New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-09-30

| AuAe VUdu lllaC DrOulof
had called to accompany her to Detroit
Clark walked atittle lame, and explained i
by saying that the citizen shot him in til,
leg as he was going through the window.
[Translation from the Neve Welt
Mercantile High Ways Of the Future.
Prosy calculations with the factors of tn
rea! present no longer satisfies our ambition
and our speculatiOns enter the field of til,
Immediate and the more distant future.
The cOmmunicatiOnal highways of OH
mercantile world are subject to the grea
changes of that rapid progress which char
acterizes our age. The Pacific railroad tn,
canal at Suez, and the tunnel through
Mont Cents are gigantic achievements, whicl
have changed the direction of traffic of en-
tire states-nay, even of entire continents
On the heels Of the accomplishment OF thes.
great works we find the proposed canal il
northwest Germany, which will connect til,
Baltic with the North Sea, proposed tim
mel under the English channel; the TUNE
under the St. GOthard and, somewhat NOR.
in the future, canal through the Isthmus
of Panama.
While our age enters into combination
and speculati0ns with such grand factors
st. Louis will do well to direct her atten
| tiOu to her own cOmmuncatiOnal highways
and to improve them in keeping with the
spirit which characterize other contempt
rary enterprises.
Our much esteemed fellow -tOwneman
Reavis, has, moro or less. reused great
many Of our St. Louis citizens to the con
| ception Of metropolitan ideas. The move
| ment has gone beyond ST. Louis. and al.
most the entire American continent now
looks to us for a metropolitan development
1t will, therefore, not satisfy any one should
We do no more than acquire o few hundred
miles of additional railroad communication
per annum. 1t is necessary that we also
should inaugurAte our cCmmunicatiOnal
| combinations in accordance with the great
factors of our age. and the mercantile high
ways which We now propose to construct
or to improve must take their direction from
continent to continent, and vie in perfection
with the facilities of the mercantile trade of
metropolitan cities like New York, London.
Paris, Berlin or STEAMBOAT.
'Cheap freights" is the cause of the sue
cess of great marts; without them cheap
goods are out of question. All other COM
bnatiOns of labor, manufacturing facilities.
capital, are insufficient for the establish
ment Of q good mart: wherever good COM
municational ways and means do not secure
cheap freights by the facility of exports
and Imports. An illustration of this fact
may be found in the location of all the great
marts Of the past, built almost invariably
on the sea coast or on the banks of large
navigable rivers, and only the immense de-
velOpment of railroad communications has
of late made other locations Of the whole
sale trade practicable.
Freight by water has so far proved the
cheapest, although the loss Of time, mainly
caused by large deviations from a direct
ton great preference only where the
nature and smaller value Of bulky freight
admit of delay. 1t should be now our OBJ
.ject to reach the best possible communica-
tiOnal ways, the nearest points or ports on
the sea coast. Among those we find Mo
bile, four hundred and eighty miles: Pensa-
cola and New Orleans. five hundred and
ten miles; Savannah. six hundred and ten
miles; Charleston. six hundred and twenty
miles distant in an air line. Having first
class river communication to New Orleans.
it will be proper to consider this connection
first, for the obvious reason that, although,
the river route to New Orleans is longer
than the railroad route to- New York one
hundred pounds of grain to New Orleans is
freighted for fifteen cents. while to New
York it costs tifty-tive cents.
In order, however, that New Orleans
should become first class port for the ex-
port of our product and for the import of
bulky European freight, a better entrance
must be secured than the mouth of the
Mississippi. A large canal for New Orleans
has already been planned for this purpose.
and we hope that work on the same will
soon commence. This will Obviate TIE very
serious distractions which the alluvial mud
of the Mississippi continually forms (par-
ticularly at high water in the river chan
nels near the sea.
A further difficulty in this southern route
which should be Obviated is the circumnavi-
" of nf ho
many dangers near the keys, caused by in
reef. small islands and stormy
sea, are even greater objections to this cir
cumEavigatiOn than its great distance and
loss of time. For this reason a
canal through Florida is fully as necessary
for the benefit Of the trade Of the Missis-
sippi valley'and the Gulf States as the canal
from New Orleans to the sea. The difficult
ties in the way Of constructing a canal
through Florida are not quite as large as
they appear ut the first sight From the
mouth Of the Suwanee river to St. John or
Augustin. on the Atlantic, the distance is
one hundred miles. There are no consider |
able elevations on this line. The Suwanee
and st. John rivers and all the small lakes |
IN the interior share in the nature Of all |
southern waters; they are deep, have full |
supply of water, and could be made |
navigable for large vessels with a
highly probable that on all but about
thirty miles water courses or lakes would
facilitate this enterprise. The
interests of trade which will be advanced
" the same are SO vast that there remains
title doubt of the ultimate realization of
his proposition. The one and a quarter
million of miles of fertile land in the Missis-
ippi valley, together with the mercantile
Of Texas Alabama and Florida.
will weigh heavy in an argument for the
completion of this work. and it NAV be
afely expected that Congress will prepare
measures to fund this enterprise bv a
guarantee of credit similar to that extended
o the Pacific railroad. Such measure
you'd secure the survey for completion of
he enterprise, and the result of it, cheaper
reights to st. Louis than to any other
Western city, would in reality make St.
-ouis the great metropolis of America.
Let us answer European enterprise with
ts canals of Suez and the Elder. in our own
manner hy the canal of New Orleans and
Trough Florida, and Judging from the past
nd the spirit which OF late prevailed on the
ther side of the Atlantic, they will no
loubt soon respond to our answer.
AS party of gentlemen were eniov;no q
an IN yacht q few days since. they sighed
wo hn-back whales when about two miles
uI from Nahant, Massachusetts,. each
assuring from fifty to sixty feet in length.
,elng curious to obtain a nearer view of
ne pig nsh, the party followed them for
All an hour, api;rOacl,irr On meow ~