Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-09-25
ChampIaifl Canal.

SluCC o1dCh L lIndf III 1OOJs
Champaign Canal.
The following letter from Collector
Arthur, of Troy, contains some interest
irg tonnage statistics:
Troy, NY, Sept. II, 1873.
Hon. Vim. HIr1dOn1, Chairman Of tie
United States Senate Ct0mn1jttee on
TRANSFORMATION :-SIR,-I have the hon
or to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of a recent date, asking for a
statement of the average custom house
tonnage of the Champlain canal boats,
represented by the vessels which take
out marine enrollments and license at
this office. A careful examination of
the records of this office shows that any
such statement would be only approx
mately correct as applying to the bust
ness on boats of that canal. The boats
that do business on that canal may be
documented at any other port la the
State, L. e. at their home port, or the
place where they are owned. When a
marine license is issued it is good for the
year anywhere in the "cOasting trade.
The business of canal boats is not con-
fined 10 a single canal. They go when
ever the highest freigbts and the best
business attracts them. Thus a boat
licensed at this port and hailing from
any place on the Champlain canal, may
be employed all the year on the Erie or
other canals, or a canal boat owned and
documented at Buffalo may be employed
exclusively on the Champlain canal.
Therefore the records of this Office fail
to furnish the information which your
letter calls for. ..-...
The place where a boat is built is usu-
ally painted on the stern of the boat
with the name, and affords some indica-
ton of the hail-point and locality from
which such boat makes her voyages. lsend
herewith statement of boats and their
tonnage dOcumented at this Office which
purport to hail from places along the
Champlain canal.
l can, however, give you information
relating to the tonnage of our State
canals from other reliable sources, and
facts from which you can draw conclu-
sions. Thus the
Total number of tons freight
which came to the Hudson river
from the Erie canal in 1872, was 1904 ,
Ditto from Champla1n canal, 1883
1t should be borne in mind that the
tonnage of all the canals of the State
that came to tide water Except the
Champlain canaD is included in the
Erie canal statement. thus we have
the
Erie canal and feeders, 3GI
Chenango canal, ~
Black River canal. feeder and river, So
Oneida lake and canal feeder,
OswegO canal proper >
] Z a V,fae1 of hgEEr al IN
ella and Seneca river improve
ments, etc., %
Cayuga and Seneca canal, p
Crooked Lake canal,
Chemung canal and feeder, -
Genesee Valley canal and Dansville
sidecut, lis
Thus of the 900 miles of canals in the
State there are 361 of the Erie canal
proper, and of the other canals tributary
to the Erie canal exclusive of the Cham
plain canal), that send their tonnage to
the tidewatere of the Hudson river
through the Erie canal, and 45S miles of
lateral canals. Total of the Erie canal
and its tributaries, $40 miles The Cham
plain canal proper is &C miles in length,
to which is added the Glens Falls feeder,
- miles, pond above Troy dam-3 miles
total, 81 miles. Thus the total tonnage
of the $40 miles of Erie canal and its
tributaries sent to tidewater in 1872 was
1910, 405 tons. This gives a tonnage of
3, 24SB tons coming to tidewater for the
Erie canal and tributaries, to each mile
thereof. Or, if the 361 miles of Erie
canal be credited with the entire tonnage
sent to tidewater through the lower part
of the Erie canal by the AS miles of
other canals of the State (not including
the Champlain canal), there would be an
average tonnage of 1891 tons to the
mile. Total tonnage of the Champlain
canal sent to tidewater in 1872, 977, $50
tons. The total length of the Cham
plain canal, including twelve miles of
feeder and three miles of slack-water
navigation above Troy damn is 81 miles.
The tonnage to tidewater of the Cham
plain canal was more than 12,067 tons
to the mile for the year 1872, or 4, 670
tons more than the Erie canal to the
mile, giving the Erie canal the benefit Of
all its tributaries, and taking only lis
own length, excluding tributaries. il tie
estimate. The amount of tolls re-
ceived on the Erie canal for 1912 was
So, 749, 400. 81, was 81, 616.01 10 the mile.
The amount of tolls for the same period
on the Champlain canal was S173, 54t "a,
or an average of 80, 142. 40 10 the mile.
1t will thus be seen that while there
was nearly double the tonnage to the
mile on the ChamplaiR canal over that
of the Erie canal going 10 tide-water,
that the tolls per milepaid on the Cham
plain canal were very considerable less
per mile than those of the Erie canal
The cause of this great difference arises
from the fact that the articles which
constitute the bulk of the tonnage reach
ing tide-water via the Champlain canal,
pay very considerably less tolls than do
the article which constitute the bulk OF
the tonnage coming to Underwater by the
Erie canal. Thus lumber, timber, iron
ores and coal are the great staples that
make up the tonnage of the Champlain
canal, and on these the canal tolls are
low. On the contrary, the products of
the great West, grains, ETC., constitute
the bulk of the tonnage coming to-tide-
water on the Erie canal, and on these
the canal tolls are much higher than on
the main articles of freight transported
via the Champlain canal. In weighing
the question of the cheapness of routes
of transportation TO the seaboard from
the west, ii seems to me that it is an inn
portant consideration whether canal tolls
shall be paid on crossing the State of
New York on bushel of grain for three
hundred and sixty-one miles of canal
(the length of the Erie, or only sixty
six miles (the iengh of the Champlain
canal proper from Lake Champlain to
the Hudson.) As your committee are in
search of information on this subject,
you will pardon me for sending you
something more than the mere answer
in figures to the inquiries made.
Respectfully your obedient servant,
G. L. MACARTHUR,
Deputy Collector.