INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1872. \ x i 



Delaware and Maryland, having officers of this character; as 

 likewise Alabama and California. Very gratifying results 

 have followed their labors ; for the details of which, however, 

 we have not at present the space, and must refer our readers 

 to the pages of the Record for fuller information. 



The year 1872 has shown the usual amount of activity 

 in the way of prosecuting great Engineering enterprises, al- 

 though we have nothing to record equal in importance to 

 the completion of the Suez Canal. This continues to be a 

 success, and is gradually realizing, in reference to its effect 

 upon the world's commerce, if not as a pecuniary invest- 

 ment, the anticipations of its projectors. The example of this 

 work has stimulated similar efforts elsewhere; and measures 

 have already been taken looking toward the construction 

 of canals between the Rhine and the Weser, between the 

 Black Sea and the Caspian, etc. The idea has also been 

 broached of a ship -canal across the peninsula of Florida. 

 The effort in favor of a canal across Cape Cod, to connect 

 Buzzard's Bay with Cape Cod Bay, does not appear to have 

 made definite progress. 



Renewed investigations have been conducted by the 

 United States Government in reference to surveys for canals 

 connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by w r ay of the 

 Isthmus of Darien, Nicaragua, and Tehuantepec. How soon 

 any one of these works will be actually constructed it is, of 

 course, at present impossible to predict. 



In the United States, the most important engineering fact 

 of the year is the perforation of the Hoosac Mountain (a 

 railway tunnel), which was successfully accomplished on the 

 28th of December. Some time must necessarily elapse be- 

 fore the completion of this work, so as to admit the passage 

 of trains an event Avhich will mark an era in the history of 

 railroad enterprise in New England. 



A tunnel has also been proposed under the East River, 

 another under the Niagara ; and others are in contemplation 

 in different parts of the United States, as also one under the 

 Gut of Canso, which divides Cape Breton from Nova Scotin. 



The great suspension bridge across the East River, con- 

 necting New York and Brooklyn, is in an advanced stage of 

 construction, moving steadily onward to completion. 



The engineering operations, under the direction of the 



