The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-15
A DAY WITH The GRAFT CRAFT
JOURNEYINGS on RIVER AND
CANAL WITH A GOOD GUIDE.

OUUKNExlNGS IN RIVER AMI
CANAL WITH A GOOD GUIDE.
mo n. b. Odell. Jr. (Tug). on the Leyei
Salute fer Fort Grsoeries-A Glimpse
at the Canal when the alOl Don. 600 10
Flowing In the Wake OF $3.50 900 900.
Lay aside the tones that tell OF the splen-
| did Tweed members Of the Graft Graft.
and follow the teacher along the channel
Of the dazzling ditch. richer to the pick
Of the canal contractor than was the Home
stake mine In the Black Hills. Here Is the
State tug. the Benjamin B. Odell, Jr., LII. D.,
4 At and trusty vessel for the journey
nothing uncertain about her save the
monthly payroll. which rises gradually
up to primary time and reaches It's highest
point the month before election.
As she steams up the North River look
you to the East where the spires Of Man.
haitian are hidden by the skyscrapers,
oommercialism conoealng the church.
There's Pier "a, to which the Odell steam
ships steer when they come down the
Hudson. When the tide is out one may
see the images Of Hawkes. and Grout lashed
to the piles. You think it as fine pier as
any of these? That cannot bc, for it brings
q smaller rental.
Ono sees but little OF interest as the B.
B.. Odell, DR., climbs the river until New
burgh comes in sight. Then a salute, in
honor Of Fort Groceries. A small town
this, as maps show. but great one in COM
! merce. From Buffalo at one end OF the
State to New York at the other the State
charitable institutions and asylums send
to this Newburgh for their supplies. On
this trip you shall touch New York, the
: great world city; Buffalo, the greatest
grain receiving port Tonawanda. the larg
est lumber port in the world; Syracuse,
tho producer Of salt; Rochester. that sells
garden seeds to a score Of countries: Troy,
the home port Of the floating vote. But
Newburgh, which commands the highest
price for groceries, must have place with
these
As the sturdy tug pulls past Albany she
fires a salute, twenty-six guns. one for
each million spent by tho State Capitol
builders, an honest tribute to them. soon,
with Tweed, to be forgotten in the promised
abundance Of SOL 100000 for a bigger
ditch.
THAT inky cloud over Troy signifies
the Black grief for the vetoed bridge
franchise, an evidence Of our new-found
interest in tho D. 4 H. And here the tug
turns into the canal. Narrow az this chan
mel is it has carried away ss2s, 0oo,o 900 OF
State moneys. and another 500 1000 600 will
give the canal a grander prism. a gathering
of rainbow colors that brightens the eye
of the canal contractor. Into his ken no
such golden argosy has sailed since the
beginning Of time. Day after election
and tho private order will be All on deck.
Make ready to board her.
This is the last level OF the canal as it
meets the Hudson. There are seventy
two levels on the canal. Ia the B. B. Odell,
Jr., on the level at last? Um-the tug is.
Few boats are travelling the canal now.
So little freight goes down to New York
that the cost to that city is Sl2s a ton for
the whole traffic. Will 1t be different when
the larger canal has been built? Many
hope 80. and they have put their hopes in
figures. These may be optimistic, but they
do show that the State will have to give
up 5000 for every dollar Of profit earned
by the canal navigators. The cost borne
by the State will make a subsidy 81 20 cents
ton oa 2OoOo 900 tons year for fifty years.
But will some one reap benefit Tho
dividends Of the elevator pool at Buffalo
and the transfer combination at New York
will take seven figures to express, and any
expression will be in whispers, They take
70 cents out Of every ton Of grain carried
on the canal. 81 for every 1000 bushels.
What have they done that the canal should
be enlarged for them' Why, kept lobby
at Albany
Some one, they think, will be encouraged
to build the .o0o-ton barge that is the unit
Of experiment. The constructors will earn
but small profit, but everyGime oO)-
ton barge goes down the canal the elevator
pool will put $3.50 in bank II by the spend
ing Of 3IO1 900 900 the State should increase
the traffic In grain but 1000, 900 tons year
the income Of the terminal companies would
be increased $3.50 900. True, all the hypo-
thetical construction on which the canal
argument is built would 60 a-tumbling
unless the increase brought the seasons
total up to 20. 900 900 tons. but where would
such tonnage come from' In the largest
year Of it's history the canal carried less than
1000 900 tons. Therefore let US not be
too serious. Figures are at best but con-
fessed false witnesses In the hands Of canal
propa gandists, and general custom pardons
them.
Travel up the canal again after this ap-
preparation has been pas sed ana you will
note a great change. Hundreds Of resi-
dent engineers will he massed along the
banks, trying by geometrical figures to
get square for past educational expenses,
office rent and excuses. Thousands OF
Newburgh-fed Aborers will be getting
instructions how to shore canal walls and
how to vote. State-paid experts will be
composing solemn reports on the necessity