Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1823-01-30

I
E Ole drtsicts through which the rive
flows.
e The foods and f,eshets give Tie on
y navigation at the present used =
They occur usually from the lst Sep
tenber to the ooh June, variousIy
however, in various years. And it 50
happens, that although boats are known
IN some Years to pass down through
each CT the months Intervening be
tween these dates, yet in consequence
oil The ice during winter, and the short
continuance Ola food giving n2viga.
Die water, the average duration of the
boating time in course OF many years
! does not much if at all exceed cigh. or
ten days passable water for full headed
BOATS late in the year, and from twenty
five to thirty FIVE days in the spring OF
TIE year, making the whole time when
produce and goods can be stream
borne IN the course of one entire com.
mon year, from thirty-thrce to forty
five days. The duration oflhisperiod
necessarily iacrc asses as you approach
the Great Falls, and decreases us YOU
ascend % the head of the river. The
evils attending the present state Of the
navigation lessen the benefits which
might be supposed to be derived from
even this short period They chiefly
consist in It's uncertainty and depen
dance on the yicissitudes Of the season
in the great rapidly of the current OF
therlver III consequence Of the great
tail or inclination o! It's plane, in pro
portion to its length in its dan gerous
character arising from the wiidness OF
the torrent and lie suddenness Of is
courses and ,neanders, having worn its
devious way in the lapse o.! ages
through countless ridges o. rocks aud
mountains; and in consequence o.isugc
fragments of rocks aud large loose
stones, tie remains oftilc wasted noun
tains, scattered thichlv, and in some
places rising over the entire bed Of the
river, and leaving no passage for loa-
ded boats, impelied by the rapid aud
impctuous current, hui what may he.
found by Wrapping and winding with
the utmost eXcrtlon OF strength, agili-
ty and watcb(uIness OIL the part OF the
crew, through a most irregular course.
BY these dangers many boats and
cargoes are destroyed. The uncer-
talnty and the shortness OF the dursion
oil the floods, are the very worst fea
lures in the charter OF the navigation.
This uncertainty frequently occasions
the most ruinous Disappointment 10 the
farmers, milers and merchants. The
expected rains are often denied, and
the consequence frequently is, that con.
tracts cannot be complied with, which
occasion loss and ruin. Sometimes
small rise and deceitful Appearances
induce a collection Of the scalt cred
crews OF the boatmen from the noun
tains, and a general shipment of pro,
ducc by the time they have descended
forty or Fly miles down the river, a
fall in the wafer takes place the boats
are compelled TO stop and their stor-
age, increased expenses, neglect
OF agents, and natural causes,
waste the profits Or damage the pro.
duce of all concerned. This chiefly
occurs in the upper part Of the river.
Sometimes the rains come on sooner
than they are expected and the rise and
tall on the river succeed each other
before the Turner's are prepared to
make their shipme hts then The crops
he on hand Till next year, subject to all
the inconvenience. And when the floods
arc mest proritious, and the navigation
IS the best under existing circumstances,
theusual consequence is, that the pro.
duce OF immense districts Of country. a.
mong the most fertile in the union. is
all forced into market at one tide, and a
capital which might be sufficient to give
better prices, il the merchant had time
toreceive the proceeds ofone Investment
before he made a second, is found mad
eqaate TO give fair price to all, under
such disadvantages. Thus the farmer
has frequently no alternative left, bat to
sacrifice the fruits of his years labor.
! The expenses are already too great and
produce will bear no additional cost or
risk of shipping farther and TO carry it
home again is impossible for sometimes
even the boat which brought it down
cannot be foated back empty. 1t is
surely to be lamented that wretched as
is this navigation, it is the sole depsn-
dence OF a vast extent of country, which
IN spite OF its fertility, and the value OF
its inexhaustible minerals of the most
useful kind, Is most evidently dropping
| and Gu ffar.inoe fnr .ua..t II .