The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-18
A CAPE COD CANAL AT LAST.
FRANCHISE PASSES TO BELMONT
& CO.-WORK TO BE PUSHED.


the stormy Circuit OF the Cape VIII he
Gut Out OF the Route Of COastink
Traders and New Boston Boats.
The construction Of a canal across Cape
Cod, a project that has been discussed
for more than two hundred years, has been
taken up by August Belmont q Co. and
is to be pushed by that firm and it's ssso-
ciates as rapidly as possible. Within three
years at the outside, it was declared yes
terday, a channel deep enough TO accommo-
date any ship in the c~oasting trade will be
opened across the cape.
William Barclay Parsons il to have
charge Of the work. He has been engag ed
on the plans for eight months.
The canal will be about eight miles long,
he said, and extend in a straight line from
Buzzards Bay on the south to Sandwich.
on Bsrnstable Bay, on the north. 1t will
have a depth OF at least twenty-five feet
at low water and at least thirty feet at high
water. The minimum width will be l25
feet at the bottom and from $50 to 300 feet
at the surface. but there will be four
stretches along which the minimum width
will be at least 200 feet at the bottom.
These stretches will be long enough to
provide ample room for the traffic not
only Of the near future but for many years
10 come. The object of the canal being
to save time, it is designed for that pur-
pose and there will be no delays on ao-
count of steamer tying up for others TO
pass.
The canal will cost about $40. 900, 900 and
can be completed easily in two years and a
half. Very likely the work will be done
in less time. 1t will. of course. be a sea
level canal and there will pc no tide locks
at either entrance. Formerly tide locks
were considered necessary because the
tide on the Buzzards Bay side rises eight or
nine feet, while on the Massachusetts, Bay
side its average rise is from four to five.
In this respect there il almost a replica of
conditions at Panama. There is also a
similarity in that the tides do not agree,
rising and falling at different hours. so that
there will he a current through the canal
most of the time. but this current will not be
strong enough to interfere with navigation
or to affect the channel injuriously."
The New York, New Haven and Hartford
Railroad. to which has been ascribed most
Of the opposition to the canal in recent years,
has changed front on the proposition and is
now a hearty supporter Of it. The New
Haven, through the New England Naviga-
ton Company, controls most of the lines
now operating on the Sound and on account
of this large steamboat business will stand
to make up by water whatever traffic is
lost by land.
The canal will shorten the inside water
route from New York to Boston by seventy
.,.l-2 onl tha z,,SosIa $50 ky ~ h,VnIraI
and twenty miles. But the chief gain is in
avoiding Cape Cod weather outside. Next
to Cape Hatteras this is the most dangerous
part of the coast. On the average 20 per
! cent. of the wrecks along the coast from
Norfolk to Maine occur in this n~eighbor-
hood and long delays on account Of fogs
are frequent.
Several years ago the Boston. Cape Cod
and New York Canal Company secured
a charter from the State of Massachusetts
for the construction of the canal. Up to
recently this company had been controlled
by Dewitt c. Flanagan of this city. A
controlling interest has now passed &c
August Belmont 4 Co. though Mr.. Flanagan
is still heavily interested. The capitaliza-
ton Of the company is now 50, 200, 600. Either
this will be increased or there will be or
ganized a new company with a capital Of
at least $40, 0O0, 600 TO take over the old
concern. The company owns options on
most, if not all, of the right Of way required.
Mr.. Parsons and Moorfeld Storey. rep
resenting August Belmont a Co., and Samuel
Untermyer, as attorney for Mr.. Flanagan,
applied last week to the Massachusetts,
Railroad Commission and the Massachu-
sets Hsrbor and Land Board for consents
TO construct the canal. The route OF a
railroad must be altered.
Most Of the work on the canal can be
done by dredging, for the soil is sandy.
The company will collect tolls. which, it
is said, will amount TO but a small part
OF the expense OF going around the cape.
The projectors OF the enterprise said yes
terday that they had already received
sufficient assurances OF patronage from
steamship lines to warrant a fair return.
The New Haven, when the canal is COM
pletcd, will undoubtedly take by water
to Boston that part OF its Boston traffic
now transferred from Sound boats at Fall
River and other places. BY Use OF the
canal steamers leaving New York in the
evening will arrive at Boston early the next
morning. The New Haven, in addition
to its present feet, has steamers under
construction to compete with the new
Morse boats Yale and Harvard, which will
engage in the New York-Boston all water
traffic next summer. The canal is to be
deep enough to accommodate the Yale,
the Harvard and the steamers building
for the New Haven.
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