Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-08-07
DEEP WATER ROUTE TO THE SEA
President Appoints II New Commits
sion With Orders to Report
I'm DacemDer,

'''' 10y
of war announced today the appoint
mcnt by the president of Major Chas.
W. RAYMOND, corps of engineers, Unit
ed States army; Alfred Noble OF chi
cago aud George y. Wisner of Detroit
as Il board of engineers to make sur
,evs and examinations for a deep wa
ter way from the great lakes to the
Atlantic tidcwaters.
This board was authorized in the
last sundry civil act, approved June
4, 1897. and is expected to complete the
work undertaken by the deep water
ways commission appointed by Pres
ident Cleveland. That commission, of
which DR.. james i. Angels of Ann
Arbor. Mich, now minister TO Turkey,
was the chairman, made an exhaustive
examination into the p~racticabllity of
connecting the great lakes and the
Hudson river by Il deep water channel,
but failed 10 recommend Il definite
route.
The commission recommended in a
general way several different routes
and submitted a quantity of data re-
garding the commerce that would
probably pass through canals built by
the several routes. 1t made no final
surveys Ut tSllilluttS VI llt toSl VI
such Il canal, but recommended that
IA board of engineers be appointed for
that purpose.
Report Expected in December.
The new board will probably be inn
mediately organized, and will under
take the work with II view 10 reporting
to congress at the next session.
Though the Angel commission
strongly recommended the feasibility
OF a ship canal between the great
e l. 90. s mem &c. aas ah ssss. ,, i". a. III IL. III.
rection of congress, made - similar and
such "a cnnaI WINS not worthy OF being
undertaken by the government.
While the Angel commission was
instructed to cooperate with a similar
commission from Canada, n conSid-
er routes without regard to the geo.
graphical limits of the United States,
it has since been determined that such
a canal, if il is built. should he con
fined 10 the United States territory.
Three feasible routes wholly within
the United States are under consid-
Grafton.
The first extends from Lake Erie via
the upper Niagara 10 the vicinity of
Tonawanda of Lake Sale, thence by
canal with locks to the lower Niagara
at or near Lewiston on some point on
Lake Ontario, thence through Lake
Ontario to Oswego. thence up the Os-
wego and Oneida rivers TO Oneida lake,
through Oneida lake thence across the
divide to the Mohawk and down the
Mohawk to the Hudson at Troy.
Oswcgo Route the Most Practicable
This is the Oswego route and the
most practicable one. \ canal by this
route, it is roughly estimated, would
cost $500, 100000.
The second route follows the line of
the Erie canal from Lake Erie and the
Niagara river to the Hudson.
The third route comedies with the
first from Lake Erie To Lake Ontario,
running thence through Ontario and
the st. Lawrence river, and down the
st. Lawrence to some point near Og-
densburg, thence crossing the state of
New York to Lake Champlain and up
the lake TO its head, and thence follow
ing i'm general the route OF the Cham
plain canal to the Hudson AT Troy.
Another route. partly in Canada, has
been considered. 1t follows the st.
Lawrence river to Lake Champlain.
u iS No'iiid'th a. Sliil VI btiN
tide water and the lakes would cost
not less than $4,000 600 n year. The
wan engineers, who have investigated
this subject, are of the opinion that
would be better to enlarge the Erie
canal and canalize the Mohawk river,
thus making a water way for barges,
than TO attempt to build a canal that
would pass ocean-going vessels. a
l,r,n, nnrnl ,,a,,11 moo, ,n1. ,1.,t
$50, 600, 900 and would furnish a benefit
to commensurate with its
cost.
Major Raymond, the chairman of the
commission, is one of the most emil
nent and capable engineers in the
army. He is now stationed at Pbila-
delphia. He vas born in Connecticut
and graduated from the West Point
military academy III 1865. He became
captain of engineers in 1867 and
reached his present rank in 1888.