Upon his recommendation a company was formed which obtained from the Canadian Government a grant of nearly two million acres of land in Ontario. A large part of this acreage was covered with forests of pine, spruce, birch, maple and oak, and there were good prospects for iron, nickel, copper and gold. It was the largest single tract of spruce timber in the world.

Gets Control of Sault Waterpower
Mr. Clergue secured control of the Canadian Sault waterpower, then dormant, and began a career of construction well-nigh unequalled on the continent. Besides the rapids on the Canadian shore a pulp-mill arose, one of the largest in the world and using fourteen thousand horse-power. Two railroads were built, the Algoma Central, extending northward from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and the Manitoulin & North Shore, afterward the Algoma Eastern. More land was granted the Company, which under Mr. Clergue's direction uncovered great deposits of iron ore in the Michipicoten district; mined them, drained a lake and built a railroad to Michipicoten Harbor; constructed ore docks there and began the shipment of ore. Blast furnaces followed at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and in logical succession machine shops and foundries, a rail mill and car shops. Ships were brought to transport the Company's ore and coal, docks were built in Sault Ste. Marie, and limestone quarry developed in Mackinac County for fluxing purposes. The first rails made in Canada from Canadian ore were produced. A list of Mr. Clergue's constructive activiities in this region would fill a volume. Twenty-five million dollars were invested in the system created on both sides of the river and all the units of that city dovetailed as it were into each other.

Canal Completed in 1902
The Michigan Northern water power canal and power house were completed under Mr. Clergue's direction in 1902. Fifty seven thousand horsepower were developed, and the canal created an island on which the main business section of Sault Ste. Marie stands. The original project of extending the canal toa point below the little rapids was abandoned, and its course was shortened a mile or more without loss of efficientcy. Ownership passed into other hands, and the power developed is now used largely in the manufacture of calcium carbide by the Union Carbide Company. Its blue and gray drums are familiar throughout the earth, and its products are used by practically every railroad in the country for one or more purposes, by oxyacetylene welders and foundry men, miners, fire departments, physicians, and lighthouse tenders. Union Carbide affords a favorite means of lighting rural and suburban homes, schools, churches, and stores. It is uniquely used in coast guard life-saving equipment. Projectiles charged with Union Carbide are so equipped that gas forms and ignites when they strike the water. A brilliant and steady light ensues whereby rescues can be effected more easily and quickly than would otherwise be possible.

The power-house of the Michigan Northern Power Company is one of the most massive buildings in the United States, being nearly a quarter of a mile long, and constructed of stone blasted out in building the canal. On the occasion of its opening in 1902, a banquet was spread in the enormous building and the city gave itself over to a holiday, while congratulations were showered upon Mr. Clergue.

Clergue Welcomed Back
Time has vindicated the visions of Francis Clergue, though the industries he founded have passed from his control. The financial crisis of 1893 was the principal factor in robbing him of complete victory; nevertheless he has lived to see the children of his brain grow to maturity and prosperity. In the summer of 1923 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, enjoyed a Community Week, when Mr. Clergue was the city's guest of honor. No man ever received a more hearty or unanimous welcome than did he, on the occasion of his return after many years to the scenes of his reverses and his conquests.

The year 1905 marked the completion of half a century of service of the ship canal around St. Mary's Falls. The canal was a prime factor in the development of the greatest marine tonnage concentration in the world. It had been of inestimable advantage to the country. It had enabled the iron and steel industry of the states bordering on the Great Lakes to attain the front rank they now occupy. It had afforded the most ample and economical outlet for the vast products of the trans-Mississippi grain regions. It had made possible the distribution of coal and package freight at rates undreamed of by the railroads. In immediate results it has been the best investment ever made by our Government.

The occasion could not be permitted to pass without a fitting celebration. The initiative was taken by Mr. Peter White of Marquette, one of the '49ers in the north country, and Mr.Charles Harvey, engineer in charge of construction of the first canal and locks. Joint action was taken by the Congress of the United States and the Legislature of the State of Michigan, whereby the National Government appropriated $10,000.00 and the State $15,000.00 to defray the cost of a semi-centennial celebration.

Event Is Most Notable
The event was one of the most notable in the history of the Great Lakes region. The Governor of Michigan appointed a Semi-Centennial Celebration Commission, consisting of Mr. Peter White, Mr. Charles Moore of Detroit, and Mr. Horace M. Oren of Sault Ste. Marie, to be in full charge of all proceedings. The Commission nominated Mr. Charles T. Harvey as chief marshal of the celebration, and arranged a program covering August 2nd and 3rd, 1905, at Sault Ste. Marie. The States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota were invited to participate, as well as the Vice-President of the United States and representatives of the Dominion of Canada.

The weather was perfect and the schedule for two days was carried out without a mishap or variation. Local arrangements were happily administered by a number of committees under the general chairmanship of Mr. Otto Fowle, while 40,000 visitors enjoyed the city's hopitality. A naval parade ascended the river through the Poe lock and descended through the Canadian lock, and Vice-President Fairbanks, Governor Warner and other notables were greeted with uproarious cheering by the crowds on both sides of the river.

In the afternoon of the first day of the celebration Mr. Peter White and Mr. Charles T. Harvey, from the speakers' stand in Brady Field, related many thrilling experiences of former days. Recalling ancient times, a group of half a hundred Chippewa Indians camped beside the reviewing stand. Many of their fathers had lived as warriors in the old Indian village near the site of their tepees. The sons mingled with the white throngs around them, recalling without resentment the old days when navigation on St. Mary's was a matter of canoes, and the incidents which presaged the decline of their race.

Many thousands of spectators viewed the parade in the afternoon of August 2nd. Mr. Charles T. Harvey, Chief Marshal, led the marchers, and the participants included battalions from the First Regiment, United States Infantry, under Major Robert N. Getty; Third Infantry, Michigan National Guard, under Colonel Robert J. Bates; the crew of U. S. S. Wolverine,Commander H. Morrell; and a battalion from the Michigan State Naval Brigade, under Commander Frederick D. Standish. Government officials and other distinguished guests, American and Canadian, occupied many carriages in the parade, which passed in review before the Vice-President and the Governor in Brady Field.

In the evening all the vessels in the river were illuminated, and the twin cities vied with each other in gorgeous displays of fireworks.

Great Array of Talent
The third day of August the representatives of the National Government, the State, the marine interests and the Dominion of Canada spoke from the rostrum. Hon. Chase S. Osborn delivered in happy vein the formal address of welcome in the morning, and addresses followed by the Vice-President, Mr. White, Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, Solicitor-General of Canada, Congressman Theodore Burton, Chairman of the Rivers and Harbors Committee, President William Livingstone of the Lake Carriers' Association, United States Senator Burrows, Senator Dandurand, Speaker of the Canadian Senate, and Mr. Francis J. Clergue. No such aggregation of talent and celebrity had ever graced the north country, nor has any occasion ever been more felicitous.

"The celebration of 1905," says Mr. J. P. Nimmo, "was conceived and consummated as an expression of the scientific and marine achievements of half a century. Popular rejoicing and profitable reflection were its keynotes; education and inspiration were its fruits. The people of Canada and the United States rejoiced over a lasting conquest; in friendly rivalry they bodied forth their national sentiments and their international unity. In reflection on past events they were reminded that there is still much to do, that progress has not done its last work. The passing generation let the bright light in on cloudy memories and saw the Indian and the cnaoe and the wooden craft dropping out of their lives. They saw steel leviathans growing and multiplying, and told their sons of what had happened in their day. They pointed to the military and naval power of their continent and told their sons of the sudden strength of the white man and the white man's government, and that the wilderness and the raging river had become an everlasting heritage. Charles Moore, in "The Northwest Under Three Flags," says: "The capitalists are realizing the dreams of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The trade with Cathway that eluded Nicolet is now maintained by the daily shipments of wood pulp to Japan; the copper that Joliet was unable to discover has at last been found, and with it nickel and iron; Radisson's overland path to Hudson Bay is being traversed by the Algoma Central Railroad, now building; and the waters of St. Mary's River are being harnessed to build up a great manufacturing center. Meanwhile the largest tonnage known to any waterway in the world annually passes to and from Lakes Superior and Huron."

A permanent memorial of Connecticut granite, forty-four feet in height, was erected at the foot of Bingham avenue in Sault Ste.Marie by the United States, the State of Michigan, and the mining and transportation interests of the Great Lakes, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of St. Mary's Falls Canal and the celebration of 1905. In form and material the monument follows the most enduring of Egyptian obelisks. This design was chosen because it was deemed best suited to commemorate works of engineering. Bronze tablets affixed to the four faces of the shaft bear the following inscriptions of historic interest:

(North Tablet)
BESIDE THESE RAPIDS, JUNE 14, 1671, DAUMONT DE LUSSON, NICOLAS PERROT, LOUIS JOLIET AND FATHERS DABLON, DRUILLETES, ALLOUEZ AND ANDRE CLAIMED POSSESSION OF ALL THE LANDS FROM THE SEAS OF THE NORTH AND WEST TO THE SOUTH SEAS, FOR LOUIS XIV OF FRANCE. IN 1763 THE LAKE REGION WAS CEDED TO ENGLAND AS A PORTION OF CANADA, AND AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION, SAINT MARY'S RIVER BECAME PART OF THE NATIONAL BOUNDARIES. IN 1797, THE NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY BUILT A BATEAU CANAL AND LOCK ON THE CANADIAN BANK. IN 1820, LEWIS CASS, GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY, HERE ESTABLISHED THE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED STATES FROM THE GREAT LAKES TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

(East Tablet)
THE XXXII. CONGRESS HAVING MADE A GRANT OF PUBLIC LANDS TO AID THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SHIP CANAL AROUND SAINT MARY'S FALLS, THE STATE OF MICHIGAN CONTRACTED WITH JOSEPH P. FAIRBANKS, JOHN W. BROOKS, ERASTUS CORNING, AUGUST BELMONT, HENRY DWIGHT, JR., AND THOMAS DWYER, PRINCIPALS; AND FRANKLIN MOORE, GEORGE F. PORTER, JOHN OWEN, JAMES F. JOY, AND HENRY P. BALDWIN, SURETIES, TO BUILD A CANAL ACCORDING TO THE PLANS OF CAPT. AUGUSTUS CANFIELD, U.S.A. THE WORK OF CONSTRUCTION WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY CHARLES T. HARVEY, C. E., WHO OVERCAME MANY SERIOUS OBSTACLES INCIDENT TO THE REMOTE SITUATION. THE CANAL, OPENED JUNE 18, 1855, WAS OPERATED BY THE STATE UNTIL JUNE 9, 1881, WHEN IT WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE UNITED STATES AND MADE FREE TO ALL VESSELS. SUPERINTENDENTS UNDER THE STATE: JOHN BURT, ELISHA CALKINS, SAMUEL P. MEAD, GEORGE W. BROWN, GUY H. CARLETON, FRANK GORTON, JOHN SPALDING.

(West Tablet)
IN 1856, CONGRESS FIRST MADE APPROPRIATIONS TO IMPROVE SAINT MARY'S RIVER UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S.A. CAPT. JOHN NAVARRE MACOMB AND CAPT. AMIEL WEEKS WHIPPLE HAD CHARGE OF THE WORK UNTIL 1861; AND COL. THOMAS JEFFERSON CRAM, MAJ. WALTER MACFARLANE AND MAJ. ORLANDO METCALFE POE, FROM 1866 TO 1873. THE WEITZEL LOCK WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1876 AND 1881 BY MAJ. GODFREY WEITZEL, ASSISTED BY CAPT. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. MAJ. FRANCIS ULRIC FARQUHAR AND CAPT. DAVID WRIGHT LOCKWOOD WERE IN CHARGE, 1882-3. FROM 1883 TO 1896, THE CANAL WAS ENLARGED AND THE POE LOCK BUILT BY COL. POE, ON THE SITE OF THE STATE LOCKS. FROM 1895 TO 1905 THE OFFICERS IN CHARGE SUCCESSIVELY WERE LIEUT. JAMES BATES CAVANAUGH, COL. GARRETT J. LYDECKER, COL. WILLIAM H. BIXBY, MAJ. WALTER LESLIE FISK, AND COL. CHARLES E. L. B. DAVIS; GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS UNDER THE UNITED STATES:ALFFRED NOBLE, EBEN S. WHEELER, JOSEPH RIPLEY. SUPERINTENDENTS: JOHN SPALDING, WILLIAM CHANDLER, MARTIN LYNCH, DONALD M. MACKENZIE.

(South Tablet)
THISMONUMENT, ERECTEDBY THE UNITED STATES, THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, AND THE MINING AND TRANSPORTATION INTERESTS OF THE GREAT LAKES COMMEMORATES THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSAY OF THE OPENING OF SAINT MARY'S FALLS CANAL, CELEBRATED AUGUST 2 AND 3, 1905; THEODORE ROOSEVELT BEING PRESIDENT; FRED M. WARNER, GOVERNOR. CELEBRATION COMMISSIONERS: PETER WHITE, HORACE MANN OREN, CHARLES MOORE, CHIEF MARSHAL: CHARLES T. HARVEY.

Chase S. Osborn
Sault Ste. Marie closed the first decade of the twentieth century by providing Michigan with a
Governor, the first from the Upper Peninsula to grace that illustrious line.

Born in a log house in Huntington County, Indiana, January 22, 1860, Chase S. Osborn spent his boyhood days in the city of Lafayett. At the age of fourteen he entered Purdue University, then just opening. Leaving the University after three years, he went to Chicago, walking most of the way. Without means or friends, he had some trying experiences in the big city before landing a job with the Tribune at five dollars a week. In 1879, a year of panicky conditions and country-wide depression, he was laid off with many other employes of the paper.

He walked the ties to Hermansville, and found employment for a time with a construction gang of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, then building its Menominee Range extension. Returning to Milwaukee, he got a job soliciting subscriptions for The Milwaukee Signal, the city's first two-cent paper. Soon he was reporting for The Evening Wisconsin, and a little later he was offered and accepted chanrge of The Chicago Tribune's Milwaukee Bureau.

One day Hiram D. Fisher, discoverer of the Florence Mine at Florence, Wisconsin, wired Colonel J. A. Watrous of Milwaukee, a friend of Mr. Osborn, asking him to send up a young fellow not afraid to run a newspaper. The town was wild and woolly, and dominated by a gang that was against all newspapers, especially those opposing it in any way. The owner and editor of the Florence paper, a weekly, had been made away with by the roughs.

Two hours after Colonel Watrous received the message, Mr. Osborn was on his way to Florence. The night he arrived the gang shot out his windows and shot a leg off one of the job presses, just to show him what would be done to him if he wasn't good. The threat failed to scare the new editor, and he fought the roughs to a finish. Four years later when he sold The Mining News and returned to Milwaukee his adversaries were dead or scattered, the abominable stockades were burned or abandoned, and Florence was a fairly decent town to live in.

Came to Sault Ste. Marie
The Gogebic range was booming, and Milwaukee was iron mad. Mr. Osborn, with Melvin Hoyt and Alexander Dingwall---afterward associated with him in the Sault Ste. Marie News----and others, started a trade paper, The Miner and Manufacturer. He had been deeply interested in and had studied carefully the formations of the Menominee Range, and had written a good deal about them. A syndicate of Milwaukee and Chicago men asked him to make some examinations of the Echo Lake region, in the vicinity of Sault Ste. Marie. Charmed by the beauty of the little town and its environs, he made it his home for life.

The three bought the Sault Ste. Marie News from Mr. C. H. Chapman. The boom of  '87 came and went, and Mr. Osborn drew lots with his partners to determine which one of the trio would stay and carry the burden of the weekly in a badly flattened field. Mr. Osborn was the unlucky one, as it seemed at the time; in reality he won a rich reward.

The town recovered, and before long the weekly became a prosperous daily, the first to be established in Sault Ste. Marie. Its owner fought for a better and cleaner community. He made some whole-souled enemies and many faithful friends. Political life was inevitable; he became postmaster of Sault Ste. Marie, State Game Warden, Railroad Commissioner. Association with Governor Pingree plunged him deeper into politics than ever. He was one of six Republican candidates to succeed Pingree. Aaron T. Bliss of Saginaw won.

Meanwhile Mr. Osborn, as interested in iron ore as ever, was prospecting in the mountains of Canada, and visiting when time permitted the iron regions of the world. Following up reports of lean iron ore in the Vermilion River district north of Sudbury, he located, staked and purchased, with Chicago men, the mineral lands known as the Moose Mountain properties, which were profitably sold shortly after to McKenzie and Mann, Canadian railway magnates.

Is Elected Governor
In 1908, Mr. Osborn succeeded the Hon. Peter White as Regent of the University of Michigan. In 1910 he became a condidate for governor at the Republican primaries, defeating Patrick H. Kelley and Amos Musselman. In the election he won over Lawton T. Hemans by a plurality of 43, 000 votes.

Two years followed of stenuous fighting for what the Governor believed to be right. At his instigation a workmen's compensation measure was introduced and passed. He saw to it that a bill was introduced making it illegal for brewers and distillers to own or encourage saloons in Michigan. The bill became law. A woman suffrage bill carrying the Governor's hearty endosement was defeated. Woman suffrage was not adopted by the State until 1918, two years after state-wide prohibition carried. The Governor had been ahead of his times.

When Chase S. Osborn became Governor there was a deficit of about one million dollars in the state treasury. At the conclusion of his administration the State was out of debt and the treasury held a surplus exceeding two million dollars. He awakened the people of Michigan to a finer and stronger conception of government. The ideals he inspired and exemplified have created in many ways a better State. Success did not spoil him, and his political enemies conceded him their admiration when they denied and defeated his plans for the betterment of Michigan.

Returning from a foreign trip with Mrs. Osborn of almost two years, Mr. Osborn was importuned by friends to be again a candidate for the governorship nomination. He won the nomination but was defeated for election. In 1918 he contested with Henry Ford and Truman H. Newberry the Republican primary nomination for United States Senator from Michigan. Mr. Newberry won the nomination and the election. While they were both sympathetic and kindly men, it isn't likely that either Mr. Osborn or Mr. Ford shed any tears over what happened to Mr. Newberry afterward.

Most Widely Traveled Man
A Detroit newspaper calls Mr. Osborn the most widely traveled man on earth. No country worth visiting has been missed by him or Mrs. Osborn, and they are intimately acquainted with many lands. The story of his life is told in his autobiography, "The Iron Hunter," written as autobiographies should be written,---plainly, sincerely, palliating nothing, excusing nothing. It is free from embroidery and puts on no dog. ("Putting on dog" is the Saulteur expression for snobbery; uppishness; false fronts; trying to make people believe you are better or wise or richer or holier than you really are or ever will be. The Chippewa Indians originated the term, and the meaning is the same in their language.)

You should read "The Iron Hunter," as it is a book that will class with the autobiographies of Rousseau, Cellini and Trudeau. If you have a young man in the family, start him on "The Iron Hunter," and watch him devour it. It is a stirring tale of pioneering, of a career possible only in a new and free country like America. It has all the freshness and the vigor of a northern spring morning.

"My hometown, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan," says Mr. Osborn in 'The Iron Hunter,' "has always shown me a sympathy and a friendship and support that would be a sufficient reward for any man, no matter if his deserts were easily much greater than mine; and an inspiration as well. In return for its attitude, I loved the town and all its people."

Osborn's Gifts to Sault Ste. Marie
Again and again Sault Ste. Marie has had concrete evidence of Mr. Osborn's good-will. The stone torii and the Shinto memorial lanterns in Canal Park; the bronze Lupa di Roma, the she-wolf mothering Romulus and Remus; the stone lions at the Carnegie Library; the chimes of eleven bells in St. James tower; the multitude of elms given for the cure of a former treeless city and reminiscent of ancient times; the curios in the Melville Museum at the Senior High School; the paintings by foremost artists, including Moran's famous "Grand Canyon" in the music room at Senior High; the revolving illuminated cross which crowns the Methodist Episcopal church on Spruce Street; the grounds at Douglas Street and Portage Avenue; these are some of the gifts of Mr. Osborn to Sault Ste. Marie and to all it people.

While history was making in the little city besides the rapids, an ever increasing ship traffic passed around them. Imperious need developed for longer, wider and deeper steamers. The fast expanding fields and mines of the north and west found two America locks and one Canadian lock in St. Mary's River utterly inadequate to accommodate their bounty in its passage to the markets of the world.

Four American Locks
St. Mary's Falls Canal is one and three-fifths miles in length and 160 feet wide. It feeds four locks,
two of which have been described. The third lock, 1,350 feet long, 80 feet wide, and having 24 1/2 feet of water upon its miter sills at low water, was built by the Government in the years 1908 to 1914, and opened to traffic October 21 of the latter year. The fourth lock, of the same dimensions as the third, was built by the Government in the years 1913 to 1919, and opened to traffic September 18, 1919.

Since 1892 the canal leading to the Weitzel and the Poe locks has been deepened in its upper reaches to 24 feet. The new canal leading to the third and fourth locks has a least depth of 24 feet.

The canal also practically includes those parts of the channel through St. Mary's River which have been improved through shoals of sand, clay boulders, sandstone, and limestone rock.The United States Government made the first appropriation for improving the river channels in 1856. Work on their betterment has been almost continuous, so that the dredged areas now total 45 miles in length with least width of 300 feet, increasing at angles and at other critical places up to 1,000 feet. In 1903 excavation of the Middle and West Neebish channels was begun for 21 feet at lowest stage of water. The West Neebish channel was opened to commerce in 1908 and the deepening of the Middle Neebish channel was completed in 1912. Downbound traffic uses the West Neebish route. The cost of the third and fourth locks and their approaches was $7,500,000 and the total cost of the improvements in St. Mary's River, including all locks, canals and betterments to channels, is approximately $31,000,000.

Hydraulic power is used for operating the Weitzel and Poe locks. Electricity generated by water power is used for operating the third and fourth locks on the American side and the Canadian lock. Three watches of eight hours each operate the American locks, and the force engaged in passing boats through the American locks aggregates 120.

Some Traffic Figures
Fifty-seven thousand passengers and 66,000,000 tons of freight passed through the American and Canadian canals around St. Mary's Rapids in 1922. The freight was valued at one billion dollars, and in its transportation 12,000 lockages were made in 252 days. Traffic was heaviest in October, followed by September, August, July, November, June, May, December and April, in order. American vessels carried 92 per cent of the freight, Canadian vessels 61 per cent of the passengers.

Appoximately 200,000,000 feet of lumber found its way to market here in 1922, and 10,000,000 barrels of flour; 400,000,000 bushels of grain (three-fourths of it wheat), and 42,000,000 tons of iron ore passed down to the bakeries and the stell mills of the world; 60,000 tons of refined Michigan copper were locked through, and 1,000,000 tons of package freight; 200,000 tons of oil and 10,000,000 tons of soft and hard coal passed up. The total tonnage is approximately that of the Detroit River, and it exceeds the totals of the St. Clair Flats Canal. A great deal of the downbound freight traversing St. Mary's River goes to Lake Michigan and Georgian Bay ports.

The transportation charges on freight passing the Soo canals in 1922 were $64,000,000. The average distance this freight was carried by boat was 810 miles, the average cost per ton for freight transportation was ninety-seven cents, and the average cost per mile per ton was one and two-tenths mills. It is an efficiency record unequalled in all the rest of the world.

Water Rates Cheaper.
Freight rates in 1922 for water transportation to and from Lake Superior via St. Mary's Falls Canal averaged forty-five cents per ton for coal; three and eight-tenths cents per bushel for grain, and eighty-three cents per ton for iron ore. Railroad freight rates are gigantic in comparison with this showing. It was made possible by these canals, and so great is their volume that it costs less than half a cent to transport a ton of freight through them.

The vision has come to thousands of practical level-headed men---and it will not down---of the linking of the Great Lakes in the heart of the continent, to the sea. Nothing can long delay the coming of The-Great-Lakes-to-the-Sea Waterway, for economic forces now at work make it inevitable. To think of Chicago and Duluth, Port Arthur and Milwaukee, Detroit, Toronto, Toledo and Sault Ste. Marie as deep seaports is not fantastic; such imagining is based on common sense. No one has better stated the case for a deep waterway than Mr. W. S. Edward, of Sault Ste. Marie, whose address before the Toronto convention of the National Waterways Association of Canada, in March 1921, has been printed and extensively circulated by that body.

Some Comparative Figures
"Traffic through the Suez Canal in 1913, the latest year for which we could get statistics," says Mr. Edward, "was 20,000,000 tons. We have the 1916 report for the Panama Canal, which was built at a cost of over $400,000,000.00, showing ship passages for the year of 1,253 and a total tonnage of 9,400,000.

"Compare this with the 1916 report for St. Mary's Falls Canal, showing 92,000,000 tons traffic. Panama passages of 1,253 are equal to about twelve days volume through St. Mary's where ship passages average over 100 many days at a time. The barriers now separating the farms and cities of the Middle West from the ocean can be overcome by channels not so long nor as difficult to navigate as the Panama Canal, the Kiel Canal, or the Suez Canal, and would cost but a fraction of their expense of construction.

"The time will come when ocean going boats will carry freight and passengers to Chicago from foreign posts. Chicago is beginning an expenditure of $100,000,000.00 on the improvement of her dock facilities and the building of an immense outer harbor to accommodate this traffic when it comes. The saving in freight alone will more than half pay for these improvements, and the water power development and the commercial growthof the country incidental thereto will, with this saving in freight, more than pay for the entire project every year.

"Let me cite an instance coming under my observation during the war as to the advantage of deepening waterways. A great deal of lake shipping was being taken for ocean service, leaving our carrying bottoms rather short for lake commerce. Mr. L. C. Sabin, government engineer in this district during the war, suggested that if six inches more water could be obtained over Vidal Shoal it would help the situation materially. I was consulted concerning the probably costs of getting this extra six inches draft. Figuring on twenty boats per day using this extra draft through the port of Sault Ste. Marie, we estimated that about 10,000.00 additional daily revenues to the carriers, at the same carrying charges and practically the same cost to the ship owners.

Paid for in Thirteen Days
"An emergency appropriation was secured for the work, which was completed in four months at a cost of $125,000.00. This was paid for in additional revenue to the commerce of the lakes in thirteen days time. It is a permanent improvement as well, which will enable boats for all time to carry additional tonnage.

"The waterway will make possible the development of two million horsepower for manufacturing purposes in New York State. The same is true of the Canadian side. The manufacturing industries of Ontario and Quebec would be augumented tremendously.

Water power development supplies power at $20 to $25 per horsepower. Power developed by steam costs $100 or over. The saving will amount to $300,000,000 per year, accruing equally to Canada and the United States. With the completion of the Welland Canal there remain compartively few miles to be improved in the St. Lawrence River. Neither the United States or Canada can afford to delay this gigantic development. The benefits to both countries will be enormous, through the industrial expansion and increase in national wealth which such development will make possible. Let us remove the barriers and open the way to the Great American Mediteranean."

Millions Now Living Will See It.
Already a few smaller ships have found their way to and from Chicago, the head of the lakes, and old world ports. Even as the first tiny locks presaged the colossal lake commerce of today, so do these beginnings of lake and ocean traffic foreshadow the tomorrow when great ocean liners shall lock through and dock at Sault Ste. Marie. Visions firmly held tend to materialize, when they are in line with the trend of things. This is a little known but long proven pschycological law. The ideals of Mr. Chas. P. Craig, Mr. W. S. Edward, our National Waterways Associations and their supporters are in accord with the basic trend of things, and nothing short of an earthquake or another war can long delay their fruition. It is a reasonable as well as a magnificent conception, this Great Lakes-To-The-Sea Waterway. Time must be a factor in the evolution of a plan so vast; but millions now living undoubtedly will see its completion and enjoy its benefits.

The Soo and Chippewa in the World War.
Long before the United States entered the World War, Sault Ste. Marie and Chippewa county men were enlisting in the Canadian forces. From fifty to one hundred of our boys fought under foreign flags against the common foe. 1,300 soldiers enlisted in the United States forces during the period of our participation, most of them finding their way into the 32nd Division, and a very large number of the men from Sault Ste. Marie and Chippewa fought in the 125th and 337th U.S. Infantry.

Between ninety and one hundred local men enlisted during the period of the war in the Sault Ste. Marie recruiting offices of the Naval Reserve, and saw service in the U. S. Navy.

Enemies Once, Comrades Now.
Records compiled during the war have been forwarded to Washington, and it is impossible at this time to set down detailed figures of enlistments and casualties here. About 150 Chippewa County soldiers and sailors died in the service. The descendants of the Indians, the French, the British and the Americans who one fought for supremacy here, laid down their lives as comrades on the fields of France. Some of our men fought with the American units in Northern Russia, and one at least died there.

The Chippewa County Red Cross and other war agencies functioned finely when the need arose. A sufficient complement of troops remained at Fort Brady to guard the ship canal and the locks with the most scrupulous vigilance. The canal area was surrounded with barbed wire and soldiery, guardhouses were erected, and rapid fire guns mounted at convenient points around the locks. The War Department took no chances with this aorta of the continent, while a record-breaking commerce pulsed through it daily.

A Royal Welcome Home.
When the boys came home they received a joyful and an unforgettable welcome. A formal celebration in honor of their return was linked with an old-fashioned patriotic Fourth of July ovation, and the day will linger long in the memories of those who participated.

American Legion posts were organized in Sault Ste. Marie, Brimley, and Rudyard. The Sault Ste. Marie post is the most active of these, and it has been productive of much benefit and good comradeship to a loyal and enthusiastic membership. Its present officers are: Captain J. F. Young, Commander; Jay Gerrie, Finance Officer; Chas. McEvoy, Adjutant.

Men in Government service have taken a foremost part in the political, social and economic life of Sault Ste. Marie since the beginning of the last century. It is probable that Washington is the only city in the United States which contains a greater proportion of the republic's officials and employes.

Modern Fort Brady
Fort Brady, beautifully situated on a hill overlooking the city and the river, is a United States Army post under the Department of War. Its present commander is Captain Clinton Rush, and other commissioned officers are as follows:
Captains: Barrett DeT. Lambert, Julian V. Link, Charles J. Isley. First lieutenants: Charles D. Simmonds, Frank B. Lindley, Zane I. Adair. Second lieutenants: James R. Hamilton, James D. O'Connell, Damond Gunn, E. D. Post. The enlisted men number 300 or more.

The great commercial importance of the locality was fully recognized by the War Department in the late struggle with Germany. The post was fully manned during the war and the locks were guarded summer and winter by United States soldiers.

The U. S. Coast Guard
The U. S. Coast Guard, formerly known as the Revenue Cutter Service, is an arm of the Treasury Department, functioning under the Navy Department in time of war. Captain J. M. Moore is division commander and captain of the port of Sault Ste. Marie, and Lieutenant Commander C. A. Wheeler is division engineer. A force of fifty-seven enlisted men patrols St. Mary's River during the season of navigation and maintains continuous watch at six lookout stations. These stations are connected with each other and with the commander's office here by private telephone lines. The force was greatly augmented during the war, and it worked in co-operation with the War Department in closely guarding the St. Mary's waterway from possible obstruction by enemy sympathizers.

Big Forces on the Locks
Over one hundred Government officers and men, operating under the United States War Department, are employed at St. Mary's Falls Canal and the locks. The officers are General Superintendent L. C. Sabin, Assistant Superintendent Isaac De Young. The superintendent in charge of traffic is Frank T. McArthur, his assistants are Patrick Tracy, Charles Hursley and John Atkins. During the winter months the force is lessened somewhat, but a great amount of continuous upkieep and repair work is necessary.

The Immigration Service
Inspector R. H. Brondyke and his men in the Sault Ste. Marie Immigration Division are a part of the United States Department of Labor. One of their duties is the turning back of unaccredited or undesirable aliens. Sault Ste. Marie is the only point of easy ingress from Canada in hundreds of miles of frontier, and boat and rail immigration here is heavy.

U. S. Customs Service
Deputy Collector of Customs Robert H. Taylor and his force are part of the U. S. Treasury Department personnel. Imports and exports of all merchandise through the Sault Ste. Marie gateway are recorded by this office, and duties aggregating huge sums are collected. Pulpwood for paper manufacture is one of the heaviest articles of import here, and packing-house products from the Twin Cities, destined for trans-Atlantic ports, are a considerable item of export.

The Hydrographic Office
The United States Hydrographic Office, under Lieutenant Commander B. K. Johnson, is that branch of the Navy Department which receives and disseminates hydrographic information for mariners and others. It is the important department of maps, charts, soundings, and surveys without which navigation would be impossible.

The Weather Bureau
The United States Weather Bureau at Sault Ste. Marie is in charge of Observer Alexander G. Burns, and it is a branch of the Department of Agriculture. The Bureau building stands beside the ship canal through which all ships taking the American side must pass, and notice of impending storms as well as their direction is imparted to mariners by means of flag signals and bulletins. The Bureau is also very useful in the winter season to the railroads and to handlers of perishable merchandise, in giving advance notice of storms and cold waves.

The Internal Revenue Department, 4th District, State of Michigan, maintains a Soo office in the federal building in charge of Mr. Theodore B. McKinney.

The Post Office
Last, but really first in point of daily contact, in the list of Uncle Sam's beneficent activities in this vicinity, is the Sault Ste. Marie post office, under Postmaster Wm. M. Snell and Assistant Postmaster John A. Graham. About thirty people are employed and the average daily turnover is 30,000 pieces of mail. This average is greatly exceeded in the beautiful days of summer, when throngs of tourists migrate hither to escape the heat of other regions, and to enjoy a holiday amid cool and lovely surroundings.

What Visitors See Here
What has the Sault to offer the stranger, the sight-seer, the tourist?

The answer is: more, probably, than any other community of its size in the world.

To enumerate just a few elements of interest:
Fort Brady, a city in itself, situated on a plateau above St. Mary's River about one-half mile south of the ship canal and the locks. The modern brick buildings of the fort were constructed on this plateau at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. Military men consider Fort Brady one of the country's best posts. While it is in the city limits, it is practically independent of Sault Ste. Marie.

A City Within a City
Captain Clinton Rush, of the Second United States Infantry, his officers and his 300 or more troops have, besides their commodious and spotless quarters, their own schools, theatre, post-office, libraries, clubs, barber shops, newspaper, tailor shops, gymnasium, commissary, bakery, parade ground, recreation field, skating rink, hospital and recreation rooms. Uncle Sam is lavish with conveniences for his soldiers and he provides them with more than homelike comfort.

The Tonic Climate
The health restoring qualities of the climate, the air and the water have been proven many times at this post. Troops arriving from service in Cuba, the Philippines and other semi-tropical, malarial, and enervating districts, have been restored in a marvelously short time to health and vigor.

A Crowning Attraction
St. Mary's Falls Canal and its battery of locks display the greatest continuous close-range procession of freight and passenger steamers in the world. They are visited yearly by thousands of fascinated spectators from the ends of the earth. Nowhere else on the globe is there such an example of man's victory over nature's obstacles. No movie offers so gigantic and vibrant a panorama, in so beautiful a setting. The spectacle never ceases during the navigation season, for the ships never cease coming, and hundreds of powerful electric lamps turn night into day.

The Sense of Power
At the locks there is a sense of power on every hand. Power in the monstrous steel canoes of the white man, slipping so easily by; in the ponderous swinging gates; in the outrush of the waters as the locks are emptied; in the shining electric and hydraulic machinery on all sides; and most of all in the irresistable lifting of the giant carriers and their cargoes within the locks as the gateman moves his magic lever. It is no wonder the visitor forgets his dinner in his astonishment and delight at the wonders surrounding him, or pesters the lockmen with queries and discussions. Ask all the questions you like, you will never ruffle the good nature of Uncle Sam's lockmen. They are famed for their courtesy. And they are in all truth among the world's most useful men.

The Magic of Transportation
As the lock gates swing here, our Government takes a new place among the nations. As a direct result of that easy step, great ore pits deepen on the Mesaba Range, and a hundred thousand farms blossom on the western prairies. The flour ground yesterday in Duluth or Minneapolis finds a market a few days hence in London. Bread is cheaper in  a multitude of foreign and domestic homes because of St. Mary's Falls Canal; it lessened the cost of the homes as well. The copper ingots descending here today will be transformed tomorrow into cables in Ceylon, or trolley wires in Australia, or armatures in Egypt. Uganda spans her ravines with bridges made of this cheaply transported ore passing by; these narrow walls made Pittsburgh and Gary possible. Our mighty dreadnaughts sailed this inland waterway before they sniffed the salt. The locomotives of Brazil rode over these stone sills, and so did the rails that bear them. In fine, St. Mary's Falls Canal has been a vital factor in the country's supremacy in transportation, mining, manufacturing and agriculture.

The Biggest Jack-Knife on Earth
The visitor may see just above the locks and spanning the ship canal, the largest jack-knife bridge in the world. Stupendous in bulk, it is so delicately balanced that fifty electric horse-power suffice to set its leaves in motion, and ten are ample to keep them moving.

The water-power canals and power-houses of the Michigan Northern Power Company and the Edison Sault Electric Company confirm the Soo as an electric town. They furnsh electric current for every conceivable purpose except one. A fortune is begging for the genius who will show us how to heat our buildings efficiently and economically in the winter season with this abundant store of electricity.

Points of Historic Interest
Historic landmarks include the old warehouse of the American Fur Company; the site of Father Marquette's chapel; St. Lusson's hill, where the French asserted dominion over the land, and where as well Governor Cass demostrated it for America; the semi-Centennial obelisk; the Indian Agency of Schoolcraft; and the old Johnston home.

A Real Tourist Camp
The tourist camp on East Portage Avenue is a delight to the automobile visitor. Many conveniences are provided by the city, and there is an excellent bathing beach close at hand.

A Famous Saulteur
The man or woman on fishing bent may take counsel of Pete Vigeant, prince of fishermen, who knows every rainbow trout in the rapids by its first name. Pete is an accredited Soo institution and a charter member of The Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Fishermen. He has been the subject of countless magazine articles and is a frequent contributor to sporting journals.

Near By Beauty Spots
Favorite resorting places near the city, easily reached by car, are Les Cheneaux Islands, Cedarville and Hessel (The Snows), with a dozen or more hotels; Alcott Beach and the Pierce Inn, Brimley; Ladd's Beach, with excellent bathing in the back bay, at Bay Mills; Dollar Settlement and Mission Hill on the shore beyond the Chippewa blueberry plains; The Shallows, up the river; Harmony Beach, below the city; Birch Lodge at Trout Lake; DeTour and Albany; and the Seaman Inn on Drummond Island. Mackinac Island and St. Ignace are a short sixty miles away, via excellent roads, or a little farther through the loveliest waterway on the continent. Pleasant Park and Wilwalk are reached by boat from the Soo, Oak Ridge Park and Encampment by boat or car. The state park will be opened at Brimley in 1924, and it is hoped that another will be in readiness a year later at Hulbert Lake.

The Canadian Soo
No one ever visits the American Soo without seeing its Canadian twin, or vice versa. A trip over the Algoma Central Railway past Montreal Falls and through Agawa Canyon is one to be remembered for life. There is nothing else to compare with it east of the Rockies.

One may see in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, an 800 foot lock, the largest paper mill and the greatest steel plant in Canada. The first lock built in Canada has been restored and is on view to visitors. Near by, at Garden River, is an Indian village----a bit of old Canada. There are many splendid drives back of the city---to Gros Cap, Bellevue, Crystal Falls and the Landslide, Sylvan Valley, Gordon Lake, Rock Lake, Basswood Lake, Bruce and Thessalon, and St. Joseph's Island. There is excellent steamer service to all points on the north shore of Lake Superior, and to the Thirty Thousand Islands of Georgian Bay.

A Great Summer Menu
Good hotels in both cities and an out-of-the-ordinary tourist camp in the Michigan Soo, complete a list of ingredients which insure a feast to the summer visitor. Both communities are famed for their hospitality, they are wide awake and progressive, and duly appreciate of the rapidly expanding tourist  trade.

The Soo Changes Its Government
Dissatisfied with the old ward and aldermanic system under which the city government had functioned from the eighties, the electors of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, voted in 1917 for a new charter and a change to government by commission.

A Charter Commission was appointed, consisting of the following representative citizens: Francis T. McDonald, chairman; A. J. Eaton, clerk; Frank P. Sullivan, John P. Connolly, Wm. M. Snell, Edward Stevens, Geo. P. McCallum, and J. L. Lipsett. These gentlemen drew up the new charter, and at the election following Mark Tymon became the first Mayor under the new form. Two years later he was succeeded by Francis T. McDonald. Commission government was proved a success, and few Saulteurs would consider a return to the old regime.

City Officers in 1923
The present city officials, elected and appointed, are: Mayor, George O. Comb; City Manager, Henry A. Sherman; Commissioners, J. N. Adams, R. R. Beyers, Phil. Jacobs, Robt. Nimmo. Board of Education: Dr. Geo. P. Ritchie, president; Chas. G. Clarke, secretary; Isaac De Young, treasurer; Jos. MacLachlan, and Chas. G. Lampman. Superintendent of Schools: Geo. G. Malcolm. Officers and heads of departments appointed by the city manager: City Engineer, V. B. Redfern; Superintendent of Streets, Samuel Horry; Water Works Superintendent, Kenneth McLay; Engineer pumping station, B. F. Kelly; Sexton, Andrew Sayres; Health Officer, Dr. J. J. Griffin; Sanitary Inspector, Dan O'Connell; Visiting Nurse, Eithleen Rowe; Director City Band, Thos. H. Hanson; Chief of Police, Capt. J. F. Young; Chief of Fire Department, Frank Trombley.

Board members appointed by the City Commission: Carnegie Library Board, T. R. Easterday, chairman; K. Christofferson, secretary; John P. Wessel, L. C. Sabin, Stanley Newton. Librarian, Alice Clapp. Park Commission, L. C. Sabin, chairman; W. S. Chapin, secretary; Geo. S. Wescott, Chas. E. Chipley; V. R. Conway.

County Officials in 1923
The present county officials are: Hon. Louis H. Fead, Circuit Judge; Hon. Chas. H. Chapman, Judge of Probate; Arza M. Swart, Sheriff; Sam C. Taylor, County Clerk; John A. France, Court Stenographer; John A. Colwell and F. B. Kaltz, Circuit Court Commissioners; Anna E. McDonald, County Treasurer; Edward Thompson, Register of Deeds; M. M. Larmonth, Prosecuting Attorney; F. H. Brown, County Surveyor; George J. Dickison, and A. E. Lemon, Coroners; J. W. Sparling, R. B. Holmes, and Jas. A. Troutt, Superintendents of Poor; Thos. B. Aldrich, School Commissioner; A. J. Short, R. R. Reinhart, and T. J. Watchorn, Road Commissioners; Louis Levin, County Engineer.

The Supervisors of the various townships in 1923 are: Bay Mills, C. R. Ladd; Bruce, John A. McKee; Chippewa, Geo. W. Warner; Dafter, A. E. Curtis; DeTour, John F. Goetz; Drummond, Earl E. Bailey; Hulbert, Chas. Johnson; Kinross, Albert Curtis; Pickford, George Watson; Raber, F. X. Schuster; Rudyard, John Bergsma; Soo, Wm. H. Miller; Sugar Island, Wm. Walker; Superior, John Gleason; Trout Lake, Wm. Hayward; Whitefish, Thomas H. Savage.

Homecoming Week
In July, 1922, Commissioner John N. Adams offered a resolution at a meeting of the Commission sponsoring a Homecoming Week in 1923 for all Saulteurs throughtout the world. The idea was enthusiastically adopted and energetically carried out by the people of Sault Ste. Marie.

Fourth of July Week was selected for the welcome. The Civic & Commercial association under President Arthur Dawson, functioning through its Publicity Committee with Norman H. Hill as Chairman, sent 5,000 invitations to former Sooites and Chippewayans, soliciting their presence Homecoming Week. Lists of names were obtained from many sources, one country store alone sending 400 addresses of former residents.

A Spontaneous Response
The response was gratifying indeed. Thousands came, and were glad they had come. Entertainment in abundance was provided daily, there was a big community picnic and a monster parade graced by the queen of the week, Miss Lena Ladd, and her maids. A day was set apart for the reception of Soo, Ontario, and Algoma citizens. They came with the greatest of good-will, in masses that swamped the trains and ferries. Seldom has the city entertained such crowds.

"I Remember When"
The local newspapers gave the affair an endless amount of publicity, and the Evening News published a booklet, "I Remember When," filled with recollections of former days by many old timers. It stimulated a healthy home town spirit and resulted in the collection of much interesting and historically valuable data.

It is proposed to collect and publish separately in as complete a form as possible the data and chronology of Sault Ste. Marie's and Chippewa's activities in the World War. Present records are scattered and incomplete. Justice and gratitude to our soldiers and sailors demand that a permanent record of their deeds shall be perserved for their prosperity and for all of us.

The City Finds Itself
Visitors pronounced the city more beautiful than they had ever seen it. Community spirit had been aroused and refreshed by the occasion, and the town put on a new dress as it were to receive its guests. The civic benefits were tremendous and undoubtedly will be lasting. Sault Ste. Marie found itself as never before, and so complete was the success of Mr. Adam's idea that a Homecoming Week will be celebrated every five years in the city by the rapids for all time to come.

The Historical Society
Some years ago Judge Charles H. Chapman instituted a Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society Chapter in Sault Ste. Marie. A beginning has been made in marking local points of historic interest, of which there are many. The society collaborated with the public and parochial schools of the city in the staging of a wonderfully beautiful historical pageant in Brady Field in June, 1920, under the supervision of Miss Edith Eicher. The pageant was enacted on precisely the one hundredth anniversary of the coming of Governor Lewis Cass to Sault Ste. Marie, and within a few rods of the spot where he hauled down the flag of Great Britian.

The Historic Hill and Ravine
The romantic history of the locality is to many one of its chief attractions. A halo of  historical interest hovers over the ravine of Brady Field and the little hill near by. Once the ravine debouched upon the shore of the river, a natural landing place, long before the making of Brady Field. Ere the coming of the whites, this cleft in the bank endured the tread of many an Indian potentate and warrior, hither bound for council for war or for food.

These Came in Canoes
It is likely that Brule and Grenolle landed there, at the foot of the rapids. A glorious band followed them. Nicolet stood at the top of the ravine and looked westward for China. Jogues and Raymbault ministered to the Indians and raised the first cross near by. Joliet and Pere, De Lusson, Allouez, Radisson and Groseillers, Charlevoix, Menard, Marquette, Dablon, La Hontan, tonty, Dollier, Galinee and Cadillac; De L'hut and Albanel; de Repentigny, Henry and Cadotte; Selkirk, Carver, Astor, Johnston, and all the rest; what a mighty host were they of explorers, voyageurs, swashbuckling soldiers, rollicking adventurers and dauntless priests, lusting for discovery, for great undertakings, for furs and for souls.

The Steamboat Comes
After them, when the steamboat was crowding the canoe to the banks, Cass came, a looming
figure in Michigan history, and he made history here. With him came Schoolcraft, and the latter remained and became one of the greatest of our citizens. There followed McKenney and Brady; Bingham and Baraga; Mrs. Jameson and Franchere; Peter White and Agassiz, Kohl and Easterday, Weitzel and Poe and more; history makers and history recorderes, doing their share to bring a vast region into recognition and a city into being.

The Overland Route
Finally, on the overland route came Mead and Fowle, establishing the first bank and giving the signal, as the chronicler says, for business to go ahead; Steere, Sutton, and Chapman, exemplifying and administering the law in a district once noted for lawlessness; Clergue, the inspired dreamer and doer; Osborn, foremost citizen, magnetic in personality and surpassing in oratory, climbing from unpropitious beginnings to the Governorship of his State.

These and a multitude of others have sojourned here. Some of them are with us now, adding their meed of service to that of the men and women living here and who were born here, and enjoying with them the benefits of life in one of the finest communities in all the earth.

This is the Hiawatha Country, discovered by Schoolcraft and immortalized by Longfellow. Gitchi Manito still broods benignly over its lands, its forests and its lakes. Manibosho and his wife still sleep a long sleep on the rocky shore, awaiting the day when Pau-puk-kee-wis shall awaken them with his magic runes.