The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-11-29
b uxieAL wArU 111E.
Frem the west = The Atlantic.

One tAat u bosad h ti0e y = : hslnt
comolish,d, His esserpriss i this. 70 him
il Il apparent thas the great want o. eor
State i cheap transportation for orr heavy
nroducas 70 The markets Of the world. Ihat
The most feasible plan 70 secure this end = 70
provide direct and continuous ins q vAsef
com uunication between the Mississippi hivef
and Atlantic Ocean. in latitude favorable
to tho s.fs carriage Of grain in bulk, and vt
comparatively free from obstruction by frost.
Snch ! communication, he believes, could
bo secured most readily BY The Ohio, Ka-
uawhs and James Rivers 70 Norfolk, Vir-
ginia.
Il appears that for years prior 70 the var
Of the Revolutions, the importance Of this
connection had occupied the serious eonsid.
Grafton Of Washington. His plao embraced
= double connectios bsswssn The waters Of
the Mississippi valley-ths ons By The Po-
sonac River, on the ssss, and The Aose1sar
hsla on tbs west, 70 tho point vhsrs Pistabarg
now stands and the other BY the James
River, on the east, and the Kasawha on the
west, 70 t0e OutOs ~ ~ usVUsns 49,
and eirhty-fou miles below Pittsburg.
The 6rst idea seems 70 have bssn sss-
ee.ted 70 him, or q least 10 have FipeDsd 70
! consictioa, a. TO the northern improve
ment, By his trip, vhsn qsits yesns man
and q carly ~ the year 1853, from Sanss-
town 10 Fort Du Qaesns tPistsburg), %
messenger from Robert Din~inddis, the then
Governor Of Virginia. Upon the conclusioa
Of the Revolutionary War, General WASH
inssoa vss 20 impressed With the importance
Of waser line across tho Alleghaniss, that
during the year 1884, be made persosal
exploration of the country, travelling for
that purpose, many hvndreds Of miles. The
result Of that exploration and subsequent
action 81 The Govsrnor and Legislature y
thus given II the 26th annual report Of he
President and Directors Of The Janss River
and Kanawha Canal Company.
He kept : journal, in which were mi
nussly recorded his conversations with every
intelligent person whom be mot, respecting
the facilities for internal navigation Afforded
By the rivsr which have their sources amose
the Allegheny Mountains, and fow theacs
either to the east or west Hs returned to
Mount Vernon or the 4th day Of October,
and ON the 10th Of the same month comma
nicatsd the results of his sbservasions to the
Governor Of Virginia, bsnjsmin Harrison. .
warm personal friend Of Warrington, a1d
tho father Of William Henry Harrison,
ninth President Of the United States. II
bis letter Introducing the subject, General
Washington says: II shall take the liberty
now, my dear sir, to suggest : matter, which
| would tif am not too short-sightsd poll
tician) mark yonr administration q ~ i'm
portant era in the annals Of this cosntry, il
| il should DO recommended BY ron and
adopted BY the assembly," And then pro-
Deeds: It has long been my decided opinion
that the shortest e6sssst ard least szpeasiDe
communication with the invaluable and ex
tensive country back Of US would be By one Of
the rivers of this State, which have their
sources in the Appalachian Mountains.
Governor Harrison communicated the sub
ject to the Legislature, with Message, a.
| follows:
| as couxcIL, October 1s, 1894.
"Tn the Honorable Speaker " the Honss Of Dete-
The opening Of the navigation Of our western
waters 10 of such immense consequence TO tht
| State that it has engaged the attention Of our
| late commandment in -ehief. and Induced hfm to
| favor me with his opinion on the subject, which
enclose and request the favor Of you to lay II
| before the Assembly. his reasoning isSo conelu
! sive that have not doubt Of the utility OF thu
4 measure remaining with me. and shall feel my
self extremely happy il tho Assembly should
coincide with me in the opinion, and set on foot
the surveys recommended - . necessary prepar'
aiory step TO the undertaking
He then presents various considerations in
i its support
/ It 10 proposed by this improvement, te
connect the Ohio River at the mouth of ths
Kanawha, with the Atlantic Ocean at tbs
mouth Of the Chesapeake Bay, distance o.
686 miles by . water line, ::of capacity suf6
cient for boats Of 800 to $50 tons burthen
capable Of conveying from 10000 to 15,OO(
bushels Of wheat, to pass the whole dis'anc'
without breakage Of bulk. Of this, the frs
l5l miles from the Ocean to Richmond vii
also bs navigable for sail vessels and steam
boats. From the Ocean to the mouth Of tn,
James 1t the head Of Hampton Roads, il
} about Is miles, Of this last named distance
And this will probably be the point Of de
parture for ocean bound vessels; Hampto,
Roads furnishing the most espacious, and i,
every respect the best harbor on the Atlantic
coast; thus making the connecting line oal,
about sll miles.
From Richmond the canal extends west
ward us miles, passing through the range
Of the Blue. Ridge and Allegheny Mountain
; to the Green Brier River, tributary Of ID,
Kana~hs. From the intersection Of the CO
nal with the Green Brier River, there is y
be slack water navigation, BY means o
locks and dams, down through New Rive
and the Ksnawha, 119 miles; thence, tn
!. channel of the Kanawha IL to be deepene,
to its mouth, ! further distance Of 80 miles
\ To this great enterprise Ar. Monroe ha
: been for some time giving his devoted Ia
bors. He has connected much data, an,
valuable information, TO prove to the peopl
of the West its importance and benefits
OF these data No shall make large use i
, making fuller showing Of this enterprise il
] our next paper. At tbs last session Of III
Iowa Legislature . memorial and resolution
TO Congress we're adopted in favor Of Ii
} project. The concluding part Of that memo
rial and the resolutions are these:
This is work Of great national impor
lance. Its benefits will b shared directl
BY more than half the people Of this coun
try; and indirectly BY al. II is nscsssar
addition TO the Improvements Of the naviga
ton Of the Western rivers, without which th
bsne6ts Of that measure win be but half r.
allied. Il ID work to be done by tho Who'll
country, for the benefit Of the whole eoun
try. It belongs 70 the 0ovsrsmsnt Of b
United States.
Nothing need to b giveu. An advanc