Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1871-12-22
From the Mississippi to Tide Water.
LETTER FRoN HON Ltvl Underwood or
VERMONT


Detroit, Dec. 1871, 1871.
sLR-I have been appointed By the Board Of
trade OF this city q delegate to stteni the con
vention to be held in Detroit. or the lstb inst
TO consider the subject of opening water com
muniestion from the Mississippi River TO the
Atlantic seaboari.
have given TO this sub jet a good deal Of
attention, and Z deem It the great question NJ
the time
The prosperity Of tue E4st sud the West de-
Penls more upon securing cheaper transport
Oh 'ae products Of the country than upon sny
other one thing. And the question is. how can
this be best accomplished
The plSn of connecting the Ilssis.inr; Riv.-
/ Wi'a lake Michigan By canal lie a proper matter
Tor congress to act upon, snl the subject is now
before Congress
i am satisfied that to connect this with the
scheme OF the Niagara Ship Canal. On the Nex
oIk eide, will be likely to defeat the whole man
Canal. i'-'ei
II canal should be made on The east side of
the Niagara, it will be Of small value. unless .
canal shall be opened, Of the same capacity.
from Oswego to Albany.
should the United States provide for the Ma
CARA Canal, and avoid the Welland Canal. il will .
be understood to be to pass gunboats in the even;
OF war, sud Canals will not be likely to permit .
this to he connected with Lake Chanplsip bv
way Of the St. Lawrencs River.
Inc most feasible, best and cheapest route
and one which will accommodate the create,
amount OF business is by way OF the Wellsn3
Canal, st. Lawrence Rivor and Lake Cb.m-
plain.
The Welsnd Canal is 2S miles long. with o.
locks snd $50 feet of lockage This canal csnIe
enlarged to accommodate steam propellers NJ
1000 tons fer about sS,5OOOOO. This viii
enable vessels to pass from Lake Erie to Lake
ontario, thence into the ST. Lawrence River .nJ
doWn to CaughnaEsga, az the head Of the Ia
ehlne Rapids, nine miles above Montreal. with
out the use Of the St. Lawrence Canals on dov,
trips, using those canals on up trims onIv tbns
securing sn open snd free lake and down sfre,-a
from Port Dahousie, on Lake Ont
no, to Caughnswsgs-340 miles. A canal Of .
,he ZANE capacity can be constructed from
-aughnawsga to Lake Champlsin - di,t,ncs c
- i-2-snd with less than 80 feet of loekags t
or SZ,5OOOOO. Lake Champain furnisbss
rec navigation $50 miles, fIom s.. Jobns - s
: hitehall. New England will draw il, sr1 :
mes OF Western produce from Lake Cham 4
lain. O'A'n-
send herewith a printed pamphlet Of the
! oceedings OF the Boston Board Of Trade in p
lsy' 1871, snd beg to call your attention to a 4
st'er OF j. Is. hille, Esq, ian eminent engineer Il
no has surveyed this route on psgo 90 Also /,
the tsb'e, on page 81, which is taken from ~
neal reports, showing the day Of opening and
losing Of the Erie and Wellsnd Canal, for %
ears, from lSiS to 1868, which shows that for ~,
us time the Wellapd Canal has been open. upon II
average, II days e'ch year longer than the al
rie Csnsl '''
The present Champlsin Canal connects Lake
asmplain with tide-water at Troy, length SO ul
iies' iockage 30 feet. Competent engineers tic
no have examined this route, among whom are n,
r. Mills and Mr.. McAlpine, late engineer ofthe A.
ate Of New York, are ofopinon that this canal III
n be enlarged from Whitehall to Fort Edward an
"a from thence by dams in the Hudson River M
Troy, to accommodate steam propellers of the ito
me capacity as above named for So. 900 OOO era
lus, q steam propeller carrying 4, 900 busbel,
wheat, or its equivalent in flour, eau load On
'kes Michigan or Superior. or with the Fo-
yer Canal built on the Mississippi River and pOi
through Lake Champlsin to New York with ent
breaking bulk.