Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-09-22
THAT CANAL.

Count Ferdinand de Lesseps Brooks,
like all originators of great undertake
ings, probably has never thought of
the ultimate results of his scheme to
turn the Tennessee river into the
Mississippi via Jackson. Columbus
had no idea of the future greatness of
this grand new world when he dis
covered San Salvador, and Mr.. Brooks
has probably never fully contemplated
the great results that might follow
from cutting that ten mile canal he
has projected. When the limpid Ten
nessee is rolling its blue waves into
the great father of waters through the
improvised short cut that the canal
will afford, the old bed from Savannah
to Paducah will be as dry as bone.
Then to complete the great work q
dam should be thrown across the Ohio
and that great river, turned INFO this
old bed of the Tennessee, will also
seek the Mississippi via Jackson. The
geographical changes brought about
by all this will have an odd effect. A
good part of West Tennessee and
Southern Kentucky will be thrown
north os the Ohio river, and conse-
quently north of Masons and Dixon's
line, and can't any more be said to be
part of the South. The people who
live there will be Yankees and we
will have to speak of Union City and
Columbus, KY, as sup North" All
the traditions of the country will be
changed and the inhabitants won't
know themselves. The old soldiers
who live there won't be able to tell on
which side they fought during the
late war and the children who grow
up will be all mixed as to who their
ancestors might have been.
But since Mr.. Brooks,-CoIorlel
Brooks, We beg his pardon. The man
in this country who projects canal is
at least colonel. Since Colonel
Brook has a penchant for the canal
business, he will probably adopt anoth-
er plan to bring the Ohio by Jackson
that will produce still greater geo
graphical changes. The head waters
of the Tennessee and its tributaries in
Southwestern Virginia are very near
to the head waters of streams running
north to the Ohio. Now a canal cut
at this point connecting these streams,
and dam across the Ohio would send
that river a booming down South
through the channel OF the Tennessee.
Knoxville and Chattanooga would
become Cincinnati and Louisville. The
first mentioned city would be entirely
outof Ohio and Johnny Mclean would
be done for. Henry Watterson, too
being again located at the place where
he begun journalism, would have to
sing another song ON the tariff ques-
ton.
There is still another change that
this canal will work, without altering
the course of the Ohio, that its pro-
jector has probably never thought OF.
The word Tennessee in the Chocktaw,
Cherokee or Chickasaw tongue, (our
philology don't enable Us to determine
which) means crooked spoon. The
river was so named because its course
gave it resemblance to a twisted
soup elevator, but il the course is
changed the semblance will no longer
exist and the river will have to be
named anew. Now the State of Ten
nessee was called after the river and
if the name of the river is changed
there wont be any such state as Ten
nessee and the State debt will be
completely wiped out.
We feel certain that Col. Brooks,
(probably it would be more fitting to
call him General Brooks,) has never
thought of all these results that
this product of his genius will bring
abOut