Ohio and Pennsylvania Canal. 41 



Total amount of ascent, from the Portage summit to the Ravenna 

 summit, is one hundred and seven feet ; total descent, from Ravenna 

 to Chenango, is three hundred feet ; amount of lockage, four hun- 

 dred and seven feet. The breadth of the canal at bottom is twenty- 

 five feet ; at the surface of the water, forty feet ; depth of water, 

 four feet. 



" Of the commercial importance of this canal, when finished," 

 the Commissioners say, "no doubt can be entertained, by those who 

 understand the interest and geography of our country. The route 

 passes through one of the best settled and most wealthy districts of 

 our state, and when executed, it will, together with the Ohio Canal, 

 open a direct and convenient channel of commerce between the in- 

 terior of Ohio and the great manufacturing and commercial city of 

 Pittsburgh, together with the whole of Pennsylvania. Between 

 those sections of country an extensive and highly beneficial com- 

 merce now exists, which must increase with the growing population 

 of our country, and with the development of its resources. It is, 

 however, only by looking forward to the time when the great Penn- 

 sylvania Canal, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, shall have con- 

 nected the Chesapeake with the Ohio River, the Potomac, and the 

 Delaware, that the importance of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal 

 can be duly appreciated. When these great works are completed, 

 the farmer in the center of our state, may put the productions of his 

 fields on board of a boat, which will convey them to Washington, 

 Alexandria, Baltimore, or Philadelphia, without unloading or reship- 

 ping ; and the merchant may bring his goods from either of those cities 

 to his own door, without risk or change in the method of transporta- 

 tion, and at an expense not exceeding one third of the present cost." 



" The profit of this work to the proprietors, must be commensu- 

 rate to its commercial importance ; and it is believed to offer one of 

 the best opportunities for a profitable investment of capital, that can 

 be found in the United States." 



The estimated cost of this canal is about one million of dollars. 

 Departing from its usually wise policy, the state of Ohio has suffered 

 the stock of this canal to pass into the hands of a private company. 

 It is owned in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Ohio, as a portion of it 

 lies in the state of Pennsylvania, from the Ohio line to its junction 

 with the canal on the Beaver, at the mouth of the Chenango Creek. 

 This company was incorporated in January, 1827, by the name of 

 " the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal Company," but the books of 



Vol. XXXI.— No. 1. 6 



