Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-10-19
Manchester as n Seaport.
London Standard,

AVnAUn AAahAuA4s
The possibility Of converting Man
chester into a seaport is once more agi.
tating the minds of the inhabitants Of
that city. Time and again this scheme
has been talked of, but just as fire.
q%uently has it retired into the limbo of
unreal dreams, until Liverpool never
disturbs itself at the cry and Lanca-
shire railway shares experience no
perturbation when it is heard, But
on the present occasion the promoters
of the Irwell canal are in earnest, and,
having decreed that ships shall sail in
from the Atlantic and unload their
bales at the Manchester wharyes, they
have appointed a committee to obtain
estimates and surveys, and begin
operations at once, provided the re-
port proves favorable. The social
and commercial results of turning an
inland town into an Atlantic harbor
will be SO remarkable that the com
parativs ease with which the Difficult
ties in the way could be overcome is
apt to be underestimate. NJ. de Les
seps digs a trench from the Mediter-
ranean to the Red Sea; General Turr
is at work on the Isthmus of Corinth;
though the moving spirit of the Spez
canal is at present %engrossed with
Egypt, we are assured that all is going
we'll with the navies who are bent on
dividing the barrier between Colon
and Panama. Bdt, With the excep-
ton of the waterway through Egypt,
the excayators haze act the advantage
of lake or stream in any part Of the
course of these navigable bitches.
Between the Mersey and Manchester
the line Of the proposed ship channel
already exists in the shape of the
Irwell, hal u~ncleanly river which
flows through Manchester and Sal.
ford. Creeping past Warrington
Widnes and Runcorn, it falls into the
Mersey, seven and a half miles below
Liverpool, after describing a course Of
some thirty-seven miles.
Here, then, is the eanal-if canal il
can be called-ready marked out for
the engineers. All they have to do is
to deepen it sufficiently to admit the
tide. This, it is believed, will be
cheaper than to construct locks, and
in the end infinitely more convenient
Once this is accomplished-and the
whole affair is simply a question o.
money and a little Strengthening here
aud there-the American cotton ships
With their e40, 000, 600 Of freight, and
the return vessels with manufacturer
goods to a like amount may come anC
60 without hindrance. Upward O
81 ,0OO,0 900 per annum, it is estimated
will be saved in carriage; property il
and about the city and along the lin,
Of the river will rise enormously il
value; the Tyldesley coal field will
receive an impetus its owners neve
knew; great docks will rise like magi
at the eastward terminus of the OK
cavation; wayside villages, jettiel
landing places and stations will sprin
up where only farm yards, MOSES an
pit villages are now seen; and what tn
Manchester men cannot but regard q
a Nemesis on their overgrown pro.
perity-Liyerpool and Birkenhead wi
become as deserted as Stavoren an
Enkehuizen, or as Venice or Gene
after Vasco di Cana sent the tide
commerce flowing around the Cape
Storms.
Without indulging 10 visions qui
so airy, the utility of this water WI
cannot be denied, while its practic
bility may be admitted. II it cost f,
millions -or, as some will have
thrice as mueh-the present trade
Manchester would warrant the CO.
struetion OF the works, and the expe
tation Of a fair dividend to its shar
holders. With these questions v
have, however, little to do A
engineer knows nothing Of impos.
bilities Give him money and he W
accomplish anything OF mangling
mother earth that he is commission
to undertake. 1t is for the men
figures to balance the profits and t
expenditures.