836 [Assembly 



miles, can be perfected by an artificial navigation of only forty- 

 eight miles. 



The canal, at the Sault of St. Mary's, is another link in this 

 stupendous inland navigation. Penetrating still deeper into 

 futurity, we may contemplate Michigan united to the waters 

 of the Mississippi. An internal communication thus created, 

 connecting New Orleans and the far west with the east and 

 north, would bind together the union in the triple chain of 

 proximity, commerce and social intercourse. Conjecture hesi- 

 tates in attempting to estimate the immense consequences in 

 the future progress and prosperity of Northern New-York, which 

 will result from the existence of a ship canal at Caughna- 

 waga. No longer a remote and sequestered region, it will at 

 once attain a commanding attitude upon the great highway of 

 western commerce. Essex county will then enjoy a wide and 

 perpetually expanding market, for all the products of her mines, 

 her workshops and furnaces. 



Plank Roads. — Several plank roads in the last five years have 

 been constructed in Essex county. One of these extends from 

 Port Henry to the ore beds in Moriah ; another from Westport to 

 Elizabethtown, and a third commencing at Port Kent, and passes 

 along the An Sable valley to Franklin Falls, in Franklin county, 

 a distance of thirty-five miles. The latter is incomplete, how- 

 ever, for about five miles at one point. A branch of this road 

 runs from Keeseville to Port Douglas. These great works are 

 arteries to the industry of the country, and communicate vigor and 

 animation to every district they enter. In the transportation of 

 heavy and bulky articles, and upon short and lateral routes, plank 

 roads are esteemed more beneficial to an entire community than 

 even railroads. All classes participate in the facilities and advan- 

 tages they afford. One flict will illustrate their important effect 

 upon the manufacturing interests of this region. The price of 

 transporting iron and nails from Au Sable Forks to Port Kent, a 

 distance of fifteen miles, was formerly $2.50 per ton. The cost of 

 transportation by the plank road, a distance of seventeen miles, 

 between these places is now $1,25 upon the same commodities. 



