Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1823-01-30
NEW SERIEs...Vol. I No 4.

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5 enough Of them were in a sufficient
I state ct preservation to be examined and
I 70 afford The means Of ascertaining how
! TAR they were calculated to answer the
ends iutended. The commissioners ace
nas prepared TO say what might be the
effect OF lhis aind OF wallinS on other RI
vefs, bot they arc we'll assured that the
liver Potomac came, be useially conliu-
CT by such contrlyances. even IL they
were made Ia the best manner os which
tina, aiul at walling is susceptible. The
bottom Of the river which loslas the drain
OF mountainous region OF such wide
extent, IS very unequal in It's level. and
abounds In shadows and basons, accord
ing 10 its obduracy os sol,ness, aud to
the increased or diminished force of the
current; sometimes weakened by ex
panding in widened plains, OF in the for
nation OF islands sometimes increased
by contraction between mountains and
rocky banks, and above all by its flow
ing so rapidly. in consequence of the
greatness of its fall compared to its
length. The result from such oircum.
stances on this kind Of work, situated
IN tue bed OF such river, is that these
walls cannot be made sufficiently per-
nanent, and If they could, so very ma
ny ol them would be required to attain
even triaing depth that the benefit
would be infinitely too dear, or an abso-
Lutte waste OF money. These walls from
their nature cannot be fight, bat:f they
could be made so, and the whole BODY
OF the water in such river, could be
confined to channel OF 90 feet, the We.
locity OF the current rushing through
these short channels with full room to
spread aiteri 1t has passed. would be in
creased In proportion to IFS coniinment.
And the whole volume of water in the
river in the summer K dry seasons, cspe-
clally above the soath branch would not
be sufficient to give the depth required
by boats of sufficient size 10 BIZ useful
in transportation. where the quantity of
water IN this river is much increased by
the larger tributaries, in order to give
lS inches depth, aud less would be Of no
use, itwonld be necessary 10 continue
the parallel walls much further than they
have ever yet been attempted, so MS to
give them a length sufficient to reach o.
yer the whole extent OF continued shall
lows, which were found in places 10 Gov.
CT three aud four miles. The effect Of
frightening the sluice walls would be in
some measure to Lessen the velocity and
oil course TO increase the depth Of tho
current, but the evils are much too great
to be usefully remedied by the small cf-
fects which could be produced hy these
meansit 1t were practicable to give du-
rability to walls so built and SO placed.
Walls Of this kind when drawn SO long.
and winding and bending as would be
necessary to follow the course ofcurrent,.
would be Objectionable for other reasons
Independent of the increased cost and
increased liability to destruction. Such
as the extreme difficulty of guiding a
boat with sufficient accuracy in these
narrow confined torrents so as to pre-
vent her Striking and bilging against or
over the side walls in descending. = and
in ascending them, her progress would
be very much retarded by the increased
force OF the current consequent on its
confinement. Now on the supposition
OF large proportion Of the distance be.
ing SO confined, many weeks would be
added TO the length Of time consumed in
a trip to and from market already incon-
yeniently long. In some places capsons
would be required 70 be placed on the
banks to overcome the opposing power
OF the current. For these reasons and
from the experience already had Of the
perishable nature and tri!ling utility Of
this sort OF work, it appears that it would
be idle to attempt any thing in future Of
this kind.
LOCK AND DAM NAVIGATION.
Another mode is by some relied
upon, to improve the navigation of
!. this river in consequence OF its suppos-
ed greater chcapness, than a canal
properly so called, and consists in
deepening the water in the bed Of
the river, sufficiently for tho purposes
of navigation by l,igh dams of large
store and solid construction, with
lock or two locks TO each dam, and
short canal for the purposes of descend
ing and ascending each level
| This mode has many and great in
convenicnces insepnrable from it; the
most important objection to it is the
| greater expensivcness of the kind of
navigation which alone il affords, that
| is, in boats managed by men instead
of boats drawn by horse; beside
this general objection, many reasons
may be adduced TO shew why it can
| not be advantageougiy adopteJ on the