The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-08-01

Chicago will contest the trade Of the great
railway, and there will probably be large
number of lesser competitors. So far as New
York is concerned, however, it will be mat
ter Of little difference through which the great
er part Of it shall flow, inasmuch as they will
all be tributary to her, and pour into her
mighty lap their united volume, Our main
interest will be to provide against the diver
gence of these great currents to the waters of
the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence &. :
The opening Of the water line between Chi
eago and the Mississippi, and the canal around
| the Niagara Falls, are of great Importance, in
this connection, to New York, so as to facili-
tate the transportation Of merchandise and
produce between the Hudson and the Missis-
sippi, and thus secure to her the lions share
Of the trade, which will concentrate upon Chi
cago, and keep it from passing down the ST.
Lawrence. Considsring the vast amount of
pork, -four and other agricultural products
shipped from Chicago, and the growing tea
dency to direct importation, in all the great
cities of the West, it becomes the policy of
Nsw York to spare no pains to open every ia
cility for commercial intercourse with them
to prevent the diversion of their trade into
other channels rAN
The danger to New York of losing the trade
of the West, which will accumulate at St.
Louis, will be greater than from Chicago
The agricultural products, especially, will be
horne strongly down the Mississippi to the
Crescent City, for expectation to Europe,
South America and the West Indies. To the
merchants and shippers Of New York, this is
a most important subject, and upon their pru-
dence and sagacity, as well as upon the natu-
raj advantages of New York, will depend her
commercial greatness
Baltimore and Philadelphia will be gener-
Gus competitors for tha trade of the Great
West, and the merchants of tue metropolis
cannot be Indifferent spectators of this rival
| ry. There ID law of trade, however, in ia
| vori Of New York in this competition. Great
marts of ocean trade must be on the sea coast
to accommodate vessels Of heavy burden, and
not as formerly, as far interior as could be
navigated by vessels of lighter draft.
In this respect Philadelphia and Baltimore
suffer in comparison with New York, and can
never have sufficient depth of water to accom-
modate large sea-soins vessels. they are al
SO severally nearer New York by great rail-
roads than they are to the Atlantic, and are,
therefore both more or less dependent upon
mercial intercourse.
A glance at the map of the United States
will show that when once the great lines of
communication between Norfolk and the
Ohio river shall have been opened, there will
pe through the heart of Virginia, the shortest
and most direct route for the trade of the
Great West, and that Norfolk will possess
greater natural advantages for that trade than
either Baltimore or Philadelphia This line
of communication between the Atlantic at
Norfolk and the Ohio River at Guyandotts
will be of great i'm portancs to New York, and
cannot safely be regarded with indifference,
by her intelligent commercial men The
characteristics Of this Virginia line on which
the heaviest work was done before the war,
may be presented by the following statistics:
From Norfolk to the Ohio river at Guy
andstte is .620 miles
From Guyandotts down the Ohio to Gin
cinnati ISL. 100 miles
Whole distance from Norfolk to
L. Cincinnati. $50 miles
From New York to Cincinnati by the
Pennsylvania route."..,..............T7 ITO miles
From New York to Cincinnati by Balti-
more and Ohio r. R.................. sl9 miles.
From Norfolk to the Queen City, less
than from New York, via the Penn
sylvania route, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. 30 miles
From Norfolk to Cincinnati, less than
from New York, via Baltimore and
Ohio II. H.. Observation-Disclosures. 1879 miles,
From this we find that Norfolk is nearer
to the great centsrs Of trade in the Mississippi
valley, Cincinnati and St. Lous, by 90 to iSs
miles, than New York. But there is some
thing of even greater importance to be con-
sidered in this connection. The ruling grade
on the Virginia line, from West to East in 1
thexirection Of heavy trade, is only 80 feet
to the mile; and going from East to West, it
is only 60 feet per mile. On the Pennsyva-
MIA route, both ways, 100 feet to the mile On
the Baltimore and Ohio route, both ways, l16
feet to the mile.
No table OF grades is at hand, but it is be-
hsved that locomotive of IL tuns weight
would carry something like 100 tuns over
grade of 80 feet to the mile, while over a
grade OF Is feet to the mile it would not
carry over about oas-fifth Of that amount
In other words, an engine Of given power
would carry from four to five times a heavier
load over the Virginia route than over the
other two Even this is not all, for the eli
mate of the Virginia line, by reason of its
comparative exemption from ice and snow,
has a decided advantage over the more north
ern lines.
The Harbor of Norfolk, having four feet
greater depth of water than even New York
Bay, give TO it decided preference over BALI
timore or Philadelphia as shipping port o.
Western produce thence to New York, for it
will be about the same distance from the lat
ter city as Philadelphia, and 2O6 miles nearer
than Baltimore by water communication,
| Freight from New York to Cincinnati, via
the outside waterline to Philadelphia, and
thence by railway, is much less than it is by
the continuous railroad line. If this be true
OF this route to Cincinnati, much more will it
be true of the route via Norfolk, both because
of the better harbor Of Norfolk admitting sea-
going vessels ofths largest size, and more es-
Pscially because of the easier grades Of the