Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1835-10-22

cnEsAPEAKE AND OHIO cAMAt

CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL.
we rave recently had an opportunity
OF inspecting the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal, from Georgetown to Harper's Fer.
ry, and take the earliest opportunity OF
expressing the admiration which a sight Of
that magnificent Improvement necessarily
inspires. Ii is unique. THERE'S no canal
IN this c~ountry--nor, we believe, in Eu-
rope,-of any thing like the length, which
approaches II in dimensions. In compa,i
son, the Hudson and Erie Canal 10 a Mill
race. Nor Is admiration confined 10 its
vast dimensions; the difficulties surmount
ed; the rugged country through which /,
passes /; the solid and beautiful masonrv
OF the locks and a~gueducts ell conspire
10 impress upon the iraveiier 4 higI, sensa
% tisc skin ~ the engineers, aud IL The II,
tcrfrisc Of The company. which has pcrse-
vercd IN the work under so many appal.
ling difficulties.
We left Georgetown about half pasf q
O'Clock, A NJ, IN a Fri weekly packet Boat.
drawn by two, and sometimes three, hor
ses. The boat was built by the Canal
Company, and only temporarily used by
the Packet Company, and was far too
large Tor the business. VIZ were carried
along. nevertheless, at the rate Of 6 miles
per hour-a rate which was reduced, how.
ever, on the average, by the sioppages
occasloned by two and thirty locks in 60
miles. The Packet Company has. by this
time, two smaller and better constructed
boats afloat, by which a daily line will DO
kept up. We have alluded TO the locks
and aqueducts. We cannot specify as to
the iormer--for all seemed equally neat
and substantial; and built-as is. indeed,
The whole ~work-for posteri,y. The aque
ducts over Seneca aud Monucacy creeks,
are perhaps not exceeded by any thing in
THIS country, for beauty and Iigbtness Of
design and solidity Of construction. The
witness of the scenery around, sets off to
a great advantage, these triumphs of art
| over nature.
IL 10, however, from the Point or Rocks
TO Harper's Ferry-twelye miles-that the
greatest difficulties have been encountered
For this distance, the Baltimore and Ohio
Rail Road runs parallel 10, and in contact
with, the Canal-the bank OF the latter
forming the bed Of the former. Both
works are carried, for miles. under preei
pitous crags, impending many hundred
feet above you, and whose very foundations
have been cut away to form a shelf for
the Road. while the Canal is made TO en-
croach on the bed Of the river. The see.
merry ITSELF is grand and imposing, and,
when viewed IN connection with The mon.
uments oil human genius and perseverance,
which are seen at the base of the cliffs. it
assumes the character of sublimity. He
must indeed have a dull spirit, who CARR.
ed along by a Boat or Car, can view il
unmoved. We have rarely experienced
feelings akin 10 those, which we felt. on a
hne morning, seated on the top Of the Car
and whtrled along at the rate OF 10 miles
per hour. alongside. and under these tre-
menduous p%recipices. We could, for
miles, have touched with the hand the wall
oil everlasting granite, and not seldom was
the perpendicular view Of the sky actual.
ly obscured by the jutiing out OF the crag
This is tie part Of the Rail Road on which
the use Of steam is prohibited by stipula
ton with the Cana. COMPANY.
The canal is finished as high up az Will
transport, about l04 miles from George.
town, and - now under contract from TIC
former point 10 Cumberland. In a year
and a ball the coal OF Allegheny will find q
market 10 the eastern cities.
The Hail Hoad-that 10 the Baltimore
and Ohio Rail Road-terminates al The
Ferry. On the other side commenced the
! Potomac and Winchester Road, now near
(, ~ finished. The two works are TO be uni
! ted by a Viaduct, built at the expense o
! the former company. Baltimore will thu.
5 have, in a few weeks, a direct communica
ton with one OF the most populous, fertil,
I and wealthy sections Of our state.