The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1904-10-28
HOW THEY FAILED.
By MAX ADELER.

Last spring the directors Of the Mauch
Chunk Canal company offered a prize
for the most feasible plan Of keeping
navigation open In the canal during the
winter Quite a number Of plans were
suggested by various persons. and In
the course Of a long and learned report
upon the subject. the committee upon
plans alluded TO them as follows:
EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT
"The plan which we will designate as
No. has ingenuity to recommend
it, even If Il lacks practicability.
The author Of 70 recommended that the
banks OF the canal. Immediately upon
the advent Of weather. De lined with mus
tard plasters, and that fresh mustard
shall be spread upon them with hoe
once a week. The effectiveness Of the
mustard plaster in cases Of cholera NOR
bus is familiar to every mind. Whether
IL would be conducive TO equally graft
flying results in the ease Of a slack-water
canal is a question which is open. and
which your committee prefer to leave
open until a mustard mine is discoy-
cred on the cOmpany's premises.
plan No. ombOdies the thought
that open navigation could perhaps be
maintained by gradually removing the
canal southwark as the weather grows
colder. The authors proposition Is to
have the canal somewhere about !
Georgia in November, in Yucatan by |
December /, in Dutch Guinea by New /
Years day. and after the 18th OF Janu- |
airy to run it up to the equator until |
spring. There is a largeness Of view in /
this project which has produced a pro-
found impression upon your committee,
and although we are unable to deter
mine precisely how the canal is to be
doyetailed on to the equator. the sug-
gestion may be worthy Of consideration.
"Plan No. 3 provides for a series Of
redhOt canal boats. The author allows
an average Of one boat 10 every mile Of
canal Then. If each boat is heated in a
stove or something until II IS a bright.
cherry red, and launched into the
canal, It would not only prevent the
formation Of ice, but It would help to
mitigate the severity Of the climate along
the route. The intellectual greatness
necessary for such conception as this
is readily acknowledged by your COM
mittee, but the plan Is open to the objec-
ton that to navigate such boats there
would be required a cast-iron captain.
When the author points out where there
Is a foundry which can make skillful
navigator out Of pig iron. on short no.
tice the proposition might be seriously
considered.
plan No 4 suggests that the object
might be reached without great diff 7
Guilty by drawing of the water and fill
ing the canal with some alcoholic sub -.
stance. such as whisky. In some respects
this is the most admirable idea that has
been offered. There are, however, one Of NJ
two objections which appear to your
committee 10 be insurmountable. From
the knowledge your committee has Of the
Of the people Of the
region through which the canal runs, we
are convinced that they would drink the
canal dry about three times a week. and
hat the temperance societies along the
route would plunge precipitately into
bankruptcy and be forced into liquida-
ion. The author who IS a temperance
nan himself. and who is apparently ia
niliar with the perennial thlrslness -
Il the circumjacent population, pro-
)oses TO obviate the difficulty by keeping
tin lid on the canal throughout its en- "a q
ire length, the lid to be lifted only when
boat goes up or down. Your commit
ee has no comment TO make upon this
digestion; Il is too amazing and Won
erful for criticism.
plan No. insists that the object
an be reached by making the towpaths h
hollow sheet iron, and keeping them
arm with fires at intervals Of "a feet. -
he has neglected to state -
hat peculiaritieso Of manner the average
merican mule manifests while in oper-
ion upon a hot tow path. That the
slocity Of the mule would be accel-
'ated, we do not doubt. There are no
ules that would be capable Of making
mile a minute under such conditions.
Id we consider II possible that others.
it'll less yigor Of constitution. might -,
,ssibly execute the figures Of the schot- A. I
'h and Of the polka-mazourka in pic
rescue manner. Whether the salta- Il
ry evolutions Of a mule would be so 7.52
pertaining as to compensate for the exc 81
pense and other disadvantages Of such Elec
plan, your committee has not yet ascer- !. y
lned. We propose that an expert be
ployed to cipher It out.
plan No. 6 urges that the canal be OC
ed with boiling water; but this is not
'rthy Of any serious attention, Of
lrse. ~
Plan No. holds that at every Is feet l:5'
10Y might be stationed tostir the water "R 5o.
tn a pole to prevent It from freezing and
is. also. your committee regards with and i,I'
ltempt. S:l7
No. s intimates that IL the mules SIS
Id be warmed, or If they could have way
andescent stoves tied to their tails. and pi1i
radiated heat might thaw the ice. i;S
, have written to the author. asking tx 80.
q to make practical test Of the ef- way
Of tying stove to the tail Of canal
It mule. An early announcement of New eve
death may be looked for in the pa s:n
G weste
Augu
Upon the whole, your committee is and
'ble to decide upon any one plan. and way Az
report to the board with request 2s2l
the attention Of other scientists be '' sss
scted TO the subject" vanni
he canal was closed. as usual. last ming
I'm Y IVaaG1ry DIM