The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-11-30
IMPORTANT MEETING Of THE
INLAND WATERWAY ASSOCIATION

tension of railroads in the past it has
not kept pace with n" demand for
transportation. This condition became
painfully acute a few Years ago when
our industries were retarded because
the railroads had not sufficient equip
ment and could not 9TH C1ise our
products. These conditions have
caused our industrial ard commercial
interests to again turn their attention
to the development OF our interior
waterways. This trend ia public senti-
ment will continue TO grow and will
demand a response. 1t Is 40 longer re-
garded as a duty devol wing upon the
| states nor would it be practicable for
them to discharge it. The bulk OF our
commerce is interstate which knows
no limitations except those imposed
by law or the lack Of transportation.
1t is the duty of congress to map out
a program free from se%ctionalism or
dissemination and initiate the con-
struction of such waterways in the
order of their urgency.
The United States has not kept pace
in the development Of her waterways
within recent vars with some OF the
countries of continental Europe, nota-
bly, Germany, France, Austria, Hol-
land, Belgium and even Russia. Great
Britain it appears is in q somewhat
similar situation to our Country. =
We have illustrations in the United
States of the economy OF movement Of
bulky freight by canals. The great
canal of Saint Mary's Falls through
which naccnc q creator fNnnaOQ than
through the Suez canal and which "a
ceds the total foreign trade Of the port
of New York, has contributed in great
part to the development of the great
northwest. The latest calculation |
have at hand for that canal is for 1908,
which shows that the cost Of carrying
per ton-mile was so Of a mill.
Major Thomas w. Symons, of the
engineers corps of the United States
army, made a report in 1897 on the
ship canal from the great lakes to the
navigable waters of the Hudson river,
and in 1900 as a member of the COM
mittee on canals of New York state,
submitted a calculation as to the value
of canals and the cost Of transportation
thereon. Taking the present Erie ca
nal as a basis, which is Z feet deep and
accommodates boats 81 feet long 1912
feet wide and 6 feet draft, with a cap
acity of 240 tons, he estimated that
the cost of movement per ton per mile
was 10 mills; that the Erie canal as
proposed to be enlarged by the state Of
New York to a minimum depth of II
feet draft, with a capacity for barges
$50 feet long, 25 feet wide and to feet
draft with a capacity for barges of
1 ZOO ton and figuring On a feet OF
four boats, he estimated that the cost
Of movement per ton per mile would be
so of a mill. In 1899 this latter rate
was about 1-20 of the average ate
per ton-mile on similar products charg-
ed by the trunk line railroads, and the
difference is approximately the same
today.
3 s. s. We are not lacking in projects
of Importance in u W country, and
l will ask your indulgence in referring
to a few Of the more prominent. Since
the completion Of the Chicago Drainage
canal in 1900, which connects Lake
Michigan at Chicago with the Illinois
river at LockpOrt, a distance of "a
miles, the people Of the west have con-
lCI1p1dJCo Ill VI lAio OK
way down the Illinois river, and thence
down the great Mississippi to the Gulf.
The possibilities involved in this con-
nectiOn are numerous and are entitled
to favorable consideration. Omltting
other waterways in the interior, and
there are saveral Of merit, l invite your
attentions to several contemplated
waterways along the Atlantic seaboard.
For perhaps a century the common
wealth of Massachusetts has discussed
the construction OF a canal across the
peninsula Of Cape Cod connecting
Barnstable Bay with Buzzards Bay, a
distance Of only about z miles, and
thus avoid the dangers of that rock
bound coast. This would afford safe
communication from Boston by way Of
Long Island Sound to the city Of New
York. From New York city to the
Raritan Bay is protected and it is only
necessary to connect the Raritan river
with Delaware river by the purchase
by the government OF the existing ca
nal and charging the same. The Del
aware and Chesapeake canal largely
provides physical connection between
he Delaware river and the head Of
Chesapeake Bay, which the report Of
the government engineers states is the
most available route. This private
waterway should be purchased by the
government and enlarged to meet the
demands of trade.
Baltimore and Norfolk and the other
cities upon the Chesapeake and its
tributaries are practically denied free
commercial intercourse by water with
the cities on the south Atlantic coast
by reason Of the menauclng dangers OF
Cape Hatteras on the North Carolina
coast. The same may be said Of the
cities further north. This barrier is
proposed to be removed by the con
struction of a waterway from Norfolk,
Virginia, to Beaufort inlet, North Car
DINA, entering the ocean south Of both
Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. Nav
igation along the a south Of Beau
fort Inlet, N. c., is comparatively safe.
A natural and protected waterway,
with slight exceptions, already exiss