Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-09
{, & D. CANAL
IN FEDERAL HANDS
WILL BOOST TRADE
Wilmington, Philadelphia and Bal
timore Business Men Awake
to Benefits.
WANT 1T MADE DEEPER

Philadelphia. as we'll as Wilmington
and Ralt,more. is interested III the de-
cision of the government to take over
and develop the Chesapeake d Delaware
Canal. 1t will develop the trade OF All
three cities At present, although the
canal is only 10 feet deep and therefore OF
no use save to small bargcs and steamers
of extremely light draft, IT IS used tor the
TRANSFORMATION of millions of tons OF
freight.
According to George + Sproulc secre-
tarv of the board OF commissioners OF
navigation, who has made close study
of all the canals touching the delaware
river. fully 10 per cent OF the iumoef
taken to Philadelphia goes ~ bargeS
on the Chesapeake and Delaware rouia
The amount of lumber alone coming IN
hy water ranges from 225, 5,e1,oD to I'o,-
600 900 feet annually,
The ChcSapeakc and Delaware Canal IS
one Of the oldest waterways IN America
and has been IN continuous use IL WAS
o,.cned 20 traffic on July 4, lS@a lhe
canal Is little moro than thirteen mites
long and has three locks, one at Della
ware City. one at ST Georges and one
Al Chesapeake CITY The locks. originally
lon feet long and - feet wide, are no"
; ~
The widening and deepening of this
canal will undoubtedly be of immense
benefit Ia Philadelphia said Sproule YES
terdav Particularly IN tho luinber trade
il Will he of great benefit Tho present
fleet az sailing craft engaged m tho out
side lumber trade from southern portS
y not beng replaced. for the reason that,
under normal conditions, such as prevail
esi before the European war and VIII
rccur after the cez=satlon ot ho@iiIltieS'
vessels az tins type can no longer bc
oneratcI AZ 4 profit hy their owners. and
i consequently being depleted by eveiN
storm
-Four wears ago last winter Il was -
timatc,i that the life of the present fleet
~ outside lumler traders Naa al1ut hNe
wears after which iimc Il Will IL im-
p,esihle Ia cct lImber otherwise than hN
The expcnsivelv manned and operated
steamships
kxpcrtcncc has demonstrated the car
r,7np rf humber hv steamships "a be al
most rrnhlbrlvc, and it Is therefore ielt
hv those engaged IN the shipping TRACE
that should the government improve the
old canal to an extent that would war
rant the construction Of barges OF draft
sufficient to permit OF . CARVING capacity
of coo coo tcft o. more, freight rates and
the cost az materials would he greatly
reduced
sHnvtn M MADE DEEP
An IMPRESSION having gotten out tlsat
the government cnntemplstes only a
depth of II feet, IN It's present rlan Tor
,ny,royemcnt. business men interested
IN the traffic feel that It should be deepeS
..Fhc advantage oi such An inland wafer
vsv : plaln. said Frank A. Fur-t. .
leading business man Of Baltimore, IN q
statement strongly supports the deep
canal ,dea. IN view oi the recent attacks
IN submarines and other enemy ships
upon vessels gong to sea IRON theSt
waters While such q precautlon might
moi seem necessary nov. II might prove
very valuable at some future day
"A twelve-foot canal between tbs
Delaware and Chesapeake bays would
OF course. be valuable and important
artery Of trade. particularly when the
inland waterways 10 the south arr
completed and become available fol
traffic and the shipment OF lumber anc
general merchandise facilitated mere
< however. another distinct phase. which
IS that az the North Atlantic traffic
either coastwlse OF from foreign ports
The distance saved by the canal Il
the point outside the Delaware Capes
where northbound vessels must pass Is
about lS3 miles, as against the route
down the Chesapeake Bay and up tht
coast. This speaks for itself in the matter
Of economy of time and fuel, pot TO men
ton safety
.sThc Cape Cod canal is 25 feet mean
depth. with tide of 10 feet and the gov
ernnent is even now about To widen and
deepen that waterway; but this Is in
reality an intercoastal waterway, whllt
the importance Of the Chesapeake anc
Delaware canal widened and deepened &c
the capacity Of large vessels Is, that 4
would be a direct route TO sea for 81
foreign and coastwlse traffic TO anc
from these ports