The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-05-22

depth of FIVE feet, and it's current ia at
least three miles per hour, so that we
have here feeder which would admit of
very broad canal and yet meet the
drain for lockage, infiltration and evan
Grafton.
estimate the average embankment
between the Suwannee and Carrabelle on
Crooked river to be ten feet high along
what would be the line of canal. and that
the two embankments, having each forty
feet base, twenty feet crest and ten feet
elevation, would give about sc, 900 cubic
yards per mile, at a cost of about $4,000
per mile, exclusive of aqueducts and
locks, and that the whole construction of
this section of one hundred miles would
not, everything included, cost more than
an average railroad furnished with it's
running stock, workshops, bridges, &c.
THE LoCKAGE
With this system there need be but one
lock at each terminus, lock of fortv feet
depth at Carrabelle, and probably enc of
same depth at the cas-, ern terminus to
raise the level to that oi. the Qkefenokee,
ana thlrd TO BRING the level OF the OKefe-
mckee to the st. Marys. These locks NAV
be of any desired length, even to the ac-
commodatlon OF ten barges or vessels of
100 tons each, so that the objection on
the score of loss of time and expense at
the locks, urged by the citizens of the
Cotton Exchange Of New Orleans, is i'm
aglnary as is also their statements to the
effect that 6 200 miles of cannal Digging
would be required, costly dams across
rivers and "a locks to get up and down
from the summit level, with costly lock
and improvements to let the waters of
the Mississippi river into the Gulf waters,
and the dredging of the Gulf to obtain
nine feet all the way" &c
By this system the length and width
OF the lock only would determine how
many ships would be PASSED in "a hours
through any lock, and the longer the lock
the greater the number which can be
passed, and the longer the lock the
cheaper it would be relative to the work
done, as the same gates would serve as
well for locks long enough and large
enough to hold 900 ships as for one
Now, while a ship canal with clear
cut through the Peninsula, with a good
harbor at both ends, would be a grand
and nlaluable work, vet it is obnoxious
to many objections when compared with
the Barge Canal. First, so far as the in
terests Of the Mississippi and its trbuta-
ries are concerned, it has been we'll shown
that the vast expense at which the mouth
OF the Mississippi is kept open to ship
ping of such tonnage as would command
the transmission Of the products of the
valley by its river, rather than by rail,
81 int = bo
of the relative cost of transportation bv
the two canals and secondly, as this sys-
TEN of .jetties is by no means secure
against every contingency, and may be
at any time rendered imperative either
by natural causes or by war, the gigantic
interest thus jeopardzed and delayed
would involve immense sacrifice On the
other hand, the perfect safety of the Barge
Canal under all circumstances and the
guarantee Of its permenancy as CONNER
clal channel should outweigh all objections
Again, passing through or intersecting
the navigable streams and seaport cities
of four States on the Gulf side and acces-
slble to several others on the Atlantic by
means of safe internal navigation, much
of the barge freight would be transferred
in transitu to the consumers of these sec
tions, where they would find ready sale
without breaking the bulk, and reship-
ping between the producer and the con-
sumner. This could not be done by navi-
gators of the "Ship Canal" and this is
no small consideration. And again, these
bargcs passing across 50 many meridians,
all bringing down the product of many
attitudes, would largely secure return
trclghts whose profits would probably re-
turn the expense of the round trip This
is not possible to the shipping of the
Ship Canal. Again, the relative cost of
the two canals, and consequently the tolls
which would be required of the tonnage
navigating them, so as to secure fair in
terest on the investment, should be con-
sidcrcd
Now, among the items of resolutions
adopted by the Cotton Exchange of New
Orleans, at the suggestion Of Judge Fry,
ice-President, representing the Ship Ca
nal Company, it was asserted that "there
would be two hundred miles of canal
digging" on the Barge Canal Now,
sapposing this to be true, and we are
warranted i'll receiving it cum grano sails
when we note other palpabe misrepre-
sentations when speaking of the Barge
Canal. Then, as to one hundred miles of
the route, that lying between the Bay of
Apalachicola and the Suwannee, the earth
work would not cost more than 81, ,5OO,-
600, say that the remaining 100 miles
would cost double that sum, then 81
500, 900 would represent the cost of the
earthwork along the whole line. In COM
putting the cost of the earthwork I have
done SO on the old-fashioned basis of the
shovel and barrow, but the modern ap-
pliances of machinery to this purpose
would reduce the estimate probably by
one-fourth OF 81, ,l25 900, thus reducing the
total cost to in round numbers some 81, ,OOO,- |
O0O. AS to the cost of aqueducts on this line
compute them at say $l,5OO,OOO, the
locks at half that sum or $75O,OOO, now
though there may seem to be presump-
tion in thus dealing in such loud figures
with so little official data to go on, yet
do not believe that the above sum, aggre-
eating 81, $50, 900, will be much exceeded
in the construction of the Barge Canal
while it is as probable that $50 100000
will be exceeded in the construction of a
Ship Canal which will answer the pro-
posed ends and as there is no reason to
believe that any other shipping than that
plying between the Gulf ports proper
and the Atlantic will use this canal, it
follows that no more freight will pass
through the Ship Canal therefore, it is