1S36.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



307 



oblipfe and assist us in every thing we desired. 

 And allhougli wc applied to no one who did not 

 manliest tlie ureafcst u'illinijncss to assist us, yet 

 I should be doing injustice to myself and to one of 

 the most valuable and worthy men in New Eng- 

 land, did I not in a most especial manner acknow- 

 ledge tiie great kindness and service rendered us 

 by Alfred Sniith Esq. Mr. S. like all his coun- 

 trymen, is engaired in business, to which he de- 

 votes himsell" with great assiduity; and his worth 

 being duly appreciated by his fellow townsmen, 

 much of the public business is thrown on his 

 hands. Notwithstanding ail this — and although at 

 the time of our visit to Harllbrd, he was superin- 

 tending the erection of a large public building — he 

 gave us many hours of his tinie every day, during 

 our sojourn in that city. He had been superin- 

 tendent of all the improvements on the Connec- 

 ticut River, and knew all the facts in relation to 

 them. He gave me a duplicate of the profile of 

 the canals and locks around the falls ; and a sur- 

 vey of the river, made under his direction ; which 

 I will send you for the use of the Roanoke Com- 

 pany, by the first ojiportunity. 



Ev^ery person to whom we mentioned the object 

 of our visit to the north and east, invariably di- 

 rected us to Thomas Blanchard, as the man to be 

 consulted and employed by us. Indeed the una- 

 nimity with which all recommended Mr. Blanch- 

 ard, was astonishing — but when we went to Hart- 

 ford and Sprintrfield, and saw the steamer Massa- 

 chusetts, ascending the Enfield fiills, and what he 

 had done in the United States' Armorj' at Spring- 

 field, we too, had no doubt of Mr. 13. 's ability to 

 put steam-boats on the Roanoke, if mortal man 

 could. 



This extraordinary man was a common artisan in 

 the United States' Armory at Springfield, and I was 

 told by Col. Robb, the superintendent, that he had 

 added improvement to improvement in the ma- 

 chinery there, until it would seem to be as perfect 

 as the art and wit of man could make it — the prin- 

 cipal of which, however, is the machine for /t<rn- 

 ?'»,§• gun stocks, and any irregular figure. But the 

 improvement for which, perhaps, his country will 

 be most indebted to him, is his steam-boat for 

 shoal water — it might be more appropriate to call 

 it an invention — for it is built on a new princi])Ie. 

 This gentleman I lost no lime in engaging for our 

 service ; provided j'ou should sanction it. By 

 promptly adding your request to mine, you will 

 soon have an opportunity of learning from Mr. B. 

 himself, what he has done, and what he can do on 

 our river. 



I shall now proceed to mention such fiicts as I 

 have collected, and 1 shall also venture to give 

 you some conclusions I have d.awn from those 

 facts. Being, however, entirely ignorant of en- 

 gineering (never having had my attention direct- 

 ed to such pursjits,) my conclusions must be re- 

 ceived with great allowance. 



The better to appreciate and apply the facts to 

 be detailed, some account of the Roanoke, Dan 

 and Staunton Rivers, will be necessary. The 

 facts here staled of those rivers, are extracted from 

 the surveys &c. of INlessrs. Moore, reported after 

 the death of the principal engineer, by Mr. Isaac 

 Briggs, to the Board of Public Works. The dis- 

 tance from Rock Landing to Clarkesville, is GO 

 miles — from Clarkesville to the highest point of the 

 the survey up Dan. is 125 miles— and from Clarkes- 



ville to the highest point of the survey up Staun- 

 ton, IS 109 miles. The whole fall from Rock 

 Landing to Clarkesville, is 1.56.60 Icet — avcran-e 

 lidl. per mile, 2.61 feet. Whole fall from Clarkes- 

 ville of the 125 miles survej'ed of the Dan River, 

 is 277.47 feet — average fall per mile, 2.221 feet — 

 whole fall of Staunton, fi'om Clarkesville in the 

 109 miles surveyed, is 322.61 feet — average fall 

 per mile, 2.96 feet. It will, from this, be seen, that 

 the navigation of the Staunton is the most difficult 

 — and that of the Dan the best of the three ri- 

 vers. 



In one material thmg these sui'vej's are very de- 

 ficient ; namely, the fall throughout each mile ; 

 for although a fall of ten feet to the mile, might be 

 easily overcome, if equally distributed the whole 

 distance, j^et, as is frequently the case, if the 

 whole fall, or a large portion of it, occurs at one or 

 two places in the mile, it might defy all the power 

 of man or steam. In other instances too, the sur- 

 vey only gives the fall for two, three, four and five 

 miles ; and frequently from place to place, so that 

 the distance cannot be accurately known. This 

 occurs most fi-equently on the Dan and Staunton 

 rivers ; on the Roanoke, the fiill in the mile is ge- 

 nerally stated. The falls in the Roanoke, which 

 require to be here noticed, are Eaton's, fall in the 

 mile 11.1 feet — Hamlin's Shoals, fall in two miles 

 16.11 feet. The next mile above these two, (hav- 

 iiiir no name to designate it,) fall, 5.98 feet. Pugh's 

 falls, fall in the mile 5.62 feet. Horse-ford fall in 

 two miles 8 95 feet — and Butcher's Creek, being 

 two miles long, fall in one mile 5.60, and in the 

 other 5.50 feet. On the Dan the only ones I shall 

 notice, are those of Hyco — they being the only ob- 

 struction for some 50 or 60 miles above Clarkes- 

 ville. These falls are about l^ miles long, fall 

 12.89 feet. On the Staunton, Tally's falls are the 

 only obstacle to Brookneal — and it is useless to 

 notice any other on that riv^er. Here, the survey 

 is too inaccurate to enable me to ascertain the dis- 

 tance to which is affixed the fall mentioned ; but 

 as well as I can understand it, the rapids must be 

 about 1 If miles— in which distance, the whole fall 

 is 15.23 feet. 



I will now beg leave to conduct you to the Con- 

 necticut River, and lay before you some minute 

 statistics. From Hartford (below which, the ri- 

 ver is free from any obstruction) to the foot of 

 Enfield falls is 12 miles— fall, not more than two 

 or three inches to the mile, and the water smooth. 

 Enfield falls are nearly 5 miles from head to foot ; 

 with one mile of slack water between the upper 

 and lower fidls. The lower falls extend nearly 2| 

 miles (half a mile of which is slack Avater) and 

 has 20 feet descent— principally, if not entirely, 

 confined to two miles: within these two miles, 

 there are a succession of rapids — one or two of 

 them greater than the others. After the termina- 

 tion of the lower falls, one mile of slack water in- 

 tervenes; after which, we come to the upper falls, 

 being one mile in length, and having a descent of 

 10 feet — the descent is unequally distributed, being 

 most of it in three bars, namely — at Enfield bridge 

 —Mad Tom Bar — and Surf Bar. From the head 

 of the fiills to Springfield, is 8 or 9 miles— and from 

 thence to the foot of Headly falls, is about 8 miles 

 farther; making the distance of 16 or 17 miles, 

 fiom one fall to" the other— in all which distance 

 there is slack water, and fall of only a few inches 

 to the mile. One mile below Hadley falls, how- 



