The Portland daily press., 1894-11-03
TO SAVE SAILORS.
Proposed Ship Canal between New
York and Philadelphia.

From Long Island Sound to Richmond
Virginia. by an Island Route An Old
Scheme Revived.
The land survey for the proposed ship
canal to span New Jersey has Just been
completed, says the New York World. The
survey was conducted under the super Wis
on OF Prof. Lewis M. Haupt, of the Univer-
slty OF PennsylI ania. 1t is not known how
soon the work of excavation will begin. The
matter is in the hands of a committee of
which the Mayor of Philadelphia is Presi-
dent. The New York Board of Trade and
Transportation has given it's approval to
the plan, which also has the backing of
many influential citizens of the City of
Brctherly Love.
When this ship canal is completed it will
be the first link in a perfect chain of inland
waterways, which it is proposed to form by
aking advantage of the numer GUS rivers and
bays which skirt the Atlantic coast. If the
project is carried 10 success vessels will be
| able to sail from Long Island Sound to
Richmond, Va, by an inland course. The
present canal will conect Raritan Bay with
the Delaware River. Another is to connect
the Delaware with the Elk CT the Sassafras
River, which enters into Chesapeake Bay.
Still another plan for shortening the route
to the Gulf of Mexico is the construction of
a canal across the peninsula of Florida.
This last scheme is yet in embryo and may
never get beyond the speculative stage.
The scheme to divide New Jersey by a
ship canal is very old. 1t was proposed as
far back as fifty years ago and it has come
before the public at stated intervals ever
since. For Il long time Philadelphia has
clamored for direct air line route to the
sea; one that would go directly across the
State of New Jersey anG enable Philade]-
phia to become an actual seaboard town.
The lack OF feasibility in this plan soon
became apparent and the next best thing
proposed has been adopted. This was canal
connection between the Delaware and the
Raritan River.
The new waterway will aim to take advane
age of the old Delaware and Raritan Canal
as far as possible. 1t will follow it during
part of the way. Starting at Bordent0wn,
on the Delaware, it will follow the line of
the present canal for about mile and a
half: tnen DETECTING to the eastward of
Chanbersburg and Trenton, it viii rejoin
the old canal at point ten and a half miles
out. Ten miles further on the old canal
and the new will part company. The first
will take direction almost due north just
outside of Princeton, the second going in
more eas;erly course and running parallel
to the Rocky Hill Railroad to Lawrence
Brook, near Monmouth Junction. 1t will
then follow the course of the bropk to the
Raritan River, which empties into the low
er bay.
The total length of the excavations will be
not quite thirty-four miles. The canal will
be ninety feet wide at bottom and $50 feet
at the face. The draught will be twenty
feet. This gives 23,327, GA cubic yards as
the volume of earth to be removed. In adj
dition to this the dredging at the ap-
proaches will embrace about $4,000 yards
more.
The summit level will be fifty feet. There
will be two tide locks aud four lift locks.
With the locks not smaller than 500x6O feet
the estimated cost of the entire work, ex
elusive OF right of way. will be ST., 1000.
The area of the watershed tributary to
the summit is over 300 square miles. afford
ing traffic of at least 81, 100000 tons.
One of the arguments used by the project
ors of the scheme is that the opening of this
long inland waterway will tend much to
sister cities. She would be the golden gate
to which Philadelphia. Wilmington, Balti-
more and Washington must pay tribute.
Il is also claimed that New York would be
the key to strategic system which would
be very useful in time of war.
But the greatest factor In favor of the
canal is the wing of many lives which are
now lost at all seasons ON the Atlantic
D,1f - 1okf IL
ment:
Probably nowhere in the world do there
exist so great physical possibilities or SO
imperative commercial necessities for
deep-water canal as along the Atlantic sea-
board of the United Staes. The coast line
from Cape God to Florida Reefs is a success
sion of sand bars, dunes and islands, in
closing large lays, sounds and navigable
streams, and having comparatively few in
let's where deep-draught vessels may safely
penetrate and find a safe refuge. From
New York Bay to the Delaware Capes, ITO
miles, there are no harbors of refuge, and
even the Delaware Breakwater is no longer
available for deep-dranght vessels, while
to the coasters 1t has proved very disastrous,
for within period of eighteen months
no less than fifty vessels have been
wrec ked within its shelter.
1.-THE canal across New Jersey, from the
Raritan to the Delaware River, thirty-four
miles long, will reduce the distance from
273 to about ninety miles, effecting an
economy of 1888 miles, or over 81 per cent;
while the enlargement of the present Ches-
apeake and Delaware Canal, with ten
foot draught and length of fourteen miles
would reduce the distance by water between
Philadelphia aud Baltimore from 43O to liz
miles, a saving of 5lS miles. or "A per cent.
THUS it will a ppear that by the recon-
struction or enlargement of fifty-seven
miles of canals, the present outide dis
tances between these populous centres
could be reduced from 1,10l,to 45a miles,
saving of go per cent. This in itself would
be an ample JUSTIFICATION for the expendi-
ture Of very large amount of capital to
secure the result, but the physical condi-
tions of the country which would be trav-
ersed by these canals is such that the ac-
tual cost of construction will be compare
lively small.
''As the tonnage now afoat on the waters