The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-09-26


The Champiaih c"h"i'
n,, oonn
ITS ToNNAoh ANp 80 N'"
WIZ" I'M" ''''''
The following letter contains some inter-
estinp tonnage statistics
- G., - ,o.o
i"o'' Az - "'P'' i'' i0'''
Hen. Um. Windddni, Chairman Of ne
Tuifed States Seno1e Committee on Trans
1,ortotion. Sm,-I have the honor to ac-
knowlcdge the recent of your letter of a
recent date. asking for n statement of the
average custom house tonnage ofthc Cham
plain canal boats, represented by the vessels
which take out marine cnrollmonts and IL
censc ut this office. A careful examination
of the records of this Office shows that any
such statement would he only approximate
10 corroct ne onnlving to the business on
boats of that canal. The boats that 40 pu-
siness on that canal may be document NJ any
othar mort II, tho State T. r. at their home
IVY. 20, :" - ,,i,,ro ,hov arc owned
when n marine license is issued it is good
for the wear anywhere in the "coasting
trade" The business of canal boats is not
confined to single canal. They go when
ever the highest frcights and the best bust
ness attracts them. nus po"' hochseu
AZ inns port IN" h"',""S i' 10y ~, " ~,
, ,,'e C ,oar pn thc Erie or other canals. orn
Wv ia, nu,,od aud docunontod ot Ruf,
caiai p'"' """N "" - -, w ~,
Ia may DC cmpiOycu cNciusNciN OH inc
Champlan canal. Therefore the records
.i,I ,n,oo Gail Ia furr;oI, ,ho inf,ru,,,;nn
VI W "'No '' '" -, ' NV ''
whlch your lctlcr cHlis LOT.
The place where boat is built is usually
,o;rtod an tho storn of tbo ho,t with tho
name and affords some indication of the
hail-p0int and locality from which such
boat makes her voyages. send herewith
statement of boats and their tonnage doc
umented at this Office which purport to hail
from places along the Champlain canal.
| can, however, give you information re-
lating to the tonnage of our State canals
from other reliable sources, and facts from
which YOU can draw conclusions Thus
the
Total numbc, of fms ,rrelont, which
came TO the Hudson river from the
Erie canal IN 1872, was 20.0'i0o
INV" from '''''p'"'" ''"''' '''''''
1t should be borne in mind that the ton
mage of all the canals ofthc State that came
to tide water Except the Champain canal
is included in the Erie canal statement
Thus we have the
v;l,. Lama
rr,..c N, ,oo,,,. mi
Chennngo canal .,
Black River canal. feed 4 and river. ~
oneida axe eina ana lnr eana' 'eeu'r
tAdjuncts Of oswego canal. viz, Oneida.
and Seneca river Improvements. etc. ~
o,o Va am NJ. ,,o nona, ''""'' 20
thein,Ing canal ana feeder. 30
Genesee vally canal and bans'lie,
si"ec"'' l'N
Thus of the 900 miles of canals in the
State there are 3Gl ofthe Erie canal proper,
and of the other canals tributary to the Erie
canal (exclusiyc of the Cbomnlain canal.
that send their tonnage to the tide-waters of
the Hudson river throuuh thc Erie canal
and 45S miles of lateral canals. Total of
the Erie canal and IS tributaries. SO miles
The Champlain canal proper is G6 miles in
length. to which is added The Glcns Falls
feeder. II miles. pond above Troy dam. 2
miles, total 81 miles. The total tonnage
of the $40 miles of E lie canal and its tribu
taries sent to tidewater in 1870 was 900
4O5 tons. This gives a tonnage of 3.24S 10
tons coming to tidewater for the Erie canal
and tributaries, to each mile thereof. Or.
if the 36l miles of Erie canal be credited
with the entire tonnage sent 10 tidewater
through the lower part of the Eric canal by
the 45S miles of other canals of the State
mot including the Champlain canal, there
would be an average tonnage of 7 .397 Ia
tons to the mile. Total tonnage of the
Champlain canal sent to tidewater in 1872.
on, $3.50 tons. The total length oftbe Cham
plain canal, including twelve miles of feeder
and three miles of slack-water navigation
above Troy dam, is 81 miles. The tonnage
to tidewater of the Champlain canal was
more than Il. OCH tons to the mile for the
year 1872, or 1870 tons more than the Erie
canal to the mile, giving the Erie canal the
benefit of all its tributaries. and taking on
ly its own length, excluding tributaries, ir
the estimate. The amount of tolls received
on the Erie canal for 1872 was 81, 149, 400
OF was S7.ClG07 TO the mile. The amount
of tolls for the same period on the Cham
plain canal was Sl73,64l "a, or an average
of 81, 1920 to the mile.
1t will thus be seen that while there was
nearly double the tonnage to the mile on
canal going to ti1ewater, that the tolls per
mile paid on the Champlain canal were very
considerable less per mile than those of the
Erie canal The cause of this great differ
ence arises from the fact that articles
which constitute the bulk of the tonnage