Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-03-24
Concerning Canals.

Canals were 8ucientiy coz sti ueted
for the purpose of irritation, but after
wards on an enlarged scale were ntil-
lied as water-courses for inland navl-
CATION. The waters OF the Euphrates.
the Nile and other rivers In the East
were conveyed by such artificial chan-
nels inland, as sources OF fertility.
Chaldea, Assyria, Egypt and Ba byion
were thus enriched with bounteous
harvests. Herodatus, the pioneer OF
historians, relates as one of the greatest
wonders OF that kingdom that rcckoned
among lis stupenous public works hang
ing gardens, brazen gates and walls
800 feet high, canal buill 100 d. c..
and which, reopened by Nebuchad-
nezzar eleven centuries later, afforded
a passage to ships. The great canal of
China which connects the Pelho with
the Yangtsi Kiang, 500 miles distant,
forms a communication from Pekin to
Canton, a distance of 1000 miles. In
the Celestial Empire, when the popu-
lGuon are not regarded as divine beings
man-power Is the power used the entire
route. In the Netherlands, Lowlands,
of Holland, hollow land canals are so
numerous that they are used as roads
traversed by beats in open weather,
anu on sleds and skates in winter.
More than once, when armies invaded
the country, the Dutch, By opening the
canal sluics gates, saved their independ-
ence by Inundating the enemy. To the
ship canal, fifty-one miles in length,
which conaects the river Y with the
North Sea, Amsterdam owes Its CON-
mercial prosperity. In Germany, By
such artificial channels, the Danube is
made 10 blend It's waters with the Rhine,
and in like manner communication Is
opened from The Mediterranean TO the
Atlantic by the Canal .du Midi.
hieh commences at Toulouse, in
France, and dates back two centuries.
so highly is civil engineering skill hon
OF Cd in England that 4 commoLer was
created Duke of Bridgewater as royal
recognition for having constructed the
first lqueduct in the kingdom. Other
subjects have since the last century
been knighted for emiuence in the same
scientific rofe: si)n. Who has not read
of the canals and gondolas of Venice,
and Of tie great utility TO the inhabi-
| tauts in having such streets and such
vebicles2 Contemporaneous with the
| introduction OF railroads in the United
! States Is that Of canals. They have
been anu now are TO a great extent
commercial rivals. The Oldest of these
in the country are the South Hadley
and Montague, in Massachusetts,; the
Middiesex, connecting Boston HarboI
with the Merrimac: the Erie, connect,
ing Champlain with the tide-water oi
The Hudson, and the Chesapeake and
Ohio, from Cumberland 70 Georgetown,
4 distance OF lei miles. The construc-
ton of this great commercial artery OF
trade originated with an idea of Gen.
Washington to connect the Potomac
with the nayigabie waters that flow
into the Ohio. In l774 he procured the
passage of an act by the Legislature
Virginia, empowering persons who
felt Inclined TO open the Potomac
to Cumberland. The Revolution and
causes rendered the act of the Leg
islaturc imperative. But in lo20 the
great conception began 10 be realized,
and eight years later the work was
| completed, the company organized.