The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-13
THE OPENING OF THE
 ' GREAT TENNESSEE RIVER
Waters Of the Majestic Stream Should Be Made
 Navigable From Chattanooga to
 PaduCah, Ky.

the difficulties and dangers of naviga- ton, there were 64 different steamboats. of an aggregate tonnage Of S,5S3 tons, and 20 barges. carrying capacity of 75.- upon the system. In addition to these a large amount of lumber was transported in rafts and a considerable amount of material was moved in fatboats. of which no record could be obtained. The statis- tics actually collected show that there were transported upon the river during the year more than 67,514 passengers and nearly @5, l99 tons of freight, valued at S14,550,376.3 30 The amount expended for operating and the care of Mucsle Shoals Canal for 1909 was $63,S5595.'
 The exact amount already appropriated by Congress for Muscle Shoals Canal is H, ,6S9,5 526 and. the State of Alabama has expended 5000. 900, making in all $6,6S9,5 ,526.
 The Tennessee River improvement is a other river or harbor work, except that Of the Mississippi and Ohio.
 The Muscle Shoals Canal is in two di- visions with eleven locks. The Elk River which are located on the south bank of the river at Milton's Bluff and is five miles long. The lower division extends from a point below Elk River to Bain- bridge and has nine locks with fall of S5 feet in 14 1-2 miles, Each lock has a substantial residence for the lock-keeper. The canal is on the north bank of the river and crosses fifteen streams of vary ing size. which empty into the canal and out into the river through sluice gates or overflow wiers in high water. mar length of this canal. The canal is four teen and half miles long. 70x120 feet wide. The locks are 60 feet wide and 3S0 feet long. One of the most remarkable feats of engineering in the country Is the steel acqueduct, 900 feet long and 60 feet wide. which crosses Shoal Creek on stone piers. It is, wonderful sight to see a steamboat tn the steel acqueduct as 1t Ini6aiF hplnT A telephone hne 30 miles long connects the entire canal with Florence.
 Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals.
 for which, the present appropriation Is 150 feet wide and feet. deep. with one guard lock at the upper end and one lock with 25-foot lift at the lower end, these locks to be 80 feet wide and $50 long. The lower lock, as already stated above, Is completed at a cost of $600, 600.
 The Tennessee River Is the connecting link between all States of the Southeast nois and Kentucky and the States west of them which border on the Mississippi and Missouri, and 1t is also the natural out let of the States of the Southeast with New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.
 The Tennessee River is navigabIe for 260 miles below the obstruction, and 400 miles above the obstruction. and the body of water in the Tennessee River is great CT than that which is contained in all the rivers of the United States, with about five exceptions and yet we have a reef of obstruction here which for many months in the year has but one and a half feet of water. The success of the steamer Avalon in making schedule trips between Chatta- nooga and Paducah the past season and the magnificent results obtained in spite of the obstacles thrown in her way by other transportation lines demonstrates the feasibility of navigating the noble river and the great developments that would follow if the contemplated i'm provements were completed.
 w. M. BUNTING.