Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-17
CENTURY INK
FOLLOWS CANAL
c. & O. Waterway, Closed
Since 1924, Awaits Reopen.
ing or Acquisition.

Huk1ng the great uHuSNept'Ou
sources of the Alleshenies with the
Potomac tidcwater. from wnlch so
much was expected later in the way
Of trade and consequent revenues "
the District of Columbia.
Closed to commercial traffic since
1894. the trustees of the company are
marking time today, waiting for an
ever dwindling business to reopen OF
for the Government. perhaps, TO take
the 1928 miles of dry canal bed between
GEORGETOWN and Cumberland permd-
nently off their hands. Since business
prospects are decidedly dim and the
various projects to make use OF me
historic canal bed are even less hkeiE
OF early fufillment, the future OF 'ne
canal is in the offinS.
The jinx that has pursued the ca IA !
30 persistenly from the first maze lts
appearance on the same ody .hI'
President John Quincy Adams nausu'
rated the western canal enterprise OH
.I,Ilv 4. 1928. BY turning the first spade
ful of earth Mt A short distance north
of the Little Falls bridge. That same
dsv John Carroll of Carrollton turned
the first spade of earth for the Baitl.
more & Oh Railroad. This event
marked n new era in the development
of trade between the Atlantic coast
The AIeshenies and the Ohio RlVer'
Barses Replaced by Railroads.
From that day to this the advent
NJ the swift Iron horse" has had
tremendously depressing influence on
the slow but sure process or Inc QUE
rroud fleet OF barSes that nfousn'
their precious cargoes of coal throus II
the canal from western MaISid III
and Virginia to consumers In WASH
ington and along the lower Potoil'ao
The Chesapeake ONO Cahal zap,
epe of the richest bituminous Goa
fields in the country ana at one e onn
had q. traffic of approximately 2.ooo.,
600 tons per year with thousand
barces i'm operation. MismanaSe'
ment and politics, two handicaps
which Joined with the killing com
netit;on of steel rails. brought the
canal through fiuctuatinS periods OF
prosperity and adversely until before
liz recent closing the fleet of barges
had dwindled to A Scant number. But
for the unusual exemption enjoyed
BY the canal company from the pay
ment of Federal and State taxes or
assessments of any kind, it probably
would have gone into recelvershlp
long before such action was taken in
Court of Washington County, Md,
and the District of Columbia Supreme
Court put the affairs of the company
IN the hands of trusteeship which
has been acting ever since in the in
terest of the bondholders.
Hurt by Mine Struggle.
In recent years the struggle be-
tween the non-union and unionized
bituminous coal mines took almost
the last prop from under the Inflated
canal. The unionized coal company,
from which the canal derived the
bulk of its business. was unable to
compete successfully with its non.
union competitors. and coal ship
ments to Washington by the canal
dwindled.
The freshet of 1924. which caused
the Potomac to overflow its banks
and tear gaps in the walls of the
canal. was the eliminating touch to
Its business calamities. After this
suspension of operations the canal
was fully repaired and made ready
for business again. But no business
of sufficient revenue to warrant re-
filling the drained bed was in sight
and today. after several years, the
entire bed from Georgetown TO
NuiupeFldEQ IS unused.
In the section through Georgetown.
however, the canal is fulfilling it's
obligations to mills under leases and
that short strip only is being main.
tanned in its former condition.
Future shipments of coal to Wash.
fngton on somewhat extensive scale
ere not outside the realm of POSSIBLE.
ity. provided Washington again be-
comes an active market via the canal
route. While the Government reser-
vations ON the lower Potomac stopped
receiving shipments from the canal
some time ago, the general increa sc
ut Washington industries would pro-
vide ready market.
Numerous Projects Proposed.
For the last quarter Of a century
and particularly since the World War,
when the Identification and develop
ment of the Capital and surrounding
territory have become a real issue in
Congress. numerous projects have
been proposed wherein the his
toric c. & o. Canal shall fit into these
plans. On occasions in the past the
hopes of the canal company have
scared only to be brought to earth
again, when the futility of some of
these fantastic schemes had been
realized.
During the war the matter of TAX
ing over the canal was submitted to
the director general of railroads,
William Gibbs McAdoo, and members
of Congress directed attention TO the
need of joint action by Congress and
the District Commissioners in provid.
ing an adequate water terminal suit
ably located upon the Potomac River
IN Washington. Such terminal with
: facilities for rail and truck connection
and with modern freight-handling an.
paratus would wonderfully benefit the
Capital. it was pointed out, and would
bring back boom DAYS to the Chesa.
peake & Ohio Canal. But nothing
came of these efforts, as had hap.
pened so often before.
The National Capital Park and
Planning Commission, created by Con.
2.ess to supervise the general devel.
opment of the city. has studied vari-
GUS uses to which the old canal, wind
ing through scenes closely connected
with Colonial history, can be pre-.
served as q monument for all time.
National Boulevard Planned.
One of these plans is the construc-
ton Of a national boulevard that
would traverse the sides OF the Po-
tomac from Washington TO Cumber-
land, linking it with highways. Such
boulevard, built along the filled-in
led of the canal, would serve as an.
other gateway to the Capital and af-
ford a 1eS-miie trail through some of
the most splendid scenic regions in
this section of the country to thou
Sd nds of tourists.
Regarded as impracticable because
of the great expense involved, for one
hing, this proposal has made little Or
no Roadway i'm official circles.
But it is not outside the realm OF
possibility that the Government, at
some future time, will take definite
steps to preserve the historic sites
along the route of the old canal--sites
2 associated with the lives of George
Ntnrl,inu4nn rhnnaar Ia6arsnn nd