Evening journal., 1908-11-16

chase of the present canal TO be desir-
able and the construction over the
route of free ship canal to be justi-
fed BIZ the demands of commerce ana
by military and naval considerations.
3. The commission found the Sassa-
fras route entirely feasible, but more
costly than the Chesapeake and Della
ware Canal or Back Creek route.
4. The commission fixed the probable
cost of a canal on the Sassafras route
as $23,0T1 asa by Blackbird Creek or
$21, ,143.470 by Appoquinimink Creek
5. The commission found the COM
mercial advantages would be practical
" the same by both the Sassafras and
the Chesapeake and Delaware routes.
6. The commission said the military
and naval uses of each of the two
routes would be identical. except that
the selection of the Sassafras route
would necessitate the removal of the
present defenses of the Delaware, en-.
failing an expense Of $2.150,O0O
z. The commission believed the pres
ent ChesaDeaSe and Delaware Canal
route 10 be better. because for a ship
canal it would be cheaper, because it
offers equal commercial advantages,
because being defended it has an addi-
tional advantage of cost OF $2,150,00
because 1t has fewer bridges and be-
cause it is a developed property pos
sessing earning capacity.
The commissions estimates for 35-
foot canal. accepting the draft of the
largest ship afloat as 33 feet. are $20.-
62f.323.70. A full-deth width of $50
feet was adopted as a minimum. This
was widened to 200 feet in marshes and
mud flats and TO so high as $50 feet
on curves. the idea being to produce a
canal that would permit uninterrupted
navigation in both directions Much
attention is devoted to the discussion Of
slopes. The commission favors tide
levsl canal. and says that nothing but
that would be justifiable. Complete
estimates are made for the maintenance
Of the canal and its lighting so as to
permit navigation at night, and its
operation. including the removal of Oh
structions from ice and other problems.
1t finds a first cost for maintenance Of
S702.5OO. and the annual expenditure
thereafter S149620.
OF the commercial advantages Of the
ship canal the commission said:
''rhe distance from Baltimore to
PHILADELPHIA will be shortened by S2S
miles. from Baltimore to the mouth Of
the Delaware Bay by 1S4 miles.
The history of this canal project
across the MARYLAND and Delaware
peninsula has been constant emphasis
of its advantage to commerce.
AT each of the public hearings in
Baltimore. Wilmington and Philadel.
phia the business organizations of the
city were represented by committees of
leading citizens and speakers, including
representatives in Congress, members
of the judiciary and officers Of the city
and State. The commission found IN
these great cities-and elsewhere also
a remarkably efficient and practically
unopDosed demand for the ship canal.
1.-THE significant development of the
public hearings was the conviction Of
leading business and transportation ex-
perts that the railroads of the Atlantic
seaboard were having great difficulty in
handling freights. and that the extra
ordinary growth of the country's busi-
ness had already taxed them to the
limit Of their facilities. In the East
ern States the freight congestion has
become serious embarrassment to
business.
''The Delaware and Chesapeake Bays
have a shore line of $500 miles, with
500 tributary streams and more thar
10000 registered vessels.
Considerably less than one-tenth ol
the traffic on the Delaware and Chesa-
naolra Rax-e and their various pOint.
belong TO foreign commerce. The great
value of the proposed canal would be in
facilitating the coastwise trade"