The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-04-07
ENTHUSIASTIC
ABOUT INLAND
WATERWAYS
SCOTT m. THOMPSON, SPECIAL
DEPUTY COLLECTOR OF GUS
TOMS AT FERNANDINA, GIVES
HIS IMPRESSIONS OF THE
MOVEMENT.

MOVEMENT.
An enthusiastic advocate of the in
land waterway projects is Scott NJ.
thompson, special deputy collector of
customs at Fernandina, and who is
also chairman of the committee on
collection of data for the Nassau
county branch. In a letter to Major
W. b. {. Duryee, Mr.. Thompson says:
AS l understand the matter, none
| OF the business of this port, past Or
present, will have anything to do with
the anticipated business of the canal
and the only canal that the present
| business of this port will affect will
| De the inland canal from here to Bos-
| ton, as the business which now is done
| by sea from here to coaStwise north
ern ports will be done by the inland
waterway by barges and inland boats.
The bunker coal used at this port will
have no effect on the traffic of the
canal for the ocean foreign steamers
do not use Alabama coal, neither will
; the coal be used locally at present,
! Tor the Virginia coal is considered
more economical at so per cent more
at cost in price. | heard a statement
made that We could not get coal at
| present that would make power cheap
enough to do manufacturing. | do not
see why this is so. when we get Vir-
sinia coal delivered here as cheap as
| it is in New England, which is one of
the greatest manufacturing centers of
the United States. This canal has
! been dream of mine from my child
hood, you might almost say infancy
| The canal, if a barge (mOre prop
l nf-lN lnr, 1z g.
| built for the purpose of carrying on
the trade between Boston, New York,
all the cities of the Atlantic coast,
Pensacola. New Orleans, Galveston
and all points on the Gulf coast, which
is now done by ocean steamers and
sailing vessels and some other bust
ness that will be done (not now done)
on account OF the economy of the new
traffic in large boats of a type now
used on the Rhine in Germany, for
package freight and in barges for lum-
| Der, coal and like heavy freight and in
passenger boats like those on the Hud-
son river and Long Island Sound, not
only doing business now being done
/ by ocean but some now being done by
all-rail. This being the case, why
would it not be more necessary to
have this canal the shortest route for
the main volume of business instead
Of carrying it about four hundred
miles 1.-TWO hundred up and two hun
dred DOWN out of the way in order to
pick up a little traffic locally? In
other words. we have a beach two
miles from here and say, there were
four hundred passengers to go there
each day from here, what would be
the sense of building a road down the
. ic1o nd n civ loo
long and making all the traffic go ont
of its way for the sake of picking CT
about two extra passengers? Such
talk of a canal going over the great
est amount Of country to serve the
greatest territory will kill it deade1
than before it was ever agitated.
A Suggested Route.
How could we have a route sur
veyed that seems to be a good one bu
one not called to the attention of the
engineers or the public? Mr.. Bushnell
suggested a canal up Trout Creek tt
Brandy branch up the ST Marys rive
to South Prong, down Olustee creel
to the Santefee river, then to the Su
vance and on across to Apalachicola
South Prong Pond being the highes
elevation on this route, believe it wa!
only about seventy feet. l have ;
route that has all the advantages O
the one named, but shorter, viz: u
Nassau river, Strengthening it out, thel
up Thomas or elk to Brandy branch
then Mr.. Bushnelis route, it will b.
about twenty-five miles shorter from
New York to New Orleans than b.
Mr.. Bushnell's route, will be just a!
cheap to construct. and if the canal il
to be a ship canal, at first or finally
it will be a short straight route from
deep water on the Atlantic to Dead
mans Bay on the Gulf, then tht
barge canal can be made to connec
with the ship canal either directly o,
on the Suwanee river, from Apalachi
cola, then we will have a barge anf
ship canal. / think that the route
named here will be just as easy t.
make as the st. Mary's one for It Il
about as far from here to Brand,
branch via the Nassau route as It il
from Traders Hill on the biw bend 0
the ST. Mary's to that point and i
would save the boats from going from
here to Traders Hill out of the way
l suppose that there would be required
a little more work on Thomas Creel
than there would be on the st. Mary
river from the big bend to Brand!
branch, but this would be more thar
Gulf to Atlantic.
IF a ship canal was built from thu
Gulf to the Atlantic, all the sailiny
vessels going to South America, a
well as Europe and northern ports
would use it if the towing and othe
charges were not too great, as all sal
vessels going from the Gulf to Soutl
America pass right by this port, no
one perSOn in a thousand realizes thi
fact. All the steamers going t
Europe and northern ports would US
| it. For a barge canal all the traffi
which goes from the Gulf to AtIanti
RI ports by sea would use barge cana
| if it were short enough and easy O
navigation besides boats would ru
from places like Memphis to NeJ
York, Boston, etc. There would be
big saving in transfer and wharfag
at New Orleans on this business.
About the Alabama coal business