Maumee express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1837-1838, 1838-06-02

XTHR CANAL.-ITs EASTERN TERMfNA rioN,
The claims of Toledo to the business of the
Wabash and Erie canal, are placed, by those
interested in that town, upon the ground of the
want of sufficient depth and width of channel
in the Maumee river, to admit of the passage
of the class of boats to be employed in the ma
vigation of Lake Erie, connected with the ca
nal, to Maumee City. In discussing this mat
ter, it may be well enough to begin by remem-
bering, that the river has from the earliest set
tlement of the country to the present time,
proved sufficient in both these respects for the
navigation of any lake craft that has attempted
its passage, and that boats of all descriptions
and classes have passed up and down, without
any season of detention, ever since it has been
for the interest of their owners so to do. The
only grounds then for the belief that the chan
mel will hereafter be IN sufficient for the purpo-
ses of navigation, lit being, as all allow, amply
sufficient at present. rest in the surmise, that
at some future period, the waters of the lake
and river may fall. Whatever ground there
may have been heretofore for such belief, one
thing is certain, that there remains but little
at present; for both lake and river, are, and
have been rising, and of course improving for
several years, and as far as possible from exhi-
biting any disposition to grow lower. The
most jealous advocate for Toledo cannot deny
the truth of the above statement.
list, That the Maumee river is navigable
now.
cd, That it has been so ever since the set
tlement of the country.
Sd, That it is still rising, and manifests no
disposition to fall. and
4th, That the only hope of Toledo is in the
depression of the river and the destruction Of
Its usefulness as navigable stream above that
place.
Now, far be it from us from denying, that in
the course of events, such thing as the sink
ing of the water of the lake and river may
happen. That it has happened heretofore, we
do not deny. In 1884 the river was at its mi
nimum, and still it was navigable and naviga-
ted, and SO far from being at its maximum at
present, we have the best Of reasons for belize
wing, that it is now at no more than its medium
height. And should it become lower, and even
remain at q stage far below any at which it has
been heretofore known, the investigations of
scientific men have proved, that for the trifing
sum of fifty thousand dollars, it may still be
rendered to all intents and purposes, navigable
for the same class of boats that float it at pre-
sent.
Some speculative philosopher, once grew
terribly nervous over calculation of the time
that would elapse, before the Niagara river
should wear away its rocky barrier, and prcci-
pitate itself in second dcluge upon the coun-
try below; and it may not be an useless pro-
blem for the solution Of such person, to cal
culate the time when the Maumee shall have
run dry, and poured its currents, one and all,
into the bosom of Lake Erie, leaving the towns
above fiat in the mud, to mourn over their was
ted honors, and shorn reputation. If there is
such man, let him wait patiently upon the
southern bank of the river, and when he is able
to ford it dry shod, he may walk over aud find
Toledo enjoying all the trade of the canal.