WELLAND                                                 2066                                             WELLESLEY

miles. (See Cornwall, Lachine, Montreal, St. Lawrence River and Sou-langes.) •

Welland, eight miles from Port Colborne on Lake Erie is on the canal. Its population exceeds 5,000, and it is growing rapidly.

The importance of Canadian waterways in controlling rates of transportation can be easily proved, and will become more apparent as the country west of Lake Superior develops. The returns show that traffic up and down has nearly trebled in 20 years. In the business westward there is a gain of 368 per cent., in that eastward one of 257 per cent. This expansion of business on the canals of Canada is relatively larger than that shown by Canadian railways during the same period. While 57,966,713 tons of freight were carried by Canadian railways in 1906 as compared with 16,356,337 in 1887, the increase was only 254 per cent, as against 287 per cent, on the canals. The trade between lake-ports of the United States by Canadian canals has grown largely since 1887.

Iron ore was the leading commodity making up the traffic through the canals during 1906. The wheat tonnage (46,801,-367 bushels) amounted to 1,406,741, the flour tonnage 297,937 and the corn tonnage 244,122.

No tolls are now collected, the canals having been declared free. The quantity of wheat, corn, oats and other grains which arrived at Montreal, via the Grand Trunk and Canadian Pacific railways, in 1906 was 386,963 tons, and the quantity of the same articles which passed down the whole length of the St. Lawrence canals to Montreal the same year was 449,673 tons. The quantity of wheat lightered at Port Colborne in 1907 was 1,009,474 bushels. The total quantity of freight passing through the Welland canal in 1906 was 1,201,967 tons, of which 740,488 tons were agricultural products. There were 979,099 tons of freight passing eastwards and 222,868 passing westwards. Of the eastbound, through freight Canadian vessels carried 488,674 tons and American vessels 480,116 tons; of the westbound, through freight Canadian vessels carried 119,104 tons, and American vessels carried 102,886. On the St. Lawrence canals the total quantity of freight moved was 1,636,117 tons, of which 624,706 were agricultural products, and 595,566 merchandise.

Welland, a Canadian River which flows east 60 miles and empties into the Niagara. It was used as a part of Welland Canal, built to connect Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and to enable vessels to pass around Niagara Falls.

Well-Bor'ing, Drill'ing or Ssnk'ing, a familiar process, which dates from early historic times, for obtaining water. In modern days it is also used for mining

purposes or in the search for salt, petroleum or natural gas. The sinking of shafts is also of frequent occurrence for ventilating mines or to obtain a good foundation on which to raise a superstructure of any kind. In the process of shaft or well-sinking a percussion or pounding drill is generally used. If the stratum which has to be cut through is hard rock, then the diamond-drill is employed. Machinery, driven by steampower, furnishes the means of operating the drill or other sinking-gear. The operation is facilitated by the erection of a derrick and its attached power-plant, drilling and hoisting machinery.

Welles (wělz), Gid'eon, American statesman was born at Glastonbury, Conn., on July I, 1802. He for many years was editor and part proprietor of The Hartford Times. While a member of the Connecticut legislature, he secured the abolition of imprisonment for debt. He held a position in the navy department under President Polk, and was made secretary of the navy under President Lincoln, hoWing the position for eight years. He found the navy at the beginning of the Civil War without a single warship. Yet he succeeded in maintaining a blockade for over 2,000 miles of coast and formed a fleet of ironclads and transports on the Mississippi River. He died at Hartford, Conn., Feb. 11, 1878.

Weilesley (welz'lī) College, an undenominational college founded at Weilesley, Mass., in 1875 for the higher education of women. It has a partly elective course admitting to the degrees of B.A. and M.A., students being admitted either bv examination or on certificate from accredited junior schools. The institution offers about 50 undergraduate and 30 graduate scholarships, with studentship in the American schools of classical studies in Athens and Rome and scholarships in the marine biological laboratory at Woods Holl, Mass., and in the zoological station at Naples (a. v.). It now has 1,378 students, a faculty of 132 instructors and a library of 60,000 volumes. It has an income of close upon $400,000, with a considerable endowment, besides property and grounds valued at $2,700,000.

Weilesley, Mass., a town in Massachusetts, 14 miles west of Boston, where is situated Weilesley College. It is in Norfolk County and on the Boston and Albany Railroad. Here also are Assumption and St. Joseph Academies (R. C), Dana and Rock Ridge Halls and Weilesley School. The town owns and operates its waterworks. Population 5,4i3-

Weilesley, Richard Colley, Marquis of, a British statesman, brother of the duke of Wellington, was born at Dublin, June 20, 1760. He studied at Eton and Oxford, took his seat in the Irish house of peers, and was one of the original Knights of St. Patrick when the order was formed in 1783.