New-York tribune., 1893-12-10

a way only for the humble :noat. Yet II was
a great thing for Manchester. as we'll as for His
Grace's coal pits. and was conducted with great
profit to all concerned. And then few years
ago the Manchester Ship Canal )bought 1t for
nearly 100000 Railroads. too. were built. the
first In 1880. connecting Manchester with Liver
pool and the latter town hoped always TO be-
thus the gateway OF the former. II was largely.
indeed, this business OF conveying and purvey-
ing to Manchester that made Liverpool the great
port II Is to-day. The hundreds of acres Of docks
along the Mersey were made to give facility for
the receiving OF raw goods for the Manchester
mills and for reshipping the finished product to
all the lands OF the globe This was "A great
thing for Liverpool and for the railroad folk.
But In these later days Of narrow margins and
close competition it o serious handicap to
Manchester. The rehandng of goods-cotton.
grain. WOOL tmber-and transportation by tow
boat or by rail cost from 81 to 81 on every ton.
This was n tax too heavy to be borne. II Man
chester was to maintain its manufacturing su-
premacy SO a dozen years ago men said. Man
chester must be Joined with the sea: and since
We canno, take Manchester to the sea. We must
bring the to Manchester"
II may well be believed this scheme did not
please the Liverpudlians They rose against
II as one man. heart, voice and purse; they
and the railroad companies. One would have
thought the safety OF the Kingdom was at stake
They gave the great American engineer. Cap
tain Eads a retainer of 100000 and none knows
how many how big refreshers. and hired IA
whole army more Of engineers, to go To London
and argue against the scheme before Parlia-
mentary committees. Nor was Manchester a
laggard In the fight. 1t presented It's case
backed by thirty-eight municipal corporations,
ninety-one local boards. thirty-one chambers
of commerce, and companies and firms and
landowners innumcrnblc. For not only were
Manchester and Stafford Interested. but also
Bolton and Rochdale and Stockport and IIud-
dersfeld. and all the tributary country round
about The first attempt to get charter cost
the canal folk 100000; and failed. The second
attempt cost them 100000; and likewise failed.
The third attempt cost $4,000 and. to vindi
cate the old wives proverb successful.
The undertaking was sanctioned by the Govern
nlent in the summer of 1855. after n fight Of
four years at nearly 100000 a year on both
sides Even then delays and controversies en-
sued for two years more. so that not until 1887
was the work actually begun, with Barings and
the Rothschds furnishing the cash and
Thomas Walker furnishing the brains.
i'ne route chosen for the canal was thlrty-fve
and a half miles long. from a point near East
ham on the Cheshire or southern side OF the
Mersey to Manchester. II followed the shore OF
the Mersey as far RuncOrn. and then pur-
sued an independent route crossing the Mersey
and the Irwell several times before reaching
Manchester The country there is fairly level.
but II was found that Manchester stood about
seventy feet higher than Liverpool wherefore
It would be needful to have several locks in the
canal For this purpose the whole canal was
divided into Aye levels or reaches. The lrst 10