Icebreaker

At Buffalo one morning last week the Coast Guard's broad-beamed icebreaker Mackinaw began smashing its way across the icebound harbor. A helicopter rose from its deck and flew ahead to hunt crevices and soft spots, radio back the line of least resistance. In a few hours the Mackinaw-helicopter team--the first used on the Great Lakes--had cleared a channel out into Lake Erie. A dozen ore carriers snaked along the narrow channel and followed the icebreaker down to Cleveland, thus opening navigation on the lower Great Lakes.

For Buffalo, it was the earliest port opening on record, 52 days ahead of last year. Shippers hoped that this meant an early opening for the rest of the Great Lakes, usually icebound till mid-April. It would come none too soon for steelmen. Their stockpiles of ore were so low that some mills were planning the expensive makeshift of shipping by rail from Minnesota's Mesabi range. The coal strike (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) would cut their needs if it lasted long enough. But steelmen kept their fingers crossed on that, as the Mackinaw steamed north to smash through the Straits of Mackinac, and later the Soo.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.