The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-13

| poes now is to convert the present canal
| into large barge or ship canal whereby
| the great lakes which are perhaps tbs
| worlds most important fresh waterway
transportation. and the Ohio river, which
| is third in Importance in the United
States, can be connected. This canal will
be pa miles in length, or about 100 miles
| longer than the Erie canal The present
| canal bisects Is of the So counties of the
state, almost all of them centers of rich
and prosperous manufacturing industries
| These counties contain about one-quartei
of the entire population of the state.
| The canal passes through Cincinnati
where it will connect with the Ohio river,
Dayton and Toledo, where it joins Lake
Erie. These cities are chief among tho
manufacturing centers of Ohio, Cincinnati
| standing first. Dayton third and Toledo
fourth. But it would not be exclusively
| the section to which the barge canal
| passes which would receive benefit from
| the Improvement. 1t would serve greatly
| to stimulate commerce on the Ohio river
and commerce through the lakes, thereby
| being of benefit to the entire country
| The government engineers 20 years age
reported that it would be possible to ell
large this canal to a depth of 10 feet.
! Lyman e. Cooley of Chicago who is
now esteemed perhaps the greatest au-
| thority in the country upon canal con-
struction and who was the master spirit
| In the construction of the canal between
| Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river,
Is confident that this canal can be en-
arged to a depth of 10 feet If that can
| be done, there is no question about the
commercial practicability of this PROPOSE
| ton, for it has now been demonstrated
| that barges operated upon canal, If they
are to be operated properly and are 10
| be sufficiently seaworthy to navigate the
LII - tnx~ f.f 1AC
| than eight or nine feet. This would make
necessary canal with a depth cf not less
| than 10 feet. BY utilizing the Ohio river
| a canal of this kind would make it possi-
| BILE to take full advantage of the very
much cheaper rates at which freight can
| be carried by waterway than by railway
| in the very heavy interchange of traffic
between the Ohio river and the lakes.
| How commercially practicable and adj
vantageous the operation of barge canals
has been is illustrated by the fact that
| the 800" canal has a depth OF Is feet and
| through 1t floats a greater tonnage of
| freight than passes through the Suez
canal The Weland canal, which con-
| meets, in Canada. Lake Ontario and Lake
| Erie, has a depth of IA feet. while the
ship canal constructed by canalizing the
Harlem river. which bounds the north end
| of Manhattan Island, has 10 feet. The
Harlem canal has now a traffic over II
which exceeds that which passes through
| the Seine in France. The former Secre-
| tary of State, Philander c. Knox, who is
an enthusiastic supporter of improved
| waterways. stated in a speech at Pitts
| burg few weeks before he became Secre-
tary of State that the modern canal OF
| IL feet in depth is regarded by experts as
having a carrying capacity equal to that
of 10 double tracked railways of equiva-
| lent length.
| The government engineers who studied
the deep waterway proposition betweer
Lake Erie and tn Ohio river reported that
| tn proposition is a wholly practicable one
| the cost of 1t would not be prohibitive
| and If canal of this kind We're built il
would form very important part of a far.
reaching inland system of navigation
which, with Lake Erie as the commercial
base of operation. would embrace th'
Great Lakes, the st. Lawrence, the Mis-
sissippi and the Ohio rivers and the At
| lantic seaboard.