The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-01-02

Manchester, Jan. 1.-The great ship
canal from Eastman to Manchester
is now an accomplished fact and the
town of Manchester, situated about
forty miles from the seaboard, can be
reached by sea from New York about
ten hours after arriving in Liverpool.
This means the sudden creation of a
great port in direct communication with
all parts of the world, close to and
partly within the confines of an i'm
mense commercial city and surrounded
by an industrial population of $4,000
Besides the actual canal docks, which
are of the most extensive character,
the smaller docks and quays and the
upper reach will be principally occu-
pied by coasting vessels, while in the
larger docks will be moored ships from
the United States. Canada. India. etc.
At the other docks will be accommoda-
tons for cattle; in fact Manchester
has at a stroke become one of the
largest and most important ports of
the United Kingdom.
The work is the outcome of series
of long Investigations in the parlia-
mentary commons in the years 1888
1884 and 1885.
The supporters of the canal, who
spent f150,000 in obtaining the act,
were manufacturers and merchants of
Manchester. and their principal oppon-
ents were corporations in Liverpool
With the use of electric light, steam
ers will be able to navigate by night as
well as by day, and the whole length
of the canal will be traversed in about
ten hours.
Some notion of the capacity of the
canal may be drawn when we compare
its depth with the Suez and Amster-
dam canals The minimum width of
the bottom of the Suez is " feet and
the Amsterdam IS feet and inches,
while the Manchester is 100 feet. The
minimum depth of the Manchester and
Suez canals is 26 feet; that of Amster-
dam is % feet
A statement. signed by 1872 steamship
owners, possessing more than 1000
steamers with an aggregate net ton
mage of about 100000 tons-nore than
rs per cent. of the entire steamship
tonnage of the united kingdom-de-
clares the canal will be navignble
without difficulty by merchant steam
ers and the largest steamers and that
If the charges on the ship canal are
not higher than those Of other ports
(and they are actually less than mosD
ship owners will at once make use of
the waterway as soon as it is open
for traffic, and the additional thirty
five and one-third miles to Manchester
from the sea will not increase the
rate on the freight charged by Liver
pool merchant steamers for the long
voyage.
1t is believed the quantity of grain
carried over the canal will be at
least one-half of that now landed at
Liverpool. 1t is estimated that at least
105, 600 tons per annum of fruit and
vegetables will at once be imported to
Manchester by this route Ten large
sugar merchants have stated that not
less than 100000 tons of sugar per an
mum will pass through the canal.
With regard to raw cotton, firms in
the district owning 100000 spindles
declare that nearly all the cotton they
use will be brought by the canal OF
the outward cargo there will be no
lack, and the textile manufacturers
have testified their belief that about
100000 tons per annum will be dis
patched by the new canal.
The financial success of the enor-
nous undertaking seems to be assured.
The promoters of the canal are conf
dent of their ability to secure a very
large and remunerative traffic and es-
| Inmates of profit based upon the CAPT
tai as originally proposed were very
favorable. The original capital OF
e. 600 has, however, now grown tc
nearly double that amount and antici-
pations of profit are not now so san.
guine as they formerly were. That
there are, however, enormous proba.
billties in the traffic cannot be dis.
puted