The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-09-04
THE DAILY DISPATCH
aoNoAY MORNING. sE1TEn6El 1 49,
he TlDEWATER CONVECTION.

MONoAY MOANING. sEPTEAeER & 1855
THE TlDEWATER CONNECrION.
The Importance Of this grand triumph TO
oil the great interests Of Virginia cannot be
over estimated. The Canal h the great i'm
provement Of Virginia, as viii be fully de
monstrated By carrying II to Covington and
pashing on the railroad from Covington to
the Ohio. The results of that road win es-
tablish. beyond all doubt, the absolute nece.-
sity Of the extension Of the Canal to the Ohio
river, and the day that witnesses that males
tic consummation will see Virginia the first
Of Southern States.
Asa work Of art, the Tidewater Connection
would be An honor to any country in the world
Those who have not examined 1t, and cofnpaT
ed it with other works of similar XII q
abroad, can form no conception OF ls SUI o
riority, its massive and beautiful character,
and the most mastery style Of workmanship
in which it has been constructed. we nave
alfead. paid attribute to Mr.. ID. 8. Walton
the Engineer, and Mr.. C. r. Barney. his assis
tart both Of whom we congratulate mos'
fervently upon the achievement OF this great
triumph. We have also mentioned, and we
desire to do it again, not as words OF course'
but AZ just tribute to the most genuine me
tit, the names of Mr.. Francis Mahohey, SUI
perintendent of the stone work, ana MT ..
Lambard of the wood work. We are told thS'
these two gentlemen have devoted then''
selves TO the performance of their most arou
ma dut;es in the face Of the most extraordi-
nary obstacles, with an energy ana noei'y
which are above all praise They nave
scarcely seemed willing to allow themselves
time to eat, or to give sleep to their eyes or
slumber to their eyelids. Their attention TO
the minutest details of their duty has neeh
bevond all praise. An observer of their ope-
rations speaks of Mahoney as a man "no
would have every stone of the rignt oi'heh-
sions. and exactly in the right place. TO
hairs breadth, if it took him month to Sc
cure the object. With any man OF common
skill, energy andperseverance, the lldewa'er
Connection. a work which has encountered
the most extraordinary difficulties above wa
ter and below ii, would now be tar from its
completion. These two head workmen' MA
honey and Lambard, men of wonderful ener-
gy and fidelity, deserve honorable mentioh
in the annals of Virginia enterprise.
Mr.. Walton, the Engineer, took charge OF
the work in January, 1852, and all that science
and labor could achieve for it, has been
achieved, under the auspices of this accom-
nl;shed and enterprising officer, and his able
and faithful assistant, Mr.. Barney. The work
has been conducted since the 3oth day OF 1u
", 1852, on company account Some ioea OF
the difficulty of constructing the snip hooA'
apart from its magnitude, may BIZ found IN the
fact that the contractor who, up to that time'
had had charge of it, after exhausting all MS
means and resources, and worn out his ener-
pies with repeated failures, finally abandoned
the work in despair. The great dlfilcuity III
the execution consisted in the excavation VI
the foundation. The agent of the contractor
had acquired . high reputation for skill ana
experience in sinking the foundations OF the
piers for bridge across the Schuylkill river
at Philadelphia, which was thought at that
Tina the most difficult enterprise that had
been undertaken in the country. But, alter
the greatest exertions, he failed to free the
lock pit of water, having expended a large
amount of money in fruitless attempts. The
company then took it i'll hand, and under Col.
Gwynn THE Chief Engineer,) Mr.. Walton,
Engineer of the Tidewater Connection, and
Mr. Barney, assistant, the great work moved
steadily on to its completion. With immune
rable difficulties, the water bursting in from
springs on the land side, and repeated mis-
haps from great freshets, they finally succeed
edin reaching the rock and commenced lay
ing the masonry on the 2lst of June of last
year. Since that period the work has pro-
crossed steadily until it is now completed,
magnificent monument of the skill and ener-
Ky Of those employed, and of the public spirit
and enlightened enterprise Of Virginia.