Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1841-02-27
R Z ? 0 R T
To The President and Managers IF the DmrNe
and POftsciHe Rail Road Company.

EN1LrNES:-In a communication wtiirh
made in September last, stated lie diiiicuc~
which cxsedin the carly part of the season ("h'n
| first took the supcrintendencc Of the roat') and
which prevented our commencing oroTai ms un Il
the 9th Of May.--From that pcriJ until the clio
sing of the navigation OF the Susquchama by ice,
nothing occurred to prevent the regular trip, of the
locomotives; and all the coal that wa, mined by
the several operators was promptly token to sun
bury.
The quantity was not so eat as wns nncipa.
ted; was Wished to be sent by the operators:
but the diminution Of quantity was not occasioncd
by any thing in connection with either the rail rad
"r the engines. A contract for ten thousand tons
Of coal TO be delivered at Danvillc had been made
the delivery of which was arrested by the sorparc
Of the canal on the North Branch in the carly part
Of July, and the canal not again opened until
the middle Of October, thus leaving very lief pc.
rod for the use of boats in that direction, and pre-
venting tie fulfment of this contract by more than
seven thousand tons.
The dam ACROSS the Susquehanna at Sunbury
has been for long time in bad order, and when
the waters become low, the levels between this
point aud Duncan's Island are invariably deic cn'
After the first of August the boats were moi only
prevented from taking full loads, but were 80 long
detained materially to affect the ,rade being kept
II arly as long again in making their trips as would
otherwise have been necessary. These difficulties
were The more felt from the want of boats on the
Susquchanna: to supply the deficiency it is believed
H., ,,;U Ia,
these several causes there has been al leas, seven
thousand dollars less received in tolls the road
than would have been, had these difficulties no,
existed; while the expenses would have b zen bu,
little more.
There was transported over the road hy motive
rower from May nth 10 Decemte' r 23d, lSio. in
elusive, 1898 tons of anthracite coal, 265,o52 lbs.
-four. pork, beef potatoes. &c, 81 pcrchcs stone:
:'6,l55 feet Of lumber 2,007 bushels lime, grain
aud seed sos passengers twenty miles: 625
eight miles and $50 six miles, making a tot,i Of
'.355 passengers. The amount received for all the
transportation during the last year eleven thou
s'nd one hundred and eighty-seven dollar, sxty-wo
"cnts. This was sufficient to meet oil current
expenses; to keep The road, cars, &c, in good or
Ter: and TO pay the extraordinary cxp.us ircurr
ed for repairing the engines, cars, road and bridge,
before operations could be commenced in the sp ing
and which were not chargcable TO this years husi-
ness' but for these extra expenses and the inter.
ruItons in the navigation of the canals there would
nave been handsome balance enough it is b.ev.
cd to have paid most of the debts We hope we
shall be enabled to discharge these debts from the
profits Of the next year.
Eyer,ons have Teen made to keep the 70 ID en-.
yiues and cars in good repair, and We shall be
ready by the first opensng Of the navigation to COM
nisnce operations, we may reasonably calculate that
the receipts will be more than double next year We
are strengthened in this belief from the fact that the
coal Of the Shamokin Basin has been distributed
along the waters Of the Susquehanna + ON San
bury TO Baltimore, and oil who have used il attcs,
its good qualities,
Baltimore, which has hitherto had its supply
from Philadelphia can now receive it from Shame
kin a, cheap rate il is delivered at the latter
city, and it is believed will require for the present
year, three times as much for cons umption as wa,
sent during tie past
! he smelling OF iron with anthracite coal has al
ready given impulse TO the trade on this road
The immense masses of iron ere discovered on Mon
teurs Ridge, and this ore of the very est and mos
approved quality, has demonstrated this region t.
he the one OF all others, the best adapted for the ma
king and manufacturing Of iron in all its variety o
forms. The proximity of the ShumOkin Coal Ba
sin IN MnptppI's HIlu nl ~ of n.
two by the Danville and PottsyiIle rail road, no
only renders the location eligible for furnaces, bu
makes il certain that the West end Of the road mus
do q business that will produce large revenue 70
whether you take the coal TO the ore or the ore t.
the coal, it must pass this section Of the road
as 1t has been found most advantageous, the or
will be taken to the coal this will cause an in
mcnse tonnage up the TOAD, furnishing as muc
back freight the returning coal cars can lring
thus giving tonnage perhaps quite equal both ways
red iron either to PhilaJephi, by Ports,ile OF
Sunbury for the Western or Baltimore market, wi
swell the income Of the rail road beyond the amoul
of any former estimate.
One furnace of large dimensions has AHEAD
been erected at the town Of Shamokn and will c
into blast early in the spring. This furnace wi
require seven thousand five hundred tons of ore p
year, and its propretors have aICajy contracted f
Its delivery at Sudbury during the season. In n
turn for this they have also contracted 10 SCI
the same nun,ler Of tons Of coal 10 Danville; lhI
nakng transit Of fifteen thousand tons over II
road from Ills single establishment; helng acur
equal TO oil the tonnage Of last year, and is ind