Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1874-01-22
M1LIERsBuRe, County, O.. THURSDAY 22 1874

river can be ascended to its confluence
with the Ocumlgee, and Themes the Oc-
umlgee can be navigated past Macon
to point north of Atlanta, where it is
only short distance to the head waters
of the Etowah River flowing in the
other direction. The course is thence
by the Etowah to Rome, and thence by
the Coosa River to point within thirty
miles of the Tennessee River. A canal
across this strip of land would open in
to the Tennessee River near Gunthers-
vile, and thus direct water course to
the Ohio at Paducah or the Mississippi
be found.
SUPERIORITY OF WATER ROUTES.
Before proceeding to describe partic-
ularly each of the existing and projsc-
ted water routes to the interior from
the Atlantic coast it may be well to give
few facts showing the advantages
water routes have over reutes by land.
1t costs five times as much to send .
ton of freight to San Francisco by rail-
road as it does to send it by vessel
around Cape Horn, which is six times
as far. Taking the distance into the
calculation, 1t costs thirty times as much
to convey by land as it does by water.
Railway freights are often so high that
the money which would have to be paid
to send ton OF freight to Albany by
rail would send it to Europe by vessel.
Notwithstanding the perfect network
of railroads in Illinois, Indiana, and
Ohio the receipts and shipments by
water at such lake ports as Chicago,
Milwaukee, and Buffalo are from two
to five times as great as the receipts and
shipments by rail. At Montreal, Al
bany, and New York the amount of
freights received and shipped by water
exceeds the railroad freights by nearly
ten times. The heaviest freight trains
over the New York Central of Erie rail-
roads carry no more than one of the
boats on the Erie Canal drawn by two
horses. An ordinary lake and river
propeller carries as much as five or six
freight trains. There is transported by
the Hudson River between New York
and Alanby fifteen times as many tons
of freight in the nine months of river
navigation as the railways carry i'm
twelve months. The rates by water are
one-fourth as much as the rates by land
in summer and one-siXth as much dur
ing the winter season. The Erie Canal
does more work during the six months
it remains open than all the New York
railroads together.
THE CANADIAN ROUTE TO THE WEST AND
NORTHWEST.
The River st. Lawrence being nat
ural outlet to the great lakes, might be
expected to afford the easiest passage
for vessels from the Atlantic Ocean to
these inland seas. But capital, popula-
ton, climate, and other causes have
long given to the more artificial water
highways of New York an almost un-
challenged pre-eminence. The Cana
dians, however, are waking up to their
natural advantages and mean to chal-
lenge division of Western trade. The
truth is there is and will ever be more
than enough for all the routes natural
and artificial which at present exist, or
are ever likely to be created. By the
st. Lawrence route vessel of consid-
cradle tonnage can, by entering the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, find easy floating for
a distance of at least 1000 miles, excep-
ting two or three Instructions, all of
which have been partially overcome.
The first obstruction is the rapids near
Montreal, which are avoided by means
of canals through which the vessels on
their upward trips pass around them.
The second obstruction is the Niagara
Falls, between Lake Ontario and Lake
Erie, about 1000 miles inland. This OBJ
struction is overcome by the Welland
Canal, after which there is clear sailing
for 1000 miles more, terminating at
Chicago or Duluth, two natural receipt
acles for the land products of the West
and Northwest.
The first improvement to the St. Law
renee route was the construction of the
canals around the rapids. The total
length of these canals is forty-one miles |
and their depth is ten feet. They can
pass vessels of 800 tons. There are
twenty-seventy locks, each 200 feet long |
by 45 feet wide, with a total lockage
''lift" of 30434 feet. The plan of the
which is soon to be car
ried out, includes the enlargement of I
these canals so as to pass vessels of !, 200
tons. The Welland Canal, between
Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, was built |
by Upper Canada on a small, inexpen-
sive scale. In its present condition it is
able to pass vessels of 400 tons. 1t is
% miles long and 10 feet deep. There
are 27 locks $50 by 25% feet, with an
aggregate Gift" of $50 feet. 1t takes
20 hours for steam and 80 hours for sail
vessels to pass through it. In 1872
l ,2oO, 900 tons Of freight passed through
this canal, and during the same time
{, ,0S7 ,212 tons were carriedon the Erie
Canal. Two or three years hence the
of the Welland Canal will
be completed, and it will then be able to
pass from 100000 to 100000 tons,
or more than all the canals and rail-
roads of this State combined carry in
their present condition. The estimated
cost of the whole Improvements to the
Welland Canal is s14,OOO,OOO. The ca
nal is to be 13 feet deep and 100 feet
wide on the bottom, having side slopes
to in clay. The locks will be 27O
feet in length between quoins, 45 feet
wide, and II feet deep over the mitre
sil.s. From Thorold, at the head of the
old system of locks, the new channel is
to diverge and make a circuit past st.
GATHERINGS, emerging at Port Dalhousie
on Lake Ontario. Thus the canal will
have two outlets on Lake Ontario, with
two sets of locks, the old and the new.
Heretofore it has often been necessary
to tighten the cargoes of vessels coming
down from the lakes before passing
through the Welland Canal, as any