THE AGE OF STEEL 



mines to furnaces and factories a thousand miles away. 

 Indeed, this is probably the greatest and most remark- 

 able system of transportation in the world. Specially 

 constructed trains, wharves, boats, and machinery, 

 used for this single purpose, and not duplicated either 

 in design or extent, make this stupendous enterprise 

 a unique, as well as a purely American one. 



The transportation begins with the train loads of ore 

 that run from the mines to the lake shore and out upon 

 the wharves built to receive them. These wharves 

 are enormous structures, sometimes half a mile in 

 length, built up to about the height of the masts of ore 

 boats. On the sides and in the centres of these tow- 

 ering structures are huge bins for holding the ore, these 

 bins communicating directly with the holds of the ore 

 steamers tied up alongside. Four tracks are frequently 

 laid on the top of the wharves, and are so .arranged 

 that trains four abreast can dump the ore into the bins, 

 or waiting ships, at the same time. If the bins are 

 empty and boats waiting to receive a cargo, the ore 

 is discharged by long chutes into the holds from the 

 cars. Otherwise the bins are filled, the trains return- 

 ing to the mines as quickly as possible for fresh loads. 



The boats for receiving this cargo are of special 

 design, many of them differing very greatly in appear- 

 ance from ordinary ocean liners of corresponding size. 

 This is particularly true of the " whale-backs" which 

 have little in common in appearance with ordinary 

 steamers except in the matter of funnels; and even these 

 are misplaced sternwards to a distance quite out of 

 drawing with the length of the hull. Their shape is 



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