The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-08-03
ITS TRAFFIC. WILL BID DOUBLE
-
At OF THE PANAMA
DITCH.
AT COST OF $i2,OOO,000
DREAM OF PILGRIM FATHERS OF
800 YEARS AGO REALIZED. I'M
PoHTAyT STEP IN IN
LAND WATERWAY.

Last Wednesday there WAS opened
across the long arm OF Cape Cod.
Mass. a waterway which probably
will accommodate more tonnage than
the Panama canal for a good many
years This will surprise many, for
the Cape Cod canal work has been
done without much blare OF trNmpets
or congressional oratory. But 1t Is a
most notable achievement. and puts
much nearer the realization the dream
of an all inland waterway from Maine
to Florida
The freight now rounding dam
gerous Cape Cod and Its shoals every
year amounts to 10000 tons, and
practically oil this 10 expected to take
the new. shorter and safer route. The
canal cost about $I2.080,nno- The
Panama canal. costing 100000. 900.
will have but 10, 800, 600 tons annually.
1t is estimated. The great new barge
canal in New York State. which serves
to bring the grain OF the West from
Lake Erie 10 New Yor..s city. Ia costing
800. 000.0 and Its prospective tom
mage is but 1000. 900 tons.
SO It Is difficult to see why the
Cape Cod canal was not constructed
before. 1t has been discussed since
shortly after the Pilgrims landed m
the vicinity. II hung fire for almost
800 years. hu, now II probably will be
self-supporting from the start
Vessels from ports all along the
coast, as far South as Charleston. s
G.. will use the canal going to and
from Boston. Twenty-Five thousand
craft year now go around Cape Cod.
but at a fearful loss In ffoundered
and wrecked ships and with extra
charges for insurance. The average
! 4 H.. 4-t. -.
schooners going outside II calculated
to he nearly four days
This means ten cents ton loss In
money on the 1000, 900 tons Of coal
and lumber carried by sailing craft
and lows. Steamers carry an addi-
tional $500. 900 tons. on which nearly
the same proportional amount will be
saved by the new route.
I The length OF the waterway la eight
miles in land cut, while it's length from
I thirty~foot water In Rarnstable bay
on the northeast to thirty-foot water
! in Buzzard's bay on the southeast Is
/ thirteen miles,
/ 1t has a minimum depth at low
water Of twenty Ave feet. and In in
no place less than 100 feet wide at
! bottom. 1t is 200 feet wide at the
passing place for ships. and there Is
5000 foot breakwater.
| Inc canal tS greater IN It's nlWeb-
sions than the original Suez canal or
the present Manchester canal
The toll rates will range from So
/ for motorboats and other little craft
4 to 500 for trading ships OF $50 to
a9a gross tons and ten cents per gross
ton for merchant vessels OF more than
| 1000 gross tons.
The successful completion OF the
/ Cape Cod canal is due principally to
| the energy of three men~-August Bel
mont. financial hacker: William Bar
4 clay Parsons, the celebrated engineer,
who supervised the work for the Cape
Cod Construction company. OF which
! Mr. Belmont is president and Frank
| A. Furst, a Baltimore engineer. whose
concern did the actual excavating.
Those who think OF the construction
of canal as digging away a lot OF
sand are much mistaken. The build
ers encountered har/pan and bonlders
left by glaciers. according to geo.
logssts. which proved almost as hard
as solid rock.
/ There were FIVE previous abortive
attempts to cut across Cape Cod.
4 At Cape Cod the Arctic current
1 meets the Atlantic current and dense
+ fog is the result on Pollock's Rip
4 there are 1852 hours of fog annually.
and 2.141 vessels have been wrecked
/ here. The dangers OF this rog were
4 fully realized by the discoveries and
settlers OF the cape.
bartholomew Gonold. OF whom ht-
\ tie is known. first sighted the cape IN
/ 1902 In 1920 the Pilgrims settled
here, and three years later we learn
4 that a trading business had been es-
I .ablished between this English colony
and. the Dutch Of New Amsterdam.
/ Captain Miles Standish. among
| others, avoided the dangerous fogs OF
the cape by navigating his little boat
! up the Scusset river to Its head and
/ then transporting the tiny craft across
1 the intervening land to the Monn-
ment river. The people OF the Massa-
chusetts colony In 1876 had expetrs TO
go over the ground and consider the
cutting Of canal across the cape. but
decided the work was too great.
In 1887 another coMmitteA report