In Business

The St. Lawrence Seaway, storied ship route to the heart of the continent, is in business. For the first time in history, deep-draft ocean vessels can bypass the shallows of the upper St. Lawrence, steam through a system of locks and 27-ft. channels to the Great Lakes.

At Montreal, the stubby Canadian icebreaker d'Iberville swung into the steel grey current of the St. Lawrence one morning last week to lead a column of ships in a slow parade upstream. D'Iberville's decks swarmed with visitors; her rigging danced with bunting; and ships still at their moorings bellowed hoarse salutes. Otherwise, no one bothered with ceremony; Queen Elizabeth and President Eisenhower will meet in Montreal June 26 for the formal dedication.

Steaming at a cautious two knots, d'Iberville crept through the approach to the St. Lambert lock. Just astern came the icebreaker Montcalm, and after her four shoebox-shaped canalboats, veterans of the St. Lawrence's old 14-ft. waterways and sentimental favorites to head the procession of Canadian, American and foreign cargo carriers into the seaway.

At almost every port on the Great Lakes, exuberant civic welcomes awaited the ships. Cleveland geared up a ten-week celebration of the seaway opening. Chicago organized a parade to city hall for the first ship to arrive. Even as the lock gates yawned a welcome to the world's shipping, Midwestern industrialists began to count their gains. In a bow to the seaway's competition, Eastern railroads proposed a reduction of 10% to 30% on freight between the lake ports and the Atlantic seaboard.

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