New-York tribune., 1899-06-15
HEARING ON CANALS.
MANY WITNESSES BEFORE COMMISSION
AT BUFFALO.
ENLARGEMENT OF LOCKS FAvoRED-PLAN
WOULD COST sOOO.OOO-FALLlNG OFF
IN COMMERCE..
fpv TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.

v
Thomas w symons of Buffalo; State hhsihee'
Bond and Colonel John n. Partridge the super'"-
tendent OF Public Works ~,
The hearing was held In the hall OF the Mer-
chants Exchange of Buffalo. and was largely a'
tarded nv canal boatmen. grain elevator men anu
others interested IN the Improvement OF the ca"as
Among others present were George d. Gibson AS
semhlvmen Hill and Streiler, ex-senator DanieI
H. Mcmillan Robert Hefferd c. H. Keep captain
Thomas W Ryan. l.. u. Smith, GORDON w h"',
Niles Case. Edward Mcconnell. George IL. Raymohd
and " A Rogers. OF the Tonawanda Steel WORKS
Tho sneakers all favored In their remarks the
second proposition submitted two months ago W
the Advisory Commission, as follows:
To enlarge the present locks on the Erie Canal
70 length of 2so feet width OF 26 feet and aePth
Of d II fss' M fe@ m'ne one and 10 feet dransh This prot
ect would cost about 100000 IL Wouu rposant pe..t
b tmf vsH With 0' Increased width and length and having
a capacity OF about 420 tons or I4UU of wheat
", nresant carried II is estimated that the use OF
such boats would result In sav1s S q one mill per
per bushe OF wheat, or a reduc'o" VI 0'' "'''' '
ton mile
STEEL INDUSTRY A FACTOR.
7, wos also notable that the speakers thought
that the development of the steel manufacturing
industry on the Great Lakes would ehaoIe 'ie
canals to hold n position In the cominercin' WIZ
which they are now losing through the diVeISio"
from them OF the grain transportation "aA'' ~
the railroads. ,,,
General Greene. Of the Commission, was curious
os IN tho loss of package trade" such as flour
nv the canals and learned from the canal pod'-
men and elevator men that the cause oi '"'S ""'
that the railroads had managed to gam co"''''
Of the terminals in both New-York and BuHaIo'
The hearing opened with the reading OF letters
from various citizens OF Buffalo In favor OF
,rr,b.r enlargement Of the Erie Canal The COM
,r,ssion was Informed that the enlargement OF the
locks should be first undertaken j. D. Ahoilsi'''
head of a gigantic steel manufacturing colPo'a
ton Jus: formed. wrote In favor OF 'he e"''I s.
nent of the Erie Canal in order to proVlde trans
narration for pig-ron and steel lie predicted 'hat
buffalo was going 10 be a great steel manutactur-
Ing centre. ,.uo,a1
General Greene said that he was much Interested
IN the expressions of opinion In favor Oh 'he e''
Iargement Of the locks to length OF zoo Iee' anu
said the Commission would be glad TO learn
whether boats twenty-five feet In Width cou'u oe
run on the canals outside these locks
Tho,nos NJ RYAN a canal boatman replied that
with a little change in few narrow places such
boats could be run In his opinion. the ehlarse-
ment OF the locks was the necessary hrs' step "
he taken toward canal Improvement and a revival
OF the canal commerce .
"No one Is building canal boats now he sald'
"and where there were 5000 boats fifteen years
ago there are only so boats now. with larger
locks we can carry 1900 bushels of grain where
we now only carry 5000 bushels. and we can Sue
cessfully compete with the railroads.
TIME OF THE IMPROVEMENT
could the locks be improved in one wnter?' IN
oulred General Greene. 81 think II could be DONE
answered Mr.. Ryan. "and thus the navigation OF
the canal would not be interrupted.
What propulsive power would you use Tor these
enlarged boats?" inquired Mr.. Lymans.
81 would use steam because II is the most eco
nomical'
What about your methods of business" asked
Mr. Scatcherd "do you think you should give
through bill Of ladng?" Il do not think through
bill of ladng necessary answered MT. Ryan
do you think the $4,000 limit on the capital OF
oanoI cornorations lessons the canal commerce.
81 do not" answered Mr. Ryan. ut Is all ques-
tion Of whether you make money Transporting
articles on the canals
T. p Smith said It would be practicable to run
boat OF twenty-five feet in width and with capac-
ity TO carry 5000 bushels II the canals were en-
larged I'VE cannot make money running poa's
OF only 5000 bushels capacity" he added.
Gordon w Hall said he builder or steam
canal boats and had built about seven-tenhs OF all
those constructed Since 1894 he had not built any
boat: there was no demand for any canal boat
owing 10 the decrease Of the canal commerce lie
thought there would be no difficulty in running
steam canal boat OF twenty-five feet In width
through the canals If there such a large
canal boat 1t could be run from Chicago to New
York At present In his opinion, owing 10 the
small boats the canals could not compete with the
railroads Beyond all question steam was cheaper
than animal power. Electricity had peeh nie"
toned 1t might do for the canal but such
power. unless by storage reservoirs couiu no' NC
used on the Hudson River.
PROFIT IN STEAMBOATS,.
! cooroe u Gibson an owner Of steam canal boats.
said some of his boats were making small prom.
now with larger boats there could be successiul
competition with the railroad. The %'VVVVo h"u
much improved the navgability of the Erie CahaI,
and in his opinion the Improvement was worth an
| r. cost Six hours time for instance, was saved
between Port Byron and Syracuse. too. .,,o hoats
! Niles Case expressed doubt If 20-foot-wide oo"'s
~" II y Evans manager of the Anchor Line lake
! uheat "t . cents bushe The boats would have
carry 1l2 cents bushel 20 copete , VIZ" sai
| " I Warwick an insurer OF canal DOats stdteu
that the number Of canal boats had decreased from
two thousand TO eight hundred III 'ie ,, ls eftaen
/ years and there were five thousand ohiy hi'ee"
RsymSna ssHaGr @Sy BE- sda tne
Ized as the right step taken at exacty tne wIone
time Had the 100000 produced @ bdn 5ne haan sueh am
| imnrovement as was absolutely necessary. II uIu
not 20 far sso1sh the Changing mS Of and deepening
them which will make possible boat 10 leet iQns @
! Inv T feet beam with S-foot draught The next lni-
proyements of the canal must be on lines that Iot
he least expenditure will give the greatest I'M
proyement above suggested. Such an improvement
obviously The taking down OF one Side OF fsn oe nd ei
/ lengthening that widened side az to accommo-
date two boats l25 feet long. A. present no ooats
are being built and more Will be until stand
ard s set up which thinking, practical boa tInen car
see will enable them to compete successfully VIII
/ tbe railroads with locks widened and the
/ canal deepened 1t will be possible TO build and run
, boats having from two and a half to three times
/ the capacity the boats now on the canals
Mr. RAYMOND then argued that the canals should
/ he enlarged to accommodate the coming stee
nanufacturing Industry of Buffalo and other cities
! on the lakes. The same argument was made 10y
/ w A Rogers. OF Rogers Brown x co. Assembly
man I'M ended the argument with an appeal to the
| Commission give It's Influence In favor of an en-
| largement OF the Erie Canal.
ROBBERY on SOUND STEAMER.
Fall River Mass June H-Mrs Mary How,
and Miss Edith Howe. wife and daughter Of DR.
uerhert NJ Howe. OF Philadelphia. who reacheo