The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1874-12-25
A MfNVESOTA CANAL.


more than the bare cost of produce
ton.
A MINNESOTA CANAL.
The St. Paul Chamber of Com
merce came together last week to
hear addresses upon the question of
cheap transportation, and especially
upon the Fox and Wisconsin River
improvement. Hon. I. Donnelly READ
a carefully prepared address, abound
ing in facts and figures Of interest,
and taking strong ground against the
proposed Wisconsin canal. One of
his strongest points is as follows:
Frcights from Green Bay and Du-
luth are substantially the same. Let
lis then suppose the proposed canal
finished, and a merchant living at the
geographical centre Of the State, we
will say in Stcarns county, to send a
thousand bushels Of wheat to New
York through this canal, while anoth-
er, his neighbor, ships the same guam
tity by rail to Duluth. The first
sends his wheat by rail to St. Cloud,
and thence by rail to St. Paul, say
100 miles in all. Here it is reshipped
into barges, and carried to Prairie du
Chem, $50 miles more there it is re-
shipped into canal boats and carried
295 miles more to Green Bay. 1t has
been subject to three landings and
CAS- miles Of transportation. The
other merchant loads his wheat upon
cars, and-wc will suppose the Brain
erd extension to be by that time fin
ished-it is carried via that road and
the Northern Pacific railroad to .Du-
luth, without rehandling, y distance
of, we will say, 1873 niles Thus then
the two routes will compare:
Fox & Wisconsin landings, 645 m.
Brainerd l. Duluth l handling, 1877 g.
Difference 457 M.
So that for the satisfaction Of having
his wheat dragged through shallow
rivers by slow canal boats, our Min
nesota merchant goes AIS miles out
of his way, and reships his wheat
twice. and loses, probably, two weeks
in time.
MI. Donnelly proposes Minnesota
canal and proceeded to show that a
canal to Lake Superior via the St..
Croix river and the Ncmadji or St..
Louis river to Duluth was entirely
practicable. He sustained his views
by various authorities. He then
showed that Minnesota was already
drained by rivers either already nav
igable or that could be easily render
ed navigable, to-wit, the Mississippi,
St. Croix and Minnesota, and that
four-fifths of our people, and nearly
all our wheat crop, were within an av.
erage distance Of fifteen miles from
navigable water-courses; and closed
by showing the results of such ca.
nal upon the agriculture and com.
merce Of Minnesota.
Hon. E. F. Drake endorsed the pro-
posed canal to Duluth, and said:
Minnesota should be most interes
ted in the subject of transportation
Her chief product is in bulk that can
not be reduced. AS I have had oc
casion by my occupation to look into
the future, l am led to the conclusion
that no one has even one half conceiv
ed the capacity of Minnesota as :
grain growing State. Take, for in
stance, some Of the counties in til,
southwestern part of the State-Wat
1onwan, we may say. He computed
the yield of wheat to. the acre, section
and township, showing that the aver
age-sized county was capable Of pro
ducing 100000 bushels annually
And this but. a single count " w
are lost in the magnitude Of the cal
*culation. I feel mo hesitancy in say
inc that Minnesota is destined to-, b
the great grain-produced State Of tn
continent. Since it is destined t.
produce the most tonnage it is in