Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-07-08
THE SHIP CANAL.
The Mississippi to be thus Con-
nected with Fox River
and the Lakes.
How it will be Worth 100000
Annually to Wisconsin-The
Wing-Dams Failure
The Ship Canal
the only way of
Success.
Fools, Damn Fools, Wing dam Fools. +"

IOOIS, DhIlu IUUloI uaLh = No4St
The HERALD has heretofore inform
ed its readers that party of leading
men, representing the State Of Wis.
consin, Iowa and Minnesota, were on
an excursion investigating the ques-
ton of cheap transportation by
means of provements along the
Wisconsin river and the Portage be-
tween it and Fox river. The party
has completed its work the citizens
of Prairie du CHEN have banqueted
It's memb ers and the Union and
Courier of that city are crowded with
information of the doings of the ex-
| cursionists.
Probably no other one county is
as greatly Interested in the project
as Grant county, and we wish every
citizen to be well posted and to in
terest himself in it. First he should
know that cheap transportation is
the object. Water communication
from the Mississippi to Buffalo will
secure cheaper transportation than
railroads will give. The Wisconsin
river has always been difficult to
navigate. There are many places too
shallow and its sandy bottom makes
shifting channels. A system of i'm
provements adopted some years ago
was the building of wing-dams st and
along the shallow places. The wing
dams were simply bank filings which
narrowed the stream, and the current
becoming swifter would carry away
the sand and deepen the channel
The result, however, was to leave the
| sand O short distance below the dams
and there now sand-bars would be
formed. Experience has shown the
work to be such folly that those en-
gineers who adopted it are now set
down as fools. Col Sam. Adams,
master of the State Grange was one
of the excursion party. He concludes
that he will hencefore devide people
into three comparative degrees, name
ly: "Positive, fools ; comparative,
damn fools, and superlative wing
dam fools" But there are two other
plans of improvement proposed. One
is TO make canals along the shallow
places and another is to make canal
all the way frem Prairie du Chen to
Portage This is supposed to be the
best plan. The canal is to be wide
and deep enough for navigation by
the upper Mississippi steamboats,, and
the locks suitable for passing them
through. Senator Window, of Min
nesota, in 8 speech at the banquet,
said that the average cost from all
points on the Mississippi between ST..
Paul and Burlington to Green Bay,
when the Improvement is successfully
made will be only 7 cents per bushel
for carrying grain, while the average
cost by rail for five years was IL cents.
| This would be saving OF ten cents
per bushel, and to the State of Wis
consin saving of 100000. Mar
rowing it down to nearer home, if
the estimate be correct, the saving to
Grant county would be about $40, 900.
The examining party had among
its members Gov. Taylor, Senator
Howe, our Congressman Magoon,
Congressman Sawyer, Commissioner
Larabee and over thirty other repre-
sentative men f the North west. All
agree that the wing dams were fail
ure and favor the through ship canal
plan. The dams have already cost
! 100000, and require constant labor
and great expense to remove the
bars caused bv their own currents.
Legislation and appropriation by
Congress, to assist in the great work
are asked for.
The party resolved on a convention
of citizens of tho Northwest most in
terested, to be held the coming
autumn, to unite in an fort to for
ward the work, due notice of which
will be timely given.