The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-03
sle tIme .hall sr.y esr aselslons and

ble time shall sway our decisions and
 demands.
 [ need noA apoloass for such . lengthy introduction to an important subject. A clear understanding of the will make specific portions of the prob lem more easiiy understood.
 A few closing words h dealing with the situation. Before the United States had existence there were e6s miles of canal in France; and by the time of the Franco German war in 1870 the in
 were 2.sb4 miles of canals. e.o6s miles of canallzed rivers and 1.s71 miles of
 uncanalized rivers. making total or
 6S90 miles of inland navigable water communication in France less than four
 times the size of the Alabanaa basin.
 In the year of our Lord. 1907. there is
 in Alabama not one mile of canal. less than, 2oo miles of eanalised river plus the sub-Harine canal of Mobile Bay and harbor, thirty-four miles long. In
 other words. Alabama Is just begin ming to develop: the purpose should be to begin right and stay right To that end thoughtful people look forward to the coming convention at Birmingham to arouse state sentiment and unan- unity that shall give new character and directness to the demands of the State.
 The water problem to solve between the Birmingham district and the Gulf involves q fall of slightly over see feet in 45s miles. Over 200 feet Of this drop is involved in the surveyed sixty
 three miles of canal, connecting the
 Birmingham district with the Black
 Warrior where the Valley River opens
 Into it. The drop from the mouth of
 Valley River to Mobile is only 21I feet
 in aD5 miles proving 10 those who con. the river system must be slow nov ing. meandering system. placing no op- stacle In the way of an up-journey and giving but little help in the running
 time of down journey. neducting from this fall the forty-two feet tn- yolyed in the i've miles of sauaw shoAts, about twenty-five miles north Of Tus- caioosa, the balance of the gradual de-
 scent to the Gulf becomes increasingly The problem between McGrew's
 Shoals. III miles north pf Mobile up to the junction of Locust and Mulberry
 Creeks, due west of HirminSham, is 70 produce slack water of maintained depth of six feet at low mean water. Hngineering difficulties in the way are non existent. It merely means the construction of nineteen or twenty locks. Lock l at Mctsrew's shsais-- which will be in operation this winter | and completes Dy tn9 bututtih Va tvvps gives slack water for seventy miles; at which point Lock 2. has not been started, land now bssnE in process of Goyernment condemnation. The game | Ia true of Lock 3. Three years will be | required to complete these locks and ! thus give slack water to Demopoifs, 23o miles from Mobile-~ Between Demopo- | lis and Tuscaloosa. ar to be more exact "a point above Tuscaloosa called
 .sTide dewater,"-theFe will be ten (i0) l locks. Aeven of which are already conn l pfeted and three more to be completed | by January 1st. 1908; continuing north l of Tidewater, there will be six locks. | none of them commenced but all of them authorized and covered by eppro- | priations. ~
 stated thus succinetIy. the question l involved in putting Blrmlngham in I touch with the Gulf is just the ouss- | ton of the canal from Valley River. I The rest Is either finished or nearly fin- lished. or provided for. South of Me- l grew,s Shoals no obstacles exist: south of the junction of the Alabama and I Tombighes ships drawing fourteen feet can arrive and leave ct any state of 1 the river and tide. south of Chicasa- | bogue Creek at Mobile to the lower bay ships drawing twenty-one feet three linches caa arrive and leave; south of tha lower bay the outer bar admits ships drawing twenty-ntne feet at mean IloWl 4iAe. 4ass F.<ss4-4-l t-s 1 A canal from the mouth of Valley River to McAdory in the Ressemer dis l triet will call for twenty-one iocBs and I cost a4,sO0 000, or slightly over $l00,- OOO a miie. Engineers regard 1t as perfectly feasible and recommend 1t.
 A canal from McAdory to Five-Miie Creek, passing right through North l Birmingham, would call for thirteen
 locks and cost sa.oo0,oo0. It is feasi-