New-York tribune., 1907-08-04
LED TO BUILDING OF ERIE CANAL.

sl,ch was the convenient condition Of affairs for
the cities OF the East when Mr.. Futon proven MS
ability TO go the Hudson By '.f1re ana sle@il.
by doing But II wasn't the Huosoh IhdI re-
ceIved the direct benefit Of the inventor succeSs
for Immediately the steamboat became the IeauAIs
means Of transportation the Mississippi anu II
was left for the cities OF the East TO offer greater
transportation Inducements to draw back the West
ern trade they had lost. For New or II meant 1-'
construction Of 4 canal 363 miles long and at hTSt
people considered Governor Clinton dreamer "leh
he suggested the idea But just ten years a-Ie-
the appearance of the steamboat on the fiuIs'L fI,
the Erie Canal was begun. and again Ite "to-7
esnect OF commerce was changed. ana once aedlii
the West belonged to New York Inc t1EIe C.ii4eL
brought things cheaply TO farmers IN ooI - go ~
passengers West and increased the dsI1and ts-'u =
brought well their produce TO the seADoe'- - 20
a result New York once again became tile H,oI'
lie Of the country. and other cities became adLu
In 1909 u,hAn the Erie Canal was completed, Penn
syIvania started a canal from Phl!adelphia 90
P!ttsburg baltimore started horse ral!Eoad 80 80
rro,er+s we're started other sections anu AloLIi
is25 - 1872 about forty canals were built IN df-
ferent parts OF the country , l.,
Then the locomotive began to make head"ay N
this country. the Baltimore horse Tal!%ay 9gI,t
the Baltimore & Ohio the route from PC -a
10 P!ttsburg became the PenIlsE!FaLt1i - -
was opened through Southern New YORK anu 10
construction OF many other railroads started ue
cline IN canal building. Many OF the cana-s were
abandoned but the Erie the exception
~, kaot growing" saws Mr. Stewart, slowly. as
ber-s a canal and from a four foot depth az hrst
It deepened from time TO time uhtiI az as - -
reached a deDth Of seven feet and enlarged TO n
width OF seventy at the top and hfty-slx tett
at the bottom. II continued 20 hauI as IluLiI III
freight as the combined New York Central ana til9
es+ shore railroads on either side OF II until 1897.
when New York noted that other cities along tile
sea board were growing IN trade and were snpplHs
wheat Then Governor Roosevelt careIuIiy eA-
arliued the facts and advocated an enlarged CHnal
which would take nothing less than thousand-ton
barges and have plenty OF width 10 HlUAHp'S ''1As
capacity many times ,, ~,
Thus II happened that New York ordered the
work The whole community gasped-ahd Ne"
20 n large lEuTeS-WheD II DeCalllc
known that Il would cost S0l,GOCO0 70 make the
improvements Everybody talked about II at once
Then the matter went the legislature again
Il was talked about; then It was voted through
and now the work IS under way. It had to be done
70 compete with Chicago. and then, too. Canada
has been developing the St Lawrence route 10 the
ocean in connection with her Welland Canal
only recently writes Mr.. Stewart, the worst
obstructions have been removed between Montreal
on the deep waters OF the st. Lawrence. and the
outlet OF tho lakes. Way opened for boats OF
? 200 tons and then Montreal invited the wheat 10
come that way the sea. Immediately II was
done CapitaI which knows no country, noted the
shift In affairs, and men in Buffalo and Chicago
made offers 10 the harbOr commissioners or Mon
treal regarding the construction OF elevators and
wharves and fleet of 2.2oO-ton boats. scheme
that would result In annually subtracun. SS'IoV"
bushels from New York elevators"
Yet here again New York is not materially az
rected as regards Montreal for that route is main
" feasible for the foreign trade which IS spas
rod!c at the best II is the steady traffic that
builds up Il route commercially and makes II the
habitual thoroushfare. The steady demand comes
from the Eastern seaboard, with its large manu-
racturinC cities poor soil dense population and
large public appetite. Again. tho st. Lawrence
route to the ocean is calculated for only H-foot
depth SO II also IS only barge route Yet 1t has
been calculated that with half the expenditure OF
the Erie Montreal could have a 3C-foot channel
enough 10 give most OF the largest ocean going
steamers access TO tho lakes. In that case. MI
Stewart asks, will traffic show any favors TO Can
ada? And will Montreal some day have the 3ofoot
channel. and. II she does what effect will 1t have?