186 



REVIEWS. 



[1853. 



Canadians. The stock of the loth March, which has beea 

 genei'all}- noticed by the press as felt in the Niagara District, was 

 also perceived at Toronto. " About ha)f-pa.st 5 o'clock, A. IvI.," 

 writes one observer, " I was startled by a strange rumbling 

 noise : it produced the usual effects of thunder tliat is near, 

 namely a troir.bling of the house and bed, and a shaking of the 

 windows; the firet impression made upon me was that it was 

 thundsr, but I could not help feeling at the time that there was 

 something strange and unusual in the effect produced, and the 

 second impression was that it closely .esenibled what I had fre- 

 quently read of earthquakes." A second observer, lesiding in a dif- 

 ferent part of the city, and writing quite independently, uses very 

 similar language, but places the time earher. "About ten minutes 

 before five o'clock, by my watch, I was awakened out of a sound 

 sleep by a rumbling noise, which I distinctly heard for some 



seconds after I awoke. Mrs. who was awake previous to 



the shock, not only heard the rumbling, but felt the bed vibrate 

 to and fro." 



The barometer was falling a little at the time of this occur- 

 rence, but its depression was only — .085 at 2 p. m., and at the 

 next observation it had risen ; the thermometer was above the 

 mean, a very marked depression of temperature however followed 

 it, gi\'ing the lowest of the month, — 0. ° 2 Fahr., on the night 

 of the 14th instant. A state of magnetic distu:bance, of con- 

 siderable activity, moderate in respect to the amount of the 

 changes, 2)revailed throughout the 12 th.; but the photographic 

 instruments at the Observatory shewed that no particular change 

 of declination accompanied the movement itself. A westerly 

 movement of 6 sec, occurred fiom oh. to oh. 15m.; but for the 

 p^•e^■ious and the following half hours there was no change worth 

 mentioning. The same same remark applies to the horizontal 

 foi'ce. 



REVIEWS. 



1. Ship Canal from Albany to New BaUimorc. Reports and JUsiimatcs 

 by W. J. McAlpinc, Chief Engineer, and 0. Blane, J. Colman, and W. 

 I'orkins, Resident Enejinecrs. Albany, 1853. 



The title which has been given to the Sliip Canal projected in the' 

 above Report, is scai'cely an index to its purpose. Some of ourreaders 

 will enquire — "AVhere is !Xew Baltimore '?" and we confess we were 

 somewhat startled in not ourselves being able to remember any city of 

 that name, whose importance seemed to justify so great a work as a 

 Ship Canal. New Baltimore is a town of no very great pretensions, on 

 the west bank of the Hudson River, twelve miles below Albany, and 

 in tliis distance is comprised the main difHculties embarrassing the 

 navigation of that liver between New York and Albany. From the 

 former city to New Baltimore, the depth of water suffices for vessels 

 drawing twenty feet ; but above, and from thence to Albany, obstacles 

 exist coutiniug the draught of water to eight feet, as the maximum 

 for vessels trading between tliat city and Tidewater. Time was when 

 this draught of water would have been thought sufficient — nay, we 

 l>ave seen that it has hitherto accommodated that mighty western 

 trade which has choked the Erie Canal, given birth and sustenance to 

 its railway competitors, built up Buffalo, Rochester and Albany, and 

 made New York what it is ; not, iudeed, th.it our enterprising neigh- 

 bours have been content with the natural facilities afforded them, for 

 the obstructions to the navigation of the upper portion of the river, 

 attnu'tcd public attention at an early period after the Revolution, and 

 the State of New York having made the first appropriation in 1797, 

 continued a Hvstcni of improvements in jetties, wing-dams. Ac, untlil 



1818, when the public expenditure bad reached to very nearly 

 100,000 dollars. 



Up to this period, the improvement of the river seems to have been 

 confided to certain Commissioners, who had considered three systems : 

 1st. By the erection of piers or dams ; 2nd. by projecting dikes 

 or jetties, as adopted by Colborne on the Clyde ; and 3rd, by the 

 construction of an independent canal. Of these, the second proposition 

 was adopted, and is said not only to have signally failed in deupeninS 

 the river, but to have exercised a baneful influence in the formation of 

 many of the recent obstructions to the navigation. 



In 1819, a new Commission accordingly was appointed, and under 

 its auspices the first hydrographic survey of the river was made during 

 that year. 



This resulted in a renewal of the canal proposition which, although 

 at the time well received, was not adopted, and the whole matter 

 rested tiU the Spring of 1831. In the interim, the jurisdiction of the 

 Hudson had passed from the hands of the State to the Federal Govern- 

 ment, and in 1832 a second hydrographical survey was made, resulting 

 in further reports and suggestions for improvements. At last, and in 

 1831, Congress made another appropriation, but before its expenditure 

 the whole subject was again referred to a '■ Board of Engineers," 

 especially instructed to review two projects — one a canal, and the otlier 

 for deepening the bed of the river — and, of these, the Board recom- 

 mended the adoption of the latter. 



Upon this, Congress voted further appropriations — namely, in 1836. 

 $100,000 ; in 1837, $100,000 ; in 1838, $100,000 ; but in the latter year 

 all further operations were suspended, and no additional appropriation 

 has since been made. 



But the tides of trade, like those of the waters, wait for no man. 

 Since the year of the last appropriation, and that on which the im- 

 proving operations were suspended, although acknowledged to be 

 incomplete, the tonnage to and from Tide Water by the Erie .and 

 Champlaiu Canals has increased 1,983,066 tons, being now 2,766,349 tons. 



This has hitherto been carried on the Hudson by vessels ranging 

 (with the exception of steamboats) from 30 to 340 tons burthen, draw- 

 ing from four to a maximum of eight feet nine inches. Of all the 

 vessels enrolled at the Custom House at Albany in 1852, the " E. Corn- 

 ing," abarge, was the largest ; having length, lll^o ft. ; breadth, 29,'^ ft; 

 depth, 8^4 ft. ; and tonnage, 344.50. 



It appears that the average cost of a trip from Albany to New York 

 and leturn, is, for a canal boat of 90 tons, $90, and for a barge of 200 

 tons, $128; that the trade averages "three tons down to one up" 

 freight, shewing a cost of movement of 75 cents per ton in a 90 ton 

 boat, and 48 cents 'per ton in a 200 ton barge. Taking this as the 

 basis, it is estimated that if the depth of the water allowed the passage 

 of vessels of 1000 tons, the cost for movement in a 5110 ton vessel would 

 be reduced to 30 cents per ton, and in 1000 ton vessels to IS.^.j cents 

 per ton. 



Again, in consequence of insufficient depth of water in the river, 

 vessels now employed on it seldom go beyond the Cit}' of New York, 

 and the trade even between Albany and Boston, Providence, Baltimore, 

 <tc., is subject to transhipment at that city, which, under the most 

 favourable circumstances, costs 20 cents, or, if t.ikcn into .store and 

 then reshipped, one dollar per ton. This ti'anshijjnient of flour re- 

 sults in a depreciation to from li^' to 2 per cent, and wheat and 

 other grain are also subject to considerable waste. 



All these objections are urged as sufficient justification for the con- 

 struction of a Ship Canal of X'i^X miles in length, and capable of passing 

 vessels drawing from 15 to 20 feet of water. 



The dimensions of the proposed Canal are as follows : — Width at 

 bottom, 50 feet ; at water line, 120 feet ; and 20 feet depth of water. 



At Albany the Canal Basin will communicate with the river by two 

 ocks combined, each 10 feet lift, 215 feet long, and 30 feet wide ; and 



i 



