The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-15
To Unite Lakes and Rivers.

PTTSBURG, March BY Joint resolu-
ton of the genera assembly of Pennsyl-
yania, passed at its session of 1889, Gov
er1or james A Beaver was instructed to
appoint commission of from three to five
persons to determine the feasibility of con-
Meeting the waters of Lake Erie and the
Ohio river by a ship canal, and to report to
the next legislature. Ten thousand dol
lars were also appropriated to pay the ex
penses of the commission. Governor
Beaver appointed John A Wood, of Pitts
burg; w. S. Shallenberger, of Rochester,
Pa; Eben Brewer, of Erie; John NJ Good
win, of Sharpsville, Pa, and Thomas P.
Roberts, Of Pittsburg, as commissioners,
and they Immediately entered upon their
duties The report of the commission has
now been presented to the legislature and
given to the public.
1t was at first thought that the proposed
canal would follow the course of the old
Erie canal of Pennsylvania, +" which ran
from Erie to Pittsburg but which was
abandoned in 1872. The commissioners,
however, decided that the old route was
not feasible, inasmuch as the summit level
was so high that it was difficult to obtain
a water supply. They further reported
that they can find no satisfactory route
lying wholly in Pennsylvania, or running
direct from the city of Erie to Pittsburg
The course finally recommended runs from
Conneaut harbor, on Lake Erie, to the
mouth of Beaver river, where it empties
into the Ohio at Rochester, Pa, and the
report further recommends that the canal
be continued from that point to Davis
Island dam, at the lower end of Pittsburg
harbor, along the shore of the Ohio river
The highest elevation OF the proposed canal
by the route recommended would be l016
feet above sea level 443. II feet above the
level of Lake Erie and 310. 709 feet above
low water mark on the Ohio river at
Rochester.
To supply the summit level, eight reser-
voirs are proposed, with an aggregate stor-
age of z, 050, AZ, $50 cubic feet, and available
by pumping PA, OO0, OO0 making a total for
the summit of 9, 264, 412, 630 cubic feet. The
reservoirs below the summit level would
have opacity of :, 239. 0SS, $50 cubic feet,
or grand total of all reservoirs of 4,503,-
sol 800 cubic feet of water. The area of
territory tributary to the summit for the
supply Of water has an acreage of 79, 2S5
acres,o or about l24 square miles.
The distance from Coneaut harbor to
Pittsburg by the proposed route is 1881
miles, and no engineering difficulties worth
mentioning will be encountered
Owing to the fact that existing treaties
prohibit either England, Canada or the
United States from building or maintain
ing war vessels on the great lakes, but that
In case Of hostilities au English feet could
be easily and speedily passed through the
Canadian canals into the lakes, the COM
missioners think the proposed canal ought
to be of sufficient size to admit gunboats
into the lakes. These OF the Concord and
Yorktown class are $50 feet long on the
load line, have So feet beam and nean
depth of IA feet a canal TO accommodate
the largest ore carrying vessels of today
would have 20 have depth of l6 feet,
though at least half the vessels engaged In
that trade could pass in Il feet a nsviga-
bic depth of Ii feet is recommended, with
locks large enough to pass vessel 500 feet
long and II feet beam.
Looking forward to the business OF the
canal, Mr.. Goodwin, for the commission,
estimates that by the year 1900 the stock
Of ore to come from the Lake Superior and
Msnominee region will be annually $685. |
t63 tons, which would yield 4,750, 900 tons
Sf pig iron, and he enters into en- elaborate
calculation to show how this ore can be
delivered better by water than rail.
The estimated cost of the cana! is Sc.
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