The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-03-09

CAFE CoD AMI lfE fhofpSED IANAI.
ect than the comparatively insignificant
engineering difficulties that had to be
overcome. The earliest reference to it
of which we have authentic record is
found in the diary Of Chief Justice Sam
uel Sewall under the date of Oct. 26,
1876, but the wording of the entry plain
ly shows that it was eve then a matter
of more or less general discussion.
In 1897 the general court appointed a
commission of three eminent citizens ''tC
view a place for a passage to be cut
through the land in Sandwich from
Barnstable bay to Manomet bay for YES
sells to pass through to and from the
western parts of the country, it being
thought by many persons to bevery nee.
essary for the preservation of men and
estates, and that it will be profitable and
useful to the public"
Whatever the commission may have
recommended, nothing came of it, and
the following century was as barren OF
results. The canal scheme was n en-,
tirely lost sight of, however, though il
was not till after the British had evacu.
ated Boston that an eminent citizen OF
the commonweal''. received the follow
ing letter from a yentleman who may be-
remembered still as having exercised
some small influence upon the destinie<
of the then rebelliOus colonies:
New YORK. June 10, 1916.
SIR-Congress having requested my attend.
ance in Philadelphia, / was in that city wher
xn,,r lattar of tho 1lth Ultiun CANA IN Mi.
place. This days post therefore affords me
the first opportunity of acknowledging the re
ceipt IF it.
am hopeful that you applied TO Genera
Ward and have received all the assistance thai
Mr.. Machin could give in determining upoI
the pr~aCticability of cutting "A canal between
Barnstable and Buzzard's bay ere Chis, as the
great demand We have for engineers in this de
partment. Canada, etc. has obliged me to or
der Mr.. MaChin here to assist in that branch
of business.
thank YOU most heartily for your kind con
gratulatious on the departure OF troop from
Boston and am, with very great esteem, sir.
Your most uhedient, humble servant.
q. WASHINGTON.
Hon. James Bowdoin, 3oston.
Mr.. James Machiu. however. got leave
same year. and his estimates. amount
ing to e.. - Is. sd, with a sketch MAJ
Of the proposed route, were laid before
the Massachusetts general court and ia
vOrably commended. But it was no time
| FOR canal building. The colonial treas
uries were empty, or nearly 50, an(
money could he put TO better uses.
Bat peace returned. and fresh effort
were made in 1901 and again in 1913 aft
er the second war with Britain had EN-
phasized the necessity for just such al
inshore waterway. These efforts, lik
those that preceded them, died at thei
birth, and the project slept till 1860
when the federal government surveye'
the isthmus once again. The civil wa
stopped whatever might have come G
that survey.
Since the war many Massachusett
legislatures have granted as many lit
eral franchises in favor of the enter
prise, but still the canal is not. In 1873
ahuge dredge was set at work, and some
thing more than a mile of the canal wa
actually excavated. Lack of funds c
dissension in the company stopped tn
work, and the ruined dredge still stand
there, a monument of blasted hopes. TIL
sea has filled in the excavation SO ths
now a skiff can pass into what is left
the canal only at high tide.
There is no disputing the manifest AZ
vantages which the Cape Cod can'
would offer to vessels bound from Ne
York to Boston and other New Englan
ports north of the Hub. A glance at tt
map is sufficient to show what the sal
ors will gain and avoid in the passas
from the waters of Long Island sour
through Buzzard's and Cape Cod bay
Aside from it's greater safety, the savir
o in distance is considerable, the new rou
being fully 60 miles shorter than Il
nearest now available-that by way
Vineyard and Nantucket sounds-and
$ least $50 miles shorter than the outsi'
9 route, which at present is the safer f
large vessels. Whether the present col
=. pany constructs it or not, such a canal
.a-.A aactinv af (Na,a fNl