| 
Modern Business Geography 
N 
~“hurct: 
+ Rajlroads 
meen Canals | 
- == Navigable rivers 
ap 
F1a. 137. This might be called the skeleton of the complex transportation system whereby the 
grain, ore, coal, and manufactured products of the northwest and middle west reach the Atlantic 
seaboard. The same region is given in greater detail in Figure 144 (page 204). How may iron ore 
from Duluth reach Buffalo? How may wheat from Winnipeg be shipped to Great Britain? 
meat from Chicago? motor cars from Detroit? How are imported goods transported from 
Boston to Detroit? from New York to Chicago ? 
SHIPS ON THE GREAT LAKES 
Among the chief natural blessings which the United States enjoys 
is its share of the Great Lakes. With a combined length of nearly 
1500 miles and a shore line of about 4500 miles, they constitute the 
largest connected body of fresh water in the world. 
The Great Lakes carry a greater tonnage of shipping than any other 
inland waterway. Their importance arises not only from their size 
but from their location and the direction of their longest dimensions. 
They lie in the heart of that part of the North American continent 
where the climate is most stimulating and where people are most active 
in farming, mining, and manufacturing. Their main axis extends 
east and west in the direction most convenient for trade. 
Why the Great Lakes are important for commerce. Lock canals 
have been built around St. Mary’s Falls between Lakes Superior and 
Huron, and around Niagara Falls between Lakes Erie and Ontario,