The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-04-08


Ard II leaves the sum Of ..........ss $50, se7 ,s62
TAX b4longipg to the State and which
has gone into the treasury.
Deduct the cost Of repairs, &c, Of canals for
the same Time lV,Sei,oZo
And it leaves the of .............32S s76, $50
charge tax the commerce Of the canals be-
the cost Of their support and maintenance equal to
u SOC, 600 per annum for the sixteen years This Is
charge upon the of the canals imposed for the
purpose OF paying the interest and principal of the debt
which has been incurred for purpose. connected with
them and for the completion Of the unfinished works
Taking the charge up and down it IL seen that
II IL about third what il in 1885 While the
charge 100 tons mp and down has fallen from three
one the tons delivered from the Erie CAnathe busi
ness-has increased from to three. The cost Of
seems to have gone regularly down with
the increase Of tonnage
The average cargo Of the boat Is seen to have doubled
In he years and the locsges have increased
about twenty eve per cent.
The ockage 4 a57 in ls47 (more than for any year
sipce) performed by old single lock.
' In 1e4, ASSEMBLY Doc o. p. So the Canal Commits
sioners estimated that addition Of 226 600 the
down tonnage of 1910 would exhaust the capacity Of the
Erie canal Not merely 22b Oo0 but lit 1884 tons has
been added 10 the down tonnage of the Erie canal and
the charges are 25 cent less with arrival
Of 6ss tons at tide water in 1852 than with
rival of 461 80 tons in 1S40.
ERRONEOUS ESTIMATES OF CAPACITY.
An examination into the history OF the Canal viii show
that the earliest steps towards it's Improvement enlarge
nent grewou OF supposed want Of capacity 10 do its
business rher did not originate desire TO diin
sb the cost of transportation by increasing the ze of the
canal but in what believed 10 be the absolute
city Of greater capacity accommodate the volume
trade which u was believed would seek market through
IL.
II interesting to look back during the last twenty
years and see hos wide Of actual results have been the
conecures ~ those having charge Of the canals rela
ion 10 s prospective capacity and how the silent ego
luton OF its power has constantly He'd the Profound
est calculations Of those the most intimately conyer.1pt
with it, operations, The following Is from the report OF
the Cana Commissioners in 1885 in relation TO the capa
city Of th. locks
without increasing the depth Of canal water or IN.
length OF the chamber Of the lock- the Of the bo
could DO Increased With towing path not son
posed that double the number Of boats be
yeIientl She canal with double locks present nun
her are Passed with single locks The numerous lock
and the increase
have made IL to give directions
vide a The head and foot Of the several locks from Albany
Syracuse paddle eulvert gates equal to elk
roll eses With this Improvement, the lock will
tsncd ont its greatest power and TIE Commissioner Ia
cline 10 tie opinion heretofore expressed this subject
that 5000 octsges approximate 10 the maximum Of
d0B Oels Regarding the past increase
tic canal 10 therefore probable that with double
locks and ~. canal wdnsd TO accommodate single towing
path the bncss the canal in eight ten years would
exceed The capacity Of tic double Iocks-sR9Port OF s. Van