Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1840-05-01


ter to be put under contract the Board are of opn
ion that cheaper style Of masonry may advanteous
ly be adopted. BY permitting joints less close; bv
adoptinga coarser style Of face work, and rougher
class OF masonry for bridges and culverts; by ad-
hitting stone with greater inequalities of surface
and less exact in the regularity Of its form; and by
allowing greater proportion of addressed backing
In the lock walls, q considerable reduction of ex
Pense may undoubtedly be effected. Nevertheless.
the Board are deeply impressed with the Importance
OF rendering the structures connected with the en-
hrged canal as permanent as may be reas onabIv
practicable; and change should be allowed which
would materially impair their strength or durabili-
~. The time, however, which will probably elspss
before putting any further portions Of the masonry
under contract, will afford suih cent opportunity TO
settle carefully upon that mode Of construction
which will best promote the public interests
The great question, however, still remains; can
any change be advantageously made in the dimen-
sions OF the present plan OF charging the canal
which will lessen the expense! There be but
little doubt. that by merely doubling the locks of the
present canal as far west Utica, and without en-
iarsins the channel at all, the pressure of boats
the eastern division, now experienced, might, for
time at least have been obviated. But the plan Of
the Enlargement has broader arc more enduring OBJ
Jects. IL seeks what the present canal originally
sought to cheaper ansportaton, to lessen the la
Dor Oh exchanging commodities, to place the pro-
Queer by the side Of the consumer, and thereby to
foster, preserve and increase the trade and conse-
quent prosperity Of the commonwealth Will then
the enlargement attain these objects? and will the
benefits be equivalent to the cost? For if it should
appear that The money to be expended in charging
the canal, be in way ade quately remune
then II would be clear that % change in the plan
and dimensions" might be made advantageousIy to
the public, by at once abandoning the und rtakng
But he other hand if il shall appear upon care
full examination Of the present operations of the ca
nal and their probable that the public will
be dire city benefited by the enlargement in pecu-
mary point of view, to an amount equivalent TO the
COST then the work ought to be firmly and steadily
prosecuted.
1t becomes necessary then to ascertain, as pre-
cisey may be, the extent and value of trade now
tributary to the canal, its different sources, and
their probable increase. By asceraining the results
which the enlargement will produce upon the
raj branches of our canal traffic, shall be enabled
to arrive at a satisfactory estimate of the whole.
And in tie first place, as TO the saving in the cost
OF the transportation, 10 be produced by the pro-
posed increase in the dimensions of the canal, the
board would observe that the question is somewhat
complicated, involving details both practical and
scientific. To deduce a precise thematical re-
suit from such premises, 10 obviously impractcabe.
The opinions Of experienced navigators concur,
however, with the calculations of the rs that
saving must Of at least one half of the whole
OF the present cost Of transportation, exclusive Of
tolls. The actual cost of transporting ton on the
to. to- ths .sae every on o,
per mile. The expense on other canals Of similar
size, is stated at about the same amount. On the
other hand, it is ascertained that the Delaware
and Raritan canal, which has the same depth and
only five feet more width than the enlarged Erie
nal the cost Of transpo ting ton is less than four
mills per mile. The Giro umstanee toe, can hardly
fail to excite attention, that while the of draw
ing loaded barge Of 200 tons through that canal 43
miles, is but Sl4, the expense Of towing the ZANE
barge by steam upon the navigable waters frsm
New Brunswick to New York, distance of 40
miles, is $25. In truth the facilities which are pre-
sented by a deep and wide canal for economical
traction do not appear to be fully appreciated After
the most careful examination which the board have
been enabled to bestow upon this point, they have
thought II safe to assume five mills half cent,
as the amount per ton per mile that will be saved
in transportation by enarsing the Erie canal upon
the present plan.
Proceeding, then, with this rule as our guide to
ascertain the aggregate amount Of saving is neces
sary find the amount Of tons the Ese canal and
the number Of miles they moved The annual
statistical tables Of the commerce Of that canal fur
mis- the amount oftons moving BY combining that
amount of tonnage with the amount Of and their
rate, we ascertain the aistance moved with entire
certainty A table has been accordingly prepared,
Exhibiting the results ofthis process which is here
Those results are not only pertinent, and indeed
essential to the present inquiry but they will also be
found useful in the information which they convey
Of the extent and activity Of each Of the branches OF
internal traffic, and in the facilities which thew
afford for estimating Alright the comparative value
and importance. and probable increase of each Of its
component parts.
Without incumb ering the present communication
with all the minute and laborious details Of this ana
lyss, may suffice to state broadly the general re-
suit: that The tonnage Proper noting thereby the
tons shipped and moved upon the Erie canal, was
S407 tons, exclusive Of the from the
lateral canals hereafter mentioned; and that the to-
tai average movement oil that tonnage was l54 miles,
The saving OF half cent per ton per mile being for
this distance, "a cents; that sum null
tplied by $4,000 the number Of tons,
gives the result, 1862 go
AS the aggregate amount which would
be annually saved in the transportation
Of an amount Of tonnage equal only TO
that now transported ON the Eric
Canal.
The above result does not, however,
include the amount 10 be saved on the
trans portation Of articles now trans.
ported on the Erie Canal, which were
first shipped on the lateral canals; but
the table above referred to estim ates
the number Of tons thus transported at
130, 900. and the sum 10 be annually ca
we'd in its transportation, log 500
Making the total amount Of annual
saving, S756 465
IL will be perceived that in the above computation
no allowance 10 made Tor the constant and inevitable
increase in the tonnage OF the canal BY applying.
however the strict rule Of Gale ulaton adopted
In the early part OF this report in the pro-
gressive Increase of the revenue to wit: seven per
half per cent for ten years, shall have, in 1896
annual saving Of GLIB COB
And in 1S49, Of 429.O63
to be itself progressively increased from period to
period, according to the onward march Of inter-
nal trade.
The Canal Board are aware that an impression has
prevailed to some extent that falling of may be
the revenues Of the Erie Canal, from the dimnutisn
which il 10 supposed may take place in the bulky
products OF the forest. Although IL might be urged
that the requisite supply Of this class ~ commodi-
ties, they articles OF necessity, will always be
Forthcoming, according TO the demand for their