The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-12-22
liOhlO River NavIgatIon..
From tte Pitts6ur0h oonmercial.

-fS"Si6HS - tSA4OAfHfb SuNIWleTC9UI.
We published yesterday an articlere-
lating to the"LouisYille and Portland
Canal" around the Falls of the Ohio.
which shows the financial deadlock at
present existing in connection with
that important work. The general
public importance of an improved
means of passing the most difficult
falls on the Ohio river can scarcely be
0yer-estimated. Not only Pittsburgh.
Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville and
otner cities on the river have direct
interest IN this matter, but an immense
and growing commerce between the
East and West and South and West
calls for it, and no time should he lost
In completing this and other improves
mentS tmperaCiveIyk demanded to free
this great national highway from anv
impairment to a perfect navigation-a
navigation which should be commen.
surate with the commercial interasts
that must be forever dependent upon
this interior avenue of trade. We have
u from ire1table1authoritY, that the old
IocksatI Louisville; which have been in
use nearly forty years, are greatly di-
lapidated, besides being entirely made
quate in their dimensions to accommo-
date the present. wants of the river
commerce, and that with the best gxer-
tions 1t will take between one and two
years to complete the rock excavation
and other works of thenew canal. The
masonry of the magnificent new locks.
largel enough to chamber vessel $50
feet long and so feet wide, are compIet-
edA ppt.mpch otheE work, it seems, re-
mains 20 4e done. The people of Lon
isviue ecertafnly deserve great credit for
whatthey have thus far ACCOMPLISHED.
especially when it is considered that
the work was carried on in the midst of
the war. They should call on Hercules
now, and Hercules should come to the
rescue: 1t is precisely what ought to
oe labor of love with the Government,
as we may question whether there is
another point in the United States where
the expenditure of a million of dollars
viii result in greater public benefit.
No.one can tell the day or hour when
the old canal works may become utter
ly'impassable, and the whole trade of
the Ohio river for large portion of the
at Louisville. 1t is already SO, practi-
ca ca lily, fora large amount of business.
The Government, after the lapse of
twenty-five years, has resumed active
charge of the Ohio river, and re-com-
menced the work of restoring and i'm
proving its navigation.s M
The removal of the numerous OBJ
49, anu ACoA 4Lo Sudu=
pels, in the shape of snags, logs, wrecks
of boats, &c., will, we understand, be
commenced as soon as the season will
permit. Also; the completion of a num-
Der of the partly built wing dams for
concentrating the water, the work upon
which ceased in 1874, and other Inn
provements of the navigation. All this
is we'll. Every improvement of this
river is desirable, and we hope the
Government having taken the matter
in hand, will not cease its operations till
we have the most perfect navigation of
which it is susceptible. But the neces-
sity for rimmediate action in regard to
the falls at Louisville is undeniable.
Notwithstanding the large amount of
business accommodated by the vari-
Gus railroads, there is an enormous
trade dependent upon the river, in
which more than half the population
Ofthe United States is more or less d.
rectly interested. 1t is true that no
one city has deeper stake in this mat
ter than Pittsburgh. 1t is, however, by
no means local in its bearings, but, on
the contrary, eminently national. We
are glad that the public attention is
turning in this direction, and we shall
take pleasure in publishing any mat
ters of interest relating to this subject.