The daily gazette., 1880-03-18
FIRST EDITION.
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For the Gazette. 1860 tIITI-
Letter from Samuel Townsend

Mr.. G. P. JOHNSON I'm vester.
days GAZETTE, You say the building
OF ship canal across the Peninsula
now, would not be SO great an under
taxing as the building of the
chesapeake and Delaware canal was
when that important W ork was under
taken, and you say, NOR would Eads
lthmus Ship Railway, be more of a
venture than the Aspinwall and Pana-
ma Railroad was when it was COM
pleted."
You may have supposed my state
meilt IN regard to canal across the
PENINSULA extravagant. I think not.
but IL they were, your remarks con-
cerning said canal, and lthmus Shin
Railroad are perfect absurdities. You.
from your remarks, know but little
oi canal building. The Chesapeake and
Delaware canal was to have had ~
feet of navigable water in it, ana its
length was only IS IA miles. There
never has been kept in it over 8 or Q
teet, and its width in the deep cut for
or miles will hardly allow two ves-
sels OF 20 feet beam to pass. This
ditch, IL IA miles long cost i'm cheap
times three millions of dollars for & or
feet depth. Now it is proposed on
the shortest orSassafras route, IL miles.
to dig canal three times as deem and
five times as wide, for eight and a half
millions of dollars. to say nothing of
digging out the Sassafras river and
chesapeake Bay for 30 or 25 miles to
20 feet depth at low water; you may
calculate by the yard of dirt. Now,
suppose you take a well on this Sas-
sairas route or on any of the other
routes of proposed canals. They will
average 12 to Is feet of water, the up
per yards of dirt is cheaply moved,
then after you strike water you put in
curb, then a brick wall to force the
curb down as the digger digs out the
sand and water, and in about a half
day he may succeed i'm setting 3 or 4
feet further. Now, on the summit on
the Sassafras route the highest ground
according to late survey is so feet
above tide water, then add 25 feet for
the canal, and 3 or feet for rise and
fall of the tide, and you have 109 feet,
now deduct this said well of 10 feet to
water and you have 97 feet through
water sand and mud, for there is
streak of black mud that underlies
this Peninsula from the shore of the
Chesapeake and Delaware canal to
Crisfield, and under the bed of the
Chesapeake Bay to Fortress Monroe,
and how much further do not know,
But, do know that at one time this
black mud near the Summit Ridge in
the Chesapeake and Delaware canal
began to rise, and it cost thousands of
dollars and over years work with a
large gang of men to remove the
weight further back. The borings at
Crisfield and Fortress Monroe prove
the same strata. Now, what new i'm
provements are there in canal build
ing? They wheel out with barrows
in short distances; in making the
present canal, in 20-21-22-23-24, and
in 1873, when the great washout near
the rail road bridge, went up to look
and history was repeating itself, after
a space of nearly 50,years, gangs of men
were using the same kind Of wheel
barrows in the same place.
But, now, suppose these canal build
ers remove the upper dirt by railroads,
they would, for many feet, have to
wo:k i'll quagmire, until down within
20 or 30 feet Of the bottom, and there is
all this dirt to be deposited. Then
suppose these great talked-of dredges
come lii--oniy two opposite one another,
for space would have 10 be left be-
tween, for channel for tugs and mud
scows, aud If the canal was intended
for large ships TO pass it would have 10
be at least 200 feet on water line.
Dredges could OF course each side fol-
low up one another every hundred
yards. Now, with feet of tugs, mud
scows and dIedges digging out depth
Of 25 feet, mind not 7 or 8 or 10 feet,
but 20 feet deep, and you will have such
a job that no mortal man has yet seen;
and this work, looking or pointing to
the mouth of the Delaware river, would
be of no use to Delaware people; more
Than half our roads destroyed, and our
country overrun with the very dregs of
the human race. 1t would take two
thousand soldiers, at least, as a police
force, and if Delaware had to pay 1t, it
would ruin us; and If the government
done 1t, as the interested Baltimoreans
are trying to make IL a government
work, farewell liberty, for whichever
political party controlled at Washington
would control this Peninsula. / would
sell out and leave the State. AS to the
Panama railroad and comparison with
a ship railroad, with 10 or 20 tracks,
taking up 200 feet, of cutting off the
sides of steep mountains, to let ships
pass, is beautiful comparison to
notch, little wider than mule path, for
the present A,pinwall and Panama rail-
road. The cost of ship railroad, with
docks, would be fly TO one hundred
times as much. That visionary French
man, de Lesseps, who proposes to blow
down aud remove mountains, TO make
a ship caual, is crazy, aud 1 hope no
American will. subscribe dollar. Let
Frenchmen, who have faith il de Les
seps, burn their fingers. Because he
dredged out an old water course IN
Egypt that was used 1000 years ago, has
made him believe he can do most any =
thing. But the parties who furnish the
money for him to waste in blowing
down mountains will be the fools, as
our government would be if they fur
nished the money for this talked OF
Peninsula ship canal.
SAMUEL TOWNSEND.
Townsend March II, 1880.
Children GiUen Up.
After considerable persuasi on, Emma
| Johnson who wua inad oa Sunday last