The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-14
4 DOUBTFUL ENTERPRISE.
me First Ship Railway IN America
Nearly Completed.
From the Nelo YORK. Tunes.


Nearly Competed.
From the Nel0 YORK Times.
HALIFAX, y. s., Jan. s.-What will be
thu only ship railway in North America is
-apidly approaching completion. 1t is de
tined to convey vessels over the Isthmus Of
r1ir lecto, a narrow neck of land which
i,ins the province of Nova Scotia and
Kew Brunswick, a distance of seventeen
miles The first pr 2ject " as the Bale Verte
osral scheme, bv which il vas proposed to
yIake a cut between the Gulf of st. Law
rsnce and the Bay Of Fundy through this
;srhpus. and so avoid the long detour round
Cane Breton and Nova Scotia, which all
American fishing schoDneis and vessels
tradi1g tween Prince Edward Island and
te gulf ports on tine enc side, and st.
John, Portland, Boston, and New York on
me ether, We obliged to make.
The immense expense of this undertaking
rendered it impracticable, and other means
If transport across the neck of land between
+he Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of
Fnndy had to be sought. The ChignectO
Marine Transport railway aims at a solution
nj the problem. and it mas reached a stage
of or, gress which insures its completion.
The roadbed is ballasted and ready for
track-laying, and the docks at either end
are in process of construction. The steel
forthe track is the heaviest ever made, and
weighs 10 pounds to the yard. There will
he double track, upon which the cradle
containing the vessel under transport will
be plsced. The locomotives, two of which
will he used in drawing the vessels across
the isthmus, are built on the same principle
as ordinary engines, but of much greater
weight and power.
The vessels to be transpor ted will be
hoisted by hydraulic power from the basin to
the tracN, and it Is estimated that with this
power and the road oed in good condition
ship of ordinary capacity will be taken from
the Bay of Fundy and placed in the Gulf
Of St. Lawrence in 211z hours, though speed
of ten miles an hour is obtain Bile.
During t he coming year the Chignccto
Marine Transport railway should be in
active operation, and a saving on each trip
will be effected of 500 miles. 1t would.
however, be more prudent TO say that the
company will be ready to handle whatever
business offers, because it is matter of
pure speculation as to the earnings of the
enterprise.
The tariff for lifting and hauling vessels
over the railway will be 80 cents per ton
for cargo, and 25 cents per ton for hull, so
that a vessel of 900 tons would paw $3.50
for transportation. The permanent success
Of the scheme is looked upon as highly
probiematic. for the class of scho)ners en-
gagged in this trade at present are totally
unable to bear any such charges, and the
prospects of traffic in ships between Lake
Ontario ST. John, and Boston, which some
people have alleged would accrue, are alto
getner too visionary to warrant such an
expenditure.
The promoters, however, will not be the
lo'ers. In Canada the advocates of such
schemes form an important part Of the in
dustri community-and it has come to be
one Of the most important iIdustries-the
IA IfO he mill p..,e
tai, secured by the promise of Dominion
subsidies The country is full of such el-
terprlses. In the province of New Bruins
wick alone there are three railways which
have been thrown aside when The ''pro-
motors" had smoked tue profits dry. This
Marine Railway Company obtained incor-
poration from parliament in 1882, and the
same year was granted a subsidy of $4,000
for twenty-five years in aid of the work,
and the proposal of so liberal a slbvention
was scarcely challenged in parliament,
beng voted under the impression that it
would never be demanded. Nothing was
done until 1885, when an order in council
was asSed, authorizing entry into an agree
ment with the company, subject to the APP
prevail Of parliament, and sucn approval
was obtained ia March, 1886.
Under its terms the subsidy was to be
SIIO,OO0 year for twenty years, or such
portion Of it as wo I'D bring the net earn
ings up to Z per cent. on the authorized
share and bod capital of the company.
Should the earnings exceed per cent, one
half of such surplus is to be paid the gov
eminent until repayme It Of the subsidy is
made. Surely this WAS tempting enough
to any capitalist per cent guaranteed
upon an ostensible capital of S5,50O,OO0,
though up t. this date no one has been able |
to learn the exact or even probable cost of |
the Undertaking.
The company had I'D difficulty in placing |
the stock and debeatures on the strength of |
the COVER ment subsidy. The share cap tai |
consists Of 9300, 900 in per cent preferred |
shares, and G100,000 in ordinary sha es, be- |
SIDES debelture capital of 2700, 900. of |
which e250, 900 bearing 5 per cent. interest |
Wes last month placed on the London |
market at G108. The con FACTORS for the |
work are Messrs. John G. Meiggs & SoI, of |
London. the whole scheme is an extremely |
fruitful one, as a very small amount of |
calculating will show, starting from the |
basis Of d z per cent. guarantee upon a
hypothetical capital, which was the basis |
adopted by the Dominion government in
its negotiations with the company, and |
one which opens up excellent possibilities
for clever promoters and far-seeing