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MAP OF THE CAPE COD CANAE 



Showing how it eliminates the dangerous passage around the Cape and shortens the 

 route from Boston to New York and southern ports by 70 miles. During one storm, in 

 October. 1913, three vessels and two lives were lost on Cape Cod. It is estimated that at 

 least 2,000 vessels were wrecked in the Nantucket Shoals region between 1843 and 1913, 908 

 of which were a total loss, and that about 700 fishermen lost their hves owing to the fact 

 that the long arm of Cape Cod prevented them from reaching a haven in a sudden storm. 



the eyes of a populated country to the 

 value of over-sea markets, and has led to 

 appreciation of the value of waterways. 

 The congested land lines of the East need 

 the relief which only rivers and coast 

 channels can supply. Sailing vessels are 

 rapidly giving place to steamers, which 

 must make quick time on regular sched- 

 ules. 



With these conditions before him, Mr. 

 August Belmont sought the advice of 

 Mr. William Barclay Parsons, who had 

 been a member of the Panama Canal 

 Commission. He checked the data col- 

 lected by previous experts ; found that 

 the engineering problem at Cape Cod 

 was simple; that neither current nor 

 ice would interfere with steam traffic 



186 



