regions having cool nights. Wheat does not produce a kernel fit for flour anywhere except in the temperate zone; and the banana will not grow outside the torrid zone.
The two chief factors of climate are temperature and moisture. No forms of life can withstand a temperature constantly below the freezing-point of water, and but few, if any, can endure a constant heat of one hundred and twenty-five degrees, although most species can exist at temperatures beyond these limits for a short time.
Zones of Climate.—The belt of earth upon which the sun's rays are nearly or quite vertical is comparatively narrow. But the inclination of the earth's axis and the fact that it is parallel to itself at all times of the year create zones of climate. These differ materially in the character of the life, forms, and the activities of the people who dwell in them.
In the torrid zone the temperature varies but little. During the season of rains it rarely falls to 70° F., and in the dry season it is seldom higher than 95° F. As a result, all sorts of plants that are sensitive to low temperatures thrive in the torrid zone. It is not a climate suitable for heat-producing food-plants, and they are not required.
The constant heat and excessive moisture of the atmosphere in the torrid zone is apt to produce a feeling of lassitude among the dwellers in such regions, moreover, and great bodily activity is out of question. These conditions seriously affect the lives of the people, and, with few exceptions, tropical peoples are rarely noted for energy or enterprise. Great commercial enterprises are the exception rather than the rule, and they are usually carried on by foreigners who must live a part of the time in cooler localities.
THE EFFECTS OF HIGH LATITUDE—TOO COLD TO PRODUCE BREAD-STUFFSTHE EFFECTS OF HIGH LATITUDE—TOO COLD TO PRODUCE BREAD-STUFFS
Polar regions are deficient both in the heat and light necessary for food-stuffs. Neither the grasses nor the grains fructify. As a result, but few herbivora can live there, and these are practically restricted to the musk-ox and the reindeer, which subsist on mosses and lichens. The native people are stunted in growth; their food consists mainly of raw blubber, and they are scarcely above savagery.
The temperate zones are the regions of the great industries and activities of human life. The larger part of the land surface of the earth is situated in these zones; moreover, the people who dominate the world also live in them, and their supremacy is due largely to conditions of climate. The alternation of summer and winter causes a struggle for existence that develops the intellectual faculties and results in industrial supremacy.
Effects of Altitude.—There is a decrease of temperature of 1° F. for about every three hundred feet of ascent. But few people live at an altitude of more than six thousand feet above sea-level, and in many cases they depend on other localities for the greater part of their food-stuffs, because very few of such regions produce food-stuffs abundantly.
The chief exceptions to this rule are found in tropical regions. The highlands of Mexico, the plateau-regions of Bolivia and Ecuador, and the highlands of southern Asia are habitable, but they are not densely peopled. Because of their altitude they are relieved of the enervating effects of tropical climate at the sea-level.
Altitude likewise affects the amount of rainfall. Most plateaus are arid. As a rule, they are arid because of their altitude; and because of their aridity they are deficient in their power to produce food-stuffs. They are therefore sparsely peopled.
Effects of Rainfall.—Regions having considerably more than one hundred inches of rain annually are veryapt to be forest-covered, and therefore to be deficient in food-producing plants. Such localities have usually a sparse population, in spite of the profusion of vegetation. In some parts of India, lands that have been left idle for a few seasons produce such a dense jungle of wild vegetation that to reclaim them for cultivation is wellnigh impossible.
A deficiency of rainfall is even a greater factor in restricting the density of population than too much rain. With less than fifteen or twenty inches a year few regions produce good crops of grains and grasses, and as a result they are sparsely peopled. Some of the exceptions, however, are important. If the rainfall is not quite enough to produce a normal overflow to the sea, the soil may be very rich, because the nutrition is not leached out and carried away.
Many small areas of this character produce enormous crops when artificially watered, and many of them, such as Persia, parts of Asia Minor, northern Utah, and large areas of Australia and Chile have become regions of considerable commercial importance. The products of such regions are apt to be unique in character and of unusual value. Thus, the wool of Persia and Australia and the fruit of the Iberian peninsula are important articles of commerce.
In Egypt one may see the results of irrigated lands. The area of geographical Egypt is somewhat less than half a million square miles; the habitable part of the country is confined to a narrow strip, which, one or two places excepted, varies from three to six miles in width. In other words, almost the whole population of the country is massed in the flood-plain and delta of the Nile; the remaining part is a desert producing practically nothing.
The water that makes these lands productive falls, notin Egypt, but in the highlands of Abyssinia, 2,000 miles away. The September overflow of the flood-plain is the chief factor in the irrigation of these lands, but the area has been greatly increased by the construction of barrages and dams at Assiut and Assuan.
In the western highland region of the United States considerable areas already have been made productive by irrigation, and it is estimated that about two million acres of barren land can be reclaimed by impounding the waters of the various streams now running to waste.
The distribution of rain with respect to the season in which it falls is quite as important as its distribution with respect to quantity. In tropical regions the ocean winds, and therefore the rainfall, come from the east. The eastern slopes of such regions, therefore, have a season in which rains may be expected daily, and another in which no rain falls for several months. In the temperate zones seasonal rains for a similar reason are on the western coasts.
Thus on the Pacific coast of the United States the rainfall varies from about one hundred inches in southern Alaska to about twelve in San Diego, Cal. Practically all the rain falls between October and the following May; very little or none falls in the interval between May and October. As a result, ordinary turf-grass, which will not withstand long droughts, grows in only a few localities of the Pacific slope. It is replaced by hardier grasses whose roots, instead of forming turf, grow very deep in the soil.
Common clover will not grow in this region unless irrigated; it is replaced by burr-clover, a variety of the plant that will not thrive in moist regions. Now the quality of the merino wool clip of California depends in no slight degree upon the burr-clover and other food-products that thrive in regions of seasonal rains; that is, a great commercial industry exists because of this feature of rainfall, and it could not long survive in spite of it.
CLIMATICALLY ADAPTED TO CULTIVATION—THE LOWLANDS PRODUCE BREAD-STUFFS AND FRUIT; THE MOUNTAIN-SLOPES ARE GRAZING REGIONSCLIMATICALLY ADAPTED TO CULTIVATION—THE LOWLANDS PRODUCE BREAD-STUFFS AND FRUIT; THE MOUNTAIN-SLOPES ARE GRAZING REGIONS
The seasonal rainfall also affects other agricultural industries. The sacked wheat-crop may be left in the field without cover or protection until the time is convenient for shipping it. The absence of summer rains makes possible in California what would be out of question in the Mississippi Valley, where a rainstorm may be expected every few days.
The quality of certain fruits depends largely on the season during which the rainfall occurs. Apples, pears, and grapes grown in regions having dry summers have usually a very superior flavor. The raisin-making industry of California also depends on the same condition, because, in order to insure a good quality of the product, the bunches of grapes, after picking, must be dried on the ground. To a certain extent this is also true of other fruits, such as dates, figs, and prunes, which frequently are sun-dried.
The presence of large bodies of water, which both absorb and give out their heat very slowly, tempers the climate of the nearby land and to that extent modifies the commerce of such districts. The grape-growing industry of central New York is a great one and its product is famous. Its existence depends almost wholly upon the lake-tempered climate. Elsewhere in the State the industry is on a precarious basis, and the product is inferior.
Effects of Inclination of the Earth's Axis.—The inclination and self-parallelism of the earth's axis is undoubtedly a very important factor in climate. Practically it more than doubles the width of the belts of ordinary food-stuffs by lengthening the summer day in the temperate zone. Beyond the tropics the obliquity of the sun'srays are more than balanced by the increased length of time in which they fall.
Thus, in the latitude of St. Paul, the longest day is about fifteen and one-half hours long; at Liverpool it is nearly seventeen hours long; a greater number of heat units therefore are received in these latitudes during summer than are received in equatorial regions during the twelve-hour day. Moreover, the summer temperature is higher in these latitudes than in the torrid zone, because the sun is shining upon them for a greater length of time.
The result of these various influences is far-reaching. Because of the long summer days and short nights, wheat can be cultivated to the sixtieth parallel. Corn, which gets scarcely enough warmth and light in the torrid zone to become a prolific crop, attains its greatest yield in the latitude of fourteen-hour days.
These factors, it is evident, carry the grain and meat industries into regions that otherwise would not be habitable. Because the long summer days produce these great food-crops, commerce and its allied industries have reached their maximum development in these regions. Human activities are greatest in the zones bounded by the thirty-fifth and fifty-fifth parallels, the zone that includes the greater parts of the United States, Europe, China, Japan. They are greatest, moreover, because of their geographical position.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What would be the probable effect on the food-crops of the United States were the main body of the country moved twenty degrees north in latitude? Which would then be the wheat-growing States, the cotton-producing States?Illustrate the connection between occupation and altitude above sea-level.What difference would it make to the corn-crop were the days and nights always twelve hours long?What would be requisite to make Canada a centre of silk production?Why is not cod-fishing an industry off the east coast of Florida?Why is the greater part of the Russian Empire destined to be sparsely peopled?
What would be the probable effect on the food-crops of the United States were the main body of the country moved twenty degrees north in latitude? Which would then be the wheat-growing States, the cotton-producing States?
Illustrate the connection between occupation and altitude above sea-level.
What difference would it make to the corn-crop were the days and nights always twelve hours long?
What would be requisite to make Canada a centre of silk production?
Why is not cod-fishing an industry off the east coast of Florida?
Why is the greater part of the Russian Empire destined to be sparsely peopled?
FOR COLLATERAL REFERENCE
A rain chart of the world.A chart of isothermal lines.
A rain chart of the world.
A chart of isothermal lines.
Ofall the adjustments which come into the lives of a people none has been so far-reaching as the gradual localization of industries each in the region best adapted to it. For instance, manufacturing industries require power, but not fertile soil; therefore the manufacturing industries seek nearness to fuel or to water-power, and a position available for quick transportation.
Farming does not require any great amount of natural power; on the contrary, level land having a great depth of fertile soil is the essential feature. The farmer must therefore look first of all to conditions of topography and climate, and secondly to the means of transporting his crop.
Mining cannot be an industry in regions destitute of minerals; the miner must therefore go where the mineral wealth is found, without regard to climate, soil, centres of population, or topography. But two things are required—the mineral products and the means of getting them to the people—that is, ready means of transportation.
A century or more ago, each centre of population in the United States was practically self-sustaining. Each grew its own food-stuffs, and manufactured the articles used in the household. But very little was required in the way of transportation. The means of carriage were mainly ox-carts, pack-horses, and rafts. There was a mutual independence among the various centres, it is true, but the independence was at the expense of civilization and the comforts of life.
OCEAN TRANSPORTATION—ROYAL MAIL STEAMSHIP OCEANIC, WHITE STAR LINEOCEAN TRANSPORTATION—ROYAL MAIL STEAMSHIP OCEANIC, WHITE STAR LINE
Beyond an independence that is more apparent than real, such a plan of social and industrial organization has but little in it to commend. Intercommunication increases knowledge, and under the conditions that formerly prevailed, there was a lack of the breadth of knowledge that comes with the mutual contact of peoples.
The utilization of national resources, such as the productiveness of the land, the existence of iron ore, coal, copper, and other economic minerals, finally brought about the policy of a territorial division of industries. This, in turn, made the prompt transportation and exchange of commodities essential; indeed, without such a plan, industrial centres could not long exist.
The man whose sole business is manufacture must look to others for his supply of food-stuffs and raw materials, and these are produced more economically at a distance from the centre of manufacture. Thus England must look to the United States for wheat and cotton, to the Australian Commonwealth for wool, and to New Zealand and the United States for meat. Her chief wealth is in her coal and iron, and these make the nation a great manufacturing centre. So, also, the manufacturer of New York must go to Pittsburg for steel, to Minneapolis for flour, and to Chicago for beef.
The application of this principle is very broad; it is the foundation of all commerce, and it underlies modern civilization. For this reason the question of transportation is just as important to a community as the industries of agriculture, mining, and manufacture. Food-stuffs are of no use unless they can be transported to the people who want them; nor can peoples remain in unproductive regions unless the food-stuffs are brought to them.
The gross tonnage of goods is transported mainly in one or another or all of three ways—namely, by animalpower, by railway, or by water. Thus, the cotton-crop of the United States is usually transported by wagon from the plantation to the nearest station or boat-landing; by rail or by barge to the nearest seaport; and by ocean steamship to the foreign seaport.
Water transportation is more economical than land carriage, for the reason that less power is required to move a given tonnage through the water than on the most perfectly graded railway. Steamship freights, as a rule, are lower than those of sailing-vessels, because a steamship has more than twice the speed, and, being larger, can carry a greater tonnage. Freight rates on the Great Lakes are higher per ton-mile than on the ocean, because the vessels are necessarily smaller than those built for ocean traffic. For a similar reason, river and canal freights are higher than lake freights. Railway transportation is economical, partly because a single locomotive will draw an enormous weight of goods, and partly because of the high speed at which the goods move from point to point. Animal transportation is more expensive than any other means ordinarily employed.
Ocean Transportation.—In many respects, water-routes form the most available and economical methods of transportation. Intercontinental commerce must be carried on by means of deep-water vessels. Therefore an extraordinary development of ocean carriers has taken place in the past century.
One important period of development began with the rise of American commerce. Just after the close of the War for Independence, it was found that deep-water ships could be built of New England timber for thirty-five dollars per ton, rated tonnage, while a vessel of the same burden built in Europe cost about forty-five dollars per unit of tonnage. Two types of vessels came into use—one, the clipper ship with square sails, was used for long ocean voyages; the other, the schooner, with fore-and-aft rigging, was employed mainly in the coast-trade.
A SQUARE-RIGGED SHIP—A TYPE NOW BEING REPLACED BY FORE-AND-AFT RIGGED SCHOONERSA SQUARE-RIGGED SHIP—A TYPE NOW BEING REPLACED BY FORE-AND-AFT RIGGED SCHOONERS
In speed and ease of management these vessels surpassed anything that had ever sailed. In time they became the standards for the sailing-vessels of all the great commercial nations. The types of the vessels are still standards.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN STEAMSHIPTHE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN STEAMSHIP
The Development of the Steamship.—Another important era in ocean commerce began when steam was used as a motive power for vessels. The first deep-water vessel thus to be propelled was the Savannah. Her steam-power was merely incidental, however, and her paddle-wheels were unshipped and taken aboard when there wasenough wind for sailing. Up to 1860 almost all the ocean steamships were side-wheelers, propelled by low-pressure beam-engines.
The next most important improvement was the screw-blade propeller, placed astern. This means of propulsion called for higher speed of the engines, and in a very short time compactly built high-pressure engines took the place of the low-pressure engine with its heavy walking-beam. The latter carried steam at a pressure varying from twenty to thirty-two pounds; the modern boiler has steam at 260 pounds per square inch.
Ocean steamships have gradually evolved into two types. The freighter, broad in beam and capacious, is built to carry an enormous amount of freight at a moderate speed. The White Star liner Celtic is a vessel of this class; her schedule time between New York and Liverpool is about nine days. The Philadelphia of the American line, though not the fastest steamship, makes the same trip in an average time of five and one-half days.[7]
Twin-screws, instead of a single propeller, are employed on nearly all the large liners. The gain in speed is not greatly increased, but the vessel is far more manageable with two screws than with one; moreover, if one engine breaks down, the vessel can make excellent time with the other.
Triple-expansion engines are almost universally used on modern steamships, and a pound of coal now makes about three times as much steam available as in the engines formerly used. As a result a bushel of wheat is now carried from Fargo, N. Dak., to Liverpool for about twenty-one cents—less than one-half the freight tariff of 1876.
THE SCHOONER THOMAS A. LAWSON. THE FIRST SEVEN-MASTED SAILING-VESSELTHE SCHOONER THOMAS A. LAWSON. THE FIRST SEVEN-MASTED SAILING-VESSEL
The fastest liners consume from three hundred and fifty to more than four hundred tons of coal a day, and for each additional knot of speed the amount of coal burned must be greatly increased. Freighters like the Celtic consume scarcely more than half as much as those of the Kaiser Wilhelm II. type.
Sailing-Craft.—In spite of the growth and development of steam-navigation, a large amount of freight is still carried by sailing-craft; moreover, it is not unlikely that the relative proportion of ocean freight carried by sailing-vessels will increase rather than decrease, especially in the case of imperishable freight.
The square-rigged ship, or bark, has been very largely replaced by the fore-and-aft, or schooner-rigged vessel. A large full-rigged ship requires a crew of thirty to thirty-six men; a schooner-rigged vessel needs from sixteen to twenty. These vessels are commonly built with three and four masts; some of the largest have six or seven. They carry as many as five thousand tons of freight at a speed of about ten knots—only a trifle less than that of an ordinary tramp freighter. Some of the larger vessels are provided with auxiliary engines and propelling apparatus, which enables them to enter or to leave port without the assistance of a tug. Donkey-engines hoist and lower the sails, and perform the work of loading and unloading. They are admirable colliers and grain-carriers.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, about ninety thousand sailing-craft and thirty-five thousand steam-vessels were required to carry the world's commerce. Of this number, Great Britain and her colonies register nearly thirty-five thousand, and the United States over twenty thousand.
Harbor Safeguards.—Excepting the open anchorages formed by anglesin coast-lines, the greater number of harbors consist of small coves and river-mouths. In these, although there may be a considerable area of water, there is not apt to be much sailing room; it is therefore necessary to mark off the navigable channels. For this purpose buoys of different shapes and colors are used by day; by night fixed and flashing lights are employed.The buoys of permanent channels are usually hollow metal cylinders or cones about two feet in diameter, anchored so that the end of the cylinder projects about three feet above the water. On entering a channel from the seaward, red buoys are on the starboard, or right hand; white buoys are kept on the port, or left side. Buoys at the end of a channel are usually surmounted each by some device or other fastened at the upper end of a perch. Thus, at the outer entrance of Gedney Channel in New York Harbor, a ball surmounts the perch; at the inner entrance the buoy carries a double square. Sharp angles in a channel are similarly marked. In many instances the buoy carries, as a warning signal, a bell that rings as the buoy is rocked by the waves; in others, a whistle that sounds by the air which the rocking motion compresses within the cylinder; still others carry electric or gas lights.The color of a buoy is an index of its character. Thus, one with black and red stripes indicates danger; one with black and white vertical stripes is a channel-marker. Temporary channels are frequently marked by pieces of spar floating upright. In some cases it is customary to set untrimmed tree-tops on the port, and trimmed sticks on the starboard.Light-houses are built at all exposed points of navigated coast-waters, and beacons are set at all necessary points within a harbor for use at night. All lights are kept burning from sunset until sunrise. The color, the duration, and the intervals of flashing indicate the position of the beacon. In revolving lights the beams, concentrated by powerful lenses, sweep the horizon as the lantern about the light revolves. Flashing lights are produced when the light is obscured at given intervals. Fixed lights burn with a steady flame. In some instances a sector of colored glass is set so as to cover a given part of a channel. Range lights, set so that one shows directly above the other, are used as channel-markers.CITY OF NEW YORK AND VICINITY, WITH HARBOR APPROACHESCITY OF NEW YORK AND VICINITY, WITH HARBOR APPROACHESThe use of lights may be seen as a vessel enters New York Lower Bay. A steamship drawing not more than eighteen feet of water may enter through Swash Channel (follow the course on the chart). In this case the pilot makes for Scotland lightship, and merely keeps New Dorp and Elmtree beacons in range, giving Dry Romer a wide berth to starboard, until Chapel Hill and Conover beacons come into range on his port side. The vessel is then held on a course between Coney Island and Fort Tompkins lights until Robbins Reef light shows ahead.For the liners that draw more than eighteen feet the task is more difficult, inasmuch as the channel is tortuous. At Sandy Hook lightship a course lying nearly west takes the vessel to the outer entrance of Gedney Channel, marked by two buoy-lights. In passing between the lights the vessel enters the channel, which is also covered by the red sector of Hook beacon. The pilot continues between the buoy-lights until Waacaack and Point Comfort beacons are in range, and steers to this range until South Beacon and Sandy Hook light are in range astern. The helm is then turned, keeping these lights in range astern until Chapel Hill and Conover beacons are in range on the port bow. Turning northward nearly eight points, the pilot holds the bow of the vessel between Fort Tompkins and Coney Island lights, keeping sharply to his range astern, until Robbins Reef light comes into view through the narrows. From this point on, the shore lights are the pilot's chief guide.So difficult are harbor entrances, that in most cases the underwriters will not insure a vessel unless the latter is taken from the outer harbor to the dock by a licensed pilot, and the latter must spend nearly half a lifetime as an apprentice before he receives a license. The charges for pilotage are usually regulated by the number of feet the vessel draws. The charges differ in various ports, but the devices for marking and lighting the channels are much the same in every part of the world. In the United States all navigable channels are under the control of the general Government.
Harbor Safeguards.—Excepting the open anchorages formed by anglesin coast-lines, the greater number of harbors consist of small coves and river-mouths. In these, although there may be a considerable area of water, there is not apt to be much sailing room; it is therefore necessary to mark off the navigable channels. For this purpose buoys of different shapes and colors are used by day; by night fixed and flashing lights are employed.
The buoys of permanent channels are usually hollow metal cylinders or cones about two feet in diameter, anchored so that the end of the cylinder projects about three feet above the water. On entering a channel from the seaward, red buoys are on the starboard, or right hand; white buoys are kept on the port, or left side. Buoys at the end of a channel are usually surmounted each by some device or other fastened at the upper end of a perch. Thus, at the outer entrance of Gedney Channel in New York Harbor, a ball surmounts the perch; at the inner entrance the buoy carries a double square. Sharp angles in a channel are similarly marked. In many instances the buoy carries, as a warning signal, a bell that rings as the buoy is rocked by the waves; in others, a whistle that sounds by the air which the rocking motion compresses within the cylinder; still others carry electric or gas lights.
The color of a buoy is an index of its character. Thus, one with black and red stripes indicates danger; one with black and white vertical stripes is a channel-marker. Temporary channels are frequently marked by pieces of spar floating upright. In some cases it is customary to set untrimmed tree-tops on the port, and trimmed sticks on the starboard.
Light-houses are built at all exposed points of navigated coast-waters, and beacons are set at all necessary points within a harbor for use at night. All lights are kept burning from sunset until sunrise. The color, the duration, and the intervals of flashing indicate the position of the beacon. In revolving lights the beams, concentrated by powerful lenses, sweep the horizon as the lantern about the light revolves. Flashing lights are produced when the light is obscured at given intervals. Fixed lights burn with a steady flame. In some instances a sector of colored glass is set so as to cover a given part of a channel. Range lights, set so that one shows directly above the other, are used as channel-markers.
CITY OF NEW YORK AND VICINITY, WITH HARBOR APPROACHESCITY OF NEW YORK AND VICINITY, WITH HARBOR APPROACHES
The use of lights may be seen as a vessel enters New York Lower Bay. A steamship drawing not more than eighteen feet of water may enter through Swash Channel (follow the course on the chart). In this case the pilot makes for Scotland lightship, and merely keeps New Dorp and Elmtree beacons in range, giving Dry Romer a wide berth to starboard, until Chapel Hill and Conover beacons come into range on his port side. The vessel is then held on a course between Coney Island and Fort Tompkins lights until Robbins Reef light shows ahead.
For the liners that draw more than eighteen feet the task is more difficult, inasmuch as the channel is tortuous. At Sandy Hook lightship a course lying nearly west takes the vessel to the outer entrance of Gedney Channel, marked by two buoy-lights. In passing between the lights the vessel enters the channel, which is also covered by the red sector of Hook beacon. The pilot continues between the buoy-lights until Waacaack and Point Comfort beacons are in range, and steers to this range until South Beacon and Sandy Hook light are in range astern. The helm is then turned, keeping these lights in range astern until Chapel Hill and Conover beacons are in range on the port bow. Turning northward nearly eight points, the pilot holds the bow of the vessel between Fort Tompkins and Coney Island lights, keeping sharply to his range astern, until Robbins Reef light comes into view through the narrows. From this point on, the shore lights are the pilot's chief guide.
So difficult are harbor entrances, that in most cases the underwriters will not insure a vessel unless the latter is taken from the outer harbor to the dock by a licensed pilot, and the latter must spend nearly half a lifetime as an apprentice before he receives a license. The charges for pilotage are usually regulated by the number of feet the vessel draws. The charges differ in various ports, but the devices for marking and lighting the channels are much the same in every part of the world. In the United States all navigable channels are under the control of the general Government.
Inland Waters.—Lakes, rivers, and canals furnish a very important means of transportation. In Europe and Canada an enormous amount of slow freight is transported by their use; in China they are the most important means of internal traffic.
THE COMMERCE OF THE OHIO—TOWING COAL TO THE STEEL MILLS, PITTSBURGTHE COMMERCE OF THE OHIO—TOWING COAL TO THE STEEL MILLS, PITTSBURG
In the United States the Great Lakes with the Erie Canal and Hudson River form the most important internal water-way, and by them the continent is penetrated as far west as Duluth, a distance of more than one thousand three hundred miles. The traffic passing out of Lake Superior alone is about one-third greater than that passing out of the Mediterranean Sea at the Suez Canal. Much of this traffic goes across the continent, and the route in question is one of the great commercial highways of the world.
The Mississippi River and its branches afford not far from ten thousand miles of navigable waters. Canals connect tributaries of this river with the Great Lakes at Chicago and at several points in Ohio. The development of the navigation of this great water-way was checked by the Civil War, and after the close of the war the great advance in railway building kept its improvement in the background. The general government, nevertheless, has done much to encourage the use of the Mississippi as a commercial highway, and many millions of dollars have been spent in widening and deepening its channel.[8]On the upper river grain and lumber form the chief traffic; on the lower part a large part of the world's cotton-crop starts on its journey to the various markets.
On account of the soft-coal fields and the steel manufacture in western Pennsylvania, the commerce of the Ohio River is very heavy, aggregating not far from fifteen million tons yearly. Much of this traffic extends to ports on the Mississippi.
The navigable parts of the Hudson and Delaware Rivers are estuaries of the sea or "drowned valleys." In each case navigation extends about to the limits of high tide. Both rivers carry a heavy freight commerce; the Hudsonhas a passenger traffic of several million fares each year. Nearly every river of the Atlantic coast is navigable to the limit of high tide or a little beyond. Navigation extends to the point where the coast-plain joins the foot-hills. Above this limit, called the "Fall Line," the streams are swift and shallow; below it they are deep and sluggish. As a result, a chain of important river ports extends along the Fall Line from Maine to Florida.
River-navigation in Europe in the main is inseparably connected with the great canal systems. As a rule, the lower parts of the rivers are navigable for steamboats of light draught. Some of the smaller streams are made navigable by means of a long steel chain, which is laid along the bed of the stream; the boat engages the chain by means of heavy sprocket wheels driven by steam, and thus wind the boat up and down the river.
Ocean steamers penetrate the Amazon Valley to a distance of one thousand miles from its mouth; boats of light draught ascend the main stream and some of its tributaries a thousand miles farther. The Orinoco is navigable within one hundred miles of Bogota. Light-draught boats ascend the tributaries of La Plata River a distance of fifteen hundred miles.
The Asian rivers that are important highways of commerce are few in number. The Amur, Yangtze, Indus, and Cambodia have each considerable local commerce. The Hugli, a channel in the delta of the Ganges, has a channel deep enough for ocean steamships. The tributaries of the Lena, Yenisei, and Ob have been of the greatest service in the commercial development of northern Asia from the fact that their valleys are both level and fertile.
Because of a high interior and abrupt slopes, the rivers of Africa are not suitable for navigation to any considerable extent; the channels are uncertain and the rivers areinterrupted by rapids. The Nile has an occasional steamboat service as far as the "First Cataract," but in high water the service is sometimes extended farther. The Kongo has a long stretch of navigable water, but is interrupted by rapids below Stanley Pool. Similar conditions obtain in the Zambezi. The lower part of the Senegal affords good navigation. The Niger has in many respects greater commercial possibilities than other rivers of Africa. It is navigable to a distance of three hundred miles.
Canals.—Canals easily rank among the most important means of traffic, as a rule, supplementing other navigable waters. Thus, by means of an elaborate system of canals, goods are transferred by water, from one river-basin to another, so that practically all the navigable streams of western Europe are connected. Canals are extensively used to avoid the falls or rapids that separate the various reaches of rivers. The water itself by means of locks lifts the boat to a higher level or transfers it to a lower reach, thus saving the expense of unloading, transferring, and reloading a cargo.
The manner in which canals supplement the obstructed navigation of a river is seen in the case of the St. Lawrence. This river is obstructed in several places by rapids, but by means of canals steamship service connects the Great Lakes, not only with Quebec, but with ports of the Mediterranean Sea as well; indeed, it is possible to send a cargo from Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, to Odessa or Batum, on the shores of the Black Sea.
The internal water-ways of Canada have been splendidly developed. The Canadian St. Marys Canal furnishes an outlet to Lake Superior for vessels drawing twenty-one feet. The Welland Canal connects Lakes Erie and Ontario. The Rideau Canal and River connect Kingston and Lake Ontario with the Ottawa, and the latter with itscanals is navigable to the St. Lawrence. With a population of less than six millions the Dominion Government has spent nearly one hundred million dollars in the improvement of internal water-ways.