416 Miscellanies. 



to receive from our correspondent any statement in support or modi- 

 fication of his former account. The loss of life on board of steam 

 boats in consequence of running foul of each other, has been consid- 

 erable, and of course is not included in Mr. Redfield's statement. 



The public have a right to demand a prompt and careful investi- 

 gation of the immediate causes of these dreadful calamities. 



22. Encyclopedia Americana. — The 6th Vol. of this valuable 

 work has appeared, and is written and compiled in the spirit of its 

 predecessors. It is learned, condensed, perspicuous and practical. 



23. Ohio Canals. — The fine state of Ohio, with a million of free 

 inhabitants, following the example of New York, has not hesitated 

 to expend millions of dollars upon her canals. By the report of 

 January, 1831, it appears that $4,131, 579yVo had been expended 

 upon the great canal and its branches and auxiliaries; $554,186, it 

 was supposed, would be requisite to finish the work, exclusive of su- 

 perintendence and engineering. It is fair to infer that $5,000,000 

 will cover the whole, and then the great lakes will be connected with 

 the Ohio river, as well as with the Hudson, and thus (the canal around 

 the falls of the Ohio being finished) there will be an uninterrupted 

 inland water communication between New York and New Orleans, 

 surpassing in extent any thing known elsewhere in the world. In 

 this way Ohio and the contiguous states will enjoy the choice of a 

 market, either at New York or New Orleans ; an advantage not too 

 dearly purchased for Ohio, at the average price of $10,555 per mile 

 on her canals, exclusive of charges of superintendence and engineer- 

 ing. Should the United States continue at peace, and wisely appro- 

 priate their superfluous resources to internal improvement, what grand 

 results may be ultimately expected. Baltimore, with its rail road, 

 and Washington city, with its canal, will in a few years connect the 

 Ohio with the Chesapeake ; the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and 

 the Ohio, will be joined through the great canals of Pennsylvania ; 

 the Alleghanies, although they cannot be levelled, will be readily 

 passed, and a multitude of communications of smaller extent, but 

 some of them of great importance, will facilitate the commercial, so- 

 cial and political interchanges of this country, which interest and poli- 

 cy will conspire to connect in one empire, compact and we trust in- 

 dissoluble, although so extensivco Would governments avoid war, 



