The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1856-06-03
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
Tue,d.y ,r.rnins, June 3, 1885.
james River and Kanawha Canal

Tuesuay MernsnS, June ., IS vO.
james River and Knnawha Cana''
SUMMIT LEvEL-AsurpLY or WATER.
We have lately referred to an able pampa,s !.
fun Of valuable facsa, figures and arguments WY"
has been published recently In Cincinnau' W De
half Of the extension of the james river "A.ei
,Ins "a thu Ohm This pamphlet. coming from .ne
,r.r,sru A.. Affords another evidence OF sne
,r,nor4.nc. ~ .he James river improvement ~ Al
$50. - 80. for the great West When we
~. .,,h,.., thus earnestly taken up, and pew
erf.,i,v urred In the great metropolis OF the ONO
,,.,,.y ,,s oueen city of the West, II may well
.xo,,s wonder that Virginia sits with folded hands,
.ra ,urns her back upon food of wealth that
-.;n,v seeks to enter and fertilize her territory
We wish we had room to publish this pamphlet
IN full to lay before our readers the irresistible
array of arguments and facts with which taoounds
to OVERLOOKING. Oh, for De Witt Clinton In Viz
siniai Would to Heaven that some such man
could rise and stamp his genius upon the counehs
of the State. But there are no such men Poiiti'
clans there are by hundreds ehsttering all day long
sbou, nonsensical distractions, fighting prohsiess
Presidential battles but TO seize hold OF tho
rrea, material interests of the State and give her
mighty energies practical turn In the only direc.
ton which can, by any possibility, retrieve her
shattered fortunes, and make her rich and power
full
In discussing the policy of extending the water
line to the Ohio, there is point upon which its
enemies have always seized az the most vulnerable
portion of the scheme, and upon which even its
friends have not all been thoroughly informed. We
refer TO the praccabill.y of supplying with water
the summit level of the canal. The adversaries OF
the canal without single fact to support the asser
ton, have all along averred with an air OF inc
most perfect confidence and assurance, that SUM
Gent supply of water could not be obtained for inc
summit level Never was there more unfoundeo
and erroneous notion. Repeated surveys nave
been made by eminen. engineers under the direc
ton of the james River Company, fer the express
purpose of testing that question, and one and all
have united in declaring In the most emphaNc
manner, the entire practicability of the measure
Such is the unanimous testimony of such men as
Gwynn Ellet, Fisk, Lorraine. &C., among the tirst
engineers of this country. The whole length OF
that portion of the canal, concerning the means
for supplying which its enemies profess to have
doubts, la a trife over fifteen miles. In the
thorough survey of this whole section by Mr. Lor-
raine, he examined various streams, which are
abundant in that mountain region, among the most
prominent of which is Anthony's Creek, the middle
and North forks of Towards Greek and Tucka
hoe Creek The first of these streams in rank Is
Anthony's Greek, which is tributary of the
Greenbrier This stream, Mr.. Lorraine tells us,
is twenty-five miles long, and is fed by Little
Creek and three principal branches, which unite
about fifteen miles from its mouth, and also innu
merabls streams and springs which issue from the
sides of the mountains, by which it is bounded.
About eight miles above its mouth there is place
called the Narrows, above which the noun
tains diverge, and the stream runs through beau
tiful valley about half mile wide. This place,
adds Mr. Lorraine, was selected as the site for
mound which, when thrown across this narrow
point will effectualy arrest the water that flows
down the creek and convert the valley above
into a magnificent reservoir, nine miles long and
forty-siI miles around with an average width Of
one half mile, superficial area of 2,753 acres,
and mean DEPTH OF SIXTY FEET!
After 1t had been fully demonstrated by the trial
of rain gauges for four successive years, that the
supply from that quarter would be greatly over
the demand, yet, as, in the language of Mr.. Lor
raine there seemed to be such an objection to the
canal being supplied in the same way as our riy-
ers, lakes and seas it was hoped, if it could be
clearly proved that Anthony's Creek itself, apart
from all connection with the clouds and rain, &C.
tualy discharged enough water TO supply the sum-
NIT level of the canal that the mystery would be
solved, and the most incredulous would become
convinced For this purpose Col. Gwynn institu-
ted daily gauges of Anthonys Creek, to be contin.
ued for one year. This duty was most faithfully
and intellgently performed by Col Andrew Hum.
phreys, the results of which are given in Mr. Lor-
raines report, and establish beyond all contra
dicton the fact that after the most liberal allow
ance for filtration and evaporation, Anttonys
Creek, alone affords a sufficient quantity of water
to supply the summit level The quantity of rain
which fell during the year when these gauges were
taken, was considerably below the average In
other years, II have seen it," says Col. Hum
phreys, ''when swollen by rains, discharge in one
day sufficient quantity of water to fill the entire
canal from Buchanan to Richmond. 1 have also
seen it wide enough, deep enough and swift enough
to carry seven of largest boats abreast at the
rates of FIVE miles and half an hour"
Professor NJ Tuomey, Of the University of Ala
bama, who in 1851, made geological survey of
this portion of the line says: From a personal
examination Of the creek (Anthony's,) have not
the slightest doubt Of the fact that the quantity of
yoar engineer" And again: So The water that
flows down the creek is obviously the available
water, after having been subjected to evaporation,
absorption, percolation, and every other cause of
loss, and may be taken as the available SUPPLY
And again, he says: at is well known that many
of the most important canals in the world have
their summit level supplied from reservoirs"
Professor Tuomey's report is accompanied with
plates. showing the character and position of the
rocks in the vicinity and along each of the sec.
tions of the summit level, including the +" section
across the valley Of Anthony's Greek, and a map
showing the geological structure of Anthony's
Greek Reservoir" Prof. It. says: This section,
together with the map accompanying this report
will so fully explain the geological structure of
this reservoir, that further description seems su
perfucus. To convert this valley into MAG.
NIFICENT LAKE, all tina. seems necessary is to
connect the opposite sides BY dana"
After the facts thus briefly presented. It /, nm.
necessary SAY word rs to the adaptation of this
valley TO the purposes of q reservoir. II would 7
conceive, be difficult TO show had your Enpineers
the choice of the rocks of this region. how thew
could make better disposition of them
This is but small portion Of The eyidena.
which dem the faett that srrnn..L.-,.