SHELBY COUNTY. 449 



westerly direction from a point on the southern boundary line about 

 midway of the county, from east t6 west. The Sidney Feeder is twelve 

 miles in length, and extends from Port Jefferson to Lockington, and is 

 the channel through which the water from the great reservoir at Lewis- 

 town reaches the summit level of the canal. The Sidney Feeder and 

 the main canal above Lockington are on the same level, and the water 

 from the Lewistown Reservoir flows indifferently north or south. The 

 Summit level of the Miami and Erie Canal is, therefore, the same as that 

 of the Sidney Feeder — nine hundred and forty-four feet above the level 

 of the sea. The highest land in the county (so far as any measurements 

 have extended) is one thousand and seventy-eight feet above tide-water, 

 and six hundred and forty-six feet above low water in the Ohio River at 

 Cincinnati. To aid in the comparison of the elevations in this county 

 with other portions of the State, I will here give a few measurements 

 taken from Prof. Orton's Report of the Geology of Highland county, in 

 the volume for 1870, p. 258. At the head-waters of the Scioto and Miami 

 Rivers, in Logan county, an elevation is given, on the authority of Col. C. 

 Whittlesey, of one thousand three hundred and forty-four feet, which is 

 two hundred and sixty-six feet greater than any in Shelby county. A 

 measurement still greater is given of a summit in Richland county, 

 one thousand three hundred and eighty-nine feet above the level of the 

 sea. The highest land in the State, so far as known, is a point about 

 three miles north-east of Bellefontaine. Its elevation above the sea, as 

 determined by Prof. F. C. Hill, for the Geological Survey, is fifteen hun- 

 dred and forty- four feet. The summit level of the canal in this county is 

 four hundred feet lower than the water-shed between the Miami and Scioto 

 Rivers in Logan county. This statement will show the resources of the 

 canal for water-supply in this direction. The surface drainage and spring- 

 water of a surface of about nine hundred square miles, must be available 

 at the head-waters of the Miami as a supply for the canal above the sum- 

 mit level— one-half of which, with other resources, would float a tonnage 

 greater than was ever floated in the canal. 



TOPOGRAPHY OF THE CODNTY. 



From the preceding statements it will be seen that the surface of the 

 county is little diversified in regard to elevation. There are no hills or 

 deep valleys giving variety to the climate or the productions, or produc- 

 ing picturesqueness of scenery. While the surface is everywhere rolling 

 and well drained, the diflerence in level from the lowest to the highest 

 jjpint within the limits of the county is but little over two hundreed 

 feet. The water from the summit level is locked down southward from 

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