1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



09 



!ue than the whole charges of tringportafion, and 

 thoi3e advantages can never be so fully realized, 

 at? by the use ol'rail-vvays. These are a few oftlie 

 rich advantages, which are to be extended to so 

 great a portion of the people of our stale, by 

 means of the proposed route. This produce is 

 first to be brought to Fayetteville, whose capital 

 will increase, as calls may he had lor its employ- 

 ment. Where prices may be now conpidered 



of the incorporation of the company and a eub- 

 scription of two-fifths, under the authority of a 

 law of your last session. Has a single naember 

 been ousted of his place in consequence of the 

 vote thus given? As far as we know, or have 

 reason to believe, not one. 



But we are here met with the objection; the 

 plan proposed changes the subscription bj' the 

 state from two-fifths to that of lour-fifths. Why 



low, they will rise by demand and competition to 'this change? The answer is to be found in the 

 the highest rates. It is then to descend to Wil- { liict, that unless it is made, the road cannot suc- 

 mington by means of steamboats, whose number i ceed. A survey and estimate have been made, 

 will also multiply as has been the case on the j under the direction of the most experienced engi- 

 Ohio and Mississippi. From thence it finds its , rieer in the United States, a North Carolinian 

 way lo foreign markets, through Cape Fear inlei, i lie.eling for his native state all the ardor and zeal 

 which, if not the best, has its advantages. The | of a most devoted son, fi-om which it appears, 

 tables annexed, show the tonnage employed in the I lo construct the work in the best possible mode 

 foreign trade, entered and cleared at Wilmington , anil in the way which meets his sanction, would 

 from October 1836 to October 1837 ; also the ton- j cost two millions of dollars. To raise two- 

 nage employed in the foreign trade of the pons of j fitihs of this sum, by means of private subscrip- 

 Noriblk, Petersburg and Richmond, for the same tion, has been lound impracticable. But should 

 time, as taken from the report of the Secretary of; the subscription of the slate be changed, as pro- 

 the Treasury. posed, we are well assured the amount will be 



From these tables it appears, that in the year | most certainly taken bj- individuals. This is re- 

 1837, the tonnage entered and cleared in the liir- [commended not ordy from the magnitude of the 

 eign trade from Wilmington exceeded that ol' 

 Norfolk 6,384 tons, and exceeded both the ports 

 of Richmond and Petersburg together 17,694 tons. 

 We are informed, on high authority, that the 

 coasting trade of Wilmington employs a greater I Tiiese wiih the convention, were held as conclu- 



woiK, its accommodation for such a large portion 

 of the state, but from the further fact, it is to con- 

 stitute one of the connecting links, the great 

 trunk, in which others are hereafter to share. 



tonnage than her foreign trade. We have not 

 the means of ascertaining its actual amount, as it 

 is not reported. If this be true, and we believe it 

 to be so, not only on the high authority from 

 which we received it, but because we know the 

 maritime trade of N. Carolina is principally a 

 coasting-trade — it would follow, Ihat the tonnage 

 employiui in the trade of the port of Wilmington is 

 greater than the three great ports of Virginia, Nor- 

 folk, Richmond, and Petersburg. 



The port of Wilmington possesses two advan- 

 tages over most of the other ports in the United 

 States, which cannot fail to be highly estimated. 

 1. It is a fresh-water port, and vessels are exempt 

 from the destruction to their bottoms (unless cop- 

 pered) occasioned by the salt-water worms. 2. It 

 furnishes the most miscellaneous cargo of domes- 

 tic products of any port in the union. All kinds 

 of bread-stufTs, rice included ; naval stores of eve- 

 ry kind and of the best quality ; lumber, the very 

 best in the world ; staves and heading ; cotton, 

 whiskey, &c. &c. So that vessels can supply 

 themselves with a cargo from that port, that can- 

 not Jail to suit some market, and make a profitable 

 voyage. Again, that steamboats have been ply- 

 ing on the Cape Fear as high as Fayetteville, for 

 the last 20 years; and we are assured that no seri- 

 ous accident has ever occurred during the time. 

 Like other rivers in the south, its navigation is 

 suspended in the summer months, and so is the 

 great Ohio. We learn that the navigation of the 

 Ohio, from ice and drought, is suspended, on an 

 average, six months in the year, whilst that of 

 the Cape Fear is suspended not more than (bur 

 and a half months, and that at a season when the 

 crop is not ready for market. Such are the ad- 

 vantages of the Cape Fear inlet, under circum- 

 stances as they now exist. 



We have said the policy of building this rail- 

 road has been sanctioned by the legislature and 

 the people. We have only to advert lo the fact 



sive ficts and reasons to justify the change. 



3. The incorporation of a company for the 

 opening of an inlet at the foot of Albemarle 

 sound, near Naushead, and a subscription by the 

 state of ilirec-fifths of its capital stock. This 

 work was deemed by the convention of the high- 

 est importaiu-p, from the fact of so many of the 

 rich counties in the north-east pari of the state 

 being directly interested in its success ; from the 

 quantity and quality of ihe produce which would 

 find a market through it ; and from the fact that 

 it has been long pressed upon the notice both of the 

 national and state legislatures. Albemarle sound 

 runs in a dirert east course from the conflux of its 

 head-waters, the distance of some eighty miles, 

 and at its eastern extremity is separated from the 

 ocean by a narrow strip of sand-bank, some hun- 

 dred yards in width. It is navigable within four 

 or five miles of the ocean, where its waters sepa- 

 rate into the Roanoke and Croatan sounds, and 

 change its direction nearly south — Roanoke is- 

 land between them. These two sounds unite 

 again, and some twenty-five miles from the point 

 where the current ofthe Albemarle changes from 

 an east to nearly a south course, they enter the 

 Pamlico sound. From the north-eastern extremi- 

 ty of the Pamlico is, fifty miles distant, the Ocra- 

 coke inlet, the only navigable one for vessels suit- 

 ed to the coasting trade. It is proposed to throw 

 a dam or other construction across the Croatan 

 sound, and thus force the waters ofthe Albemarle 

 to break their passage through the bank at ita 

 foot into the Atlantic ocean. It is estimated by 

 intelligent seamen accustomed to the navigation 

 of this coast, that through the proposed inlet, 

 double the number of voyages may be made as 

 are now made through that at Ocracoke. It has 

 been estimated by a member of the convention, 

 that the 12 counties in North Carolina, nearly all 

 the produce of which seeks its market through the 

 Albemarle, export not less than from four to six 



