Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1871-06-23
NUMBER So.

the enlarged WellSnd canal Of 10 feet water, the
property holders and owners Of mills, elevators,
&C, az Last OswegO expended lOO. 900 dollars
to enlarge and deepen channel 100 feet wide
and 10 feet deep on that side Of the river The
| property holders on the west side have expended
like sum in anticipation of the future enlarge
ment Of the Wellsnd canal, to obtain u feet
water on that side, leaving 8-8 Of the river
harbor with an average depth Of feet on a
rock bottom. What is true Of Oswego is measur-
ably true Of the harbors and rivers throughout
the lake region
Edwin +. johnson, a distinguished civil
engineer in su elaborate and carefully
prepared essay, entitled g The navigation
Of the axes and navigable communications there
from to the seaboard, - published iu 1866, says,
Up. 5) g The descent from Lake Superior to
Lake Huron is overcome, Is feet Of it by a canal
one mile, nearly, in length, having y feet depth
Of water, with two locks Of to 10 feet lift
each Again, g Between Lskes Huron AMI
Erie, At what are called the St. Clair Fists,
dredging Of the channel has been necessary to
secure 10 feet depth OF water at the lowest stage
Of Lake Huron, and this must be repeated at
still greater cost, the bottom being an indursted
msrl, TO secure / or y feet Of water Mr..
johnson, in his able and exhaustive discussion Of
the connection OF the lakes with each other and
with the sesboard, nowhere coatemplStes an i'm
provement by locks Sud canals giving more thSn
y feet depth Of water. The objection to large
lccks and deep canals sre:
Fust-Their cost and the necessity Of high
tolls on the commerce, impairing their utility.
Sec0Hd-The necessity they impose upon the
whole lake region of large, and often re-
peated expenditure Of money on hsrbors and
rivers to meet the wants Of a large class Of YES
sells, with tendency to throw the trade into the
hands Of large capitalists, TO the exclusion Of
men Of smaller means, or give it 20 few leading
cities willing and able to make large disb1rse-
ments on their harbors TO monopolize the traffic.
to the exclusion Of their less op1lent com
petitors
IIir3-lt is believed that large portion Of
the future traffic Of the lakes will seek pr0pellers
which, if constructed Of wood more than 200
feet long, will require go heavy Longitudinal
brscing, SIS to impair grestly their carrying
capacity
Ship canals, properly such, are useful in the
means they afford Of creating short artificial
links to connect long chsius Of natural nsyiga-
ton They are vslusble in proportion as they
are short, cieap and faciIe in management ani
movement Of shipping. Mr. johnson, in his
essay, has constructed a table showing the rela-
tive value Of long, short, cheap. costly, simple
tables, and from my own observations and ex-
periences, the Wellaud csusl, in my judgment,
stands at the head Of the numerous projects pre-
sentei for discussion by your B0ari, in point Of
utility. Il is short. say . miles, requires but
$50 feei Of lockage if the slight elevation Of its
summit above Lake Eric Is reduced, as it proba-
bly, will be and il has numerous natural Su1 art-
fetal basins or pond reaches. Compared with
the French river and Ottawa. OF the Huron and
Ontario canals. il has greatly the advantage
over both in latitude, amount Of lockage and
length Of canal. although as naviga5le route il
il longer. The Welland canal perfected, achieves
the great enterprise Of connecting our inland
seas with the ocean BY the most approved routes
Of rivers. canals and railroads. The ST. Law
renee improvements rank with the Welani
having length Of 81 - miles Of canals and
loo fee; 0f lockage. The Beauhlrnois or St
Louis, and the Chsmplain canal, THE Caughna-
waga canal, ranks next in the elements Of uul-
ty, being a short, cheap link in long chain Of
natural navigation.
M. johnson discusses the subject Of convert
the Cdsmplain canal, sni sso the Erie canal,
from Rome TO the Hudson in connection with the
Oueila LAKE eui OsWego river into ship cana s,
bnt he gives DO definite opinion Of their utility.
am Of opinion that the best Improvements for
these canals is TO Ct them for a large class Of
blrges, TO be novel by tug boats or by steam
power in some other form. an improvement
which confidently anticipate.
Respectfully submitted,
ALVIN Bronson.
OsFego. y. Y, JAn'y 10, 1871.