Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/693

 CANAL 683 number, shall be found satisfactory "by rea- son of a new, useful, and economical means of propulsion," it shall then be their duty to grant certificates to the inventors to that effect. The act authorized an award of $50,000, as follows: If only one was successful, he should receive the whole ; if certificates should be granted to two, the first was to have $35,000, and the second $15,000 ; if there were three successful competitors, the first was to have $30,000, the second $15,000, and the third $5,000. It was required that a speed of not less than three miles per hour should be made, that there should be economy in the consumption of fuel and in the transportation of freight, and that no injury should be done to the banks of the canal. At a meeting of the commission in Au- gust, 1871, a large number of inventors ap- peared with models and drawings. The im- pression was general among them that the prin- cipal difficulty to be overcome was the injury done to the banks of the canal by the swell created by the wheels of the boat, and there- fore most of the inventions were directed to some new device ; and the exhibitors also ap- peared to have the general idea that some appli- cation of steam power hitherto unused was de- manded of them. The attorney general was thereupon asked for an opinion, and he returned an answer that the act did not, in the use of the word "new," intend to exclude the appli- cation of any form of steam machinery which should be applied to the boats in such a man- ner as to move them economically both as regarded the boat and the canal, and to meet the tests required. The engineer of the com- mission, David M. Greene of Troy, expresses the opinion that a speed of three miles per hour can be economically attained, and that it will probably be by the use of the paddle or screw wheel, or some modification. An act passed in 1871 increased the award to $100,000, and Mr. Greene and a committee have since ex- amined into the use of steam on canals in other states, particularly in New Jersey, of which a report has been published. The committee de- cided, at a meeting on Feb. 18, 1873, to ask the legislature for an extension of time for making the awards, more time being required by the in- ventors, as well as forthe investigation of claims. It is probable that the proper pitching and lay- ing of slopes with stone work will allow of the use of almost any style of steamboats of suita- ble dimensions. What is known as the Euro- pean or Belgian system of steam cable towage has been in use upon canals in France, Bel- gium, Holland, and Germany for several years, and by some is considered successful. It was first introduced upon the Seine for towing boats between Havre and Paris, where a sub- merged chain was used, composed of links about eight inches long, and passing round a wheel having cogs which fitted into the links to prevent slipping. A drum has been substi- tuted, and also a wire cable which works with less power. A company obtained a charter from the legislature of New York in 1870, by which they were given the right to place cables in the bottom of the canals of that state for the purpose of propelling boats by steam power. The plan requires the use of a drum wheel and steam engine upon the boat. The act pro- vided that if the company failed to introduce the system within 18 months after its pas- sage, the right should cease. The system of irrigation by canals, begun in Chaldea, but afterward extending over nearly the whole of Assyria, was the cause of the wonderful fer- tility of that country. The royal canal of Baby- lon, built about 1700 B. 0., and reopened by Nebuchadnezzar 11 centuries after, and en- larged to such an extent as to afford passage to merchant ships, was considered by Herodotus one of the wonders of that city. The great canal of China, which connects the Pei-ho with the great central stream of Yang-tse-kiang, 500 m. distant, forms a communication, inter- rupted only by a narrow interval, that extends from Peking to Canton, a distance of 1,000 m. Unacquainted with locks, they raise or lower their boats from one level to another on in- clined planes by the use of capstans. A con- siderable part of this canal that between the Hoang-ho and the Yang-tse-kiang is supposed to have been constructed about the 7th cen- tury. In the 12th century canals were first constructed in the Netherlands, and their per- fect adaptation to the flat country of Holland caused them to be rapidly extended, till they now connect all its villages, and are used as roads. Amsterdam owes its present commer- cial prosperity largely to the facilities afforded by its ship canal of 51 m. in length, which con- nects the river Y by a direct channel with the North sea. This canal, one of the largest works of the kind in Europe, was constructed between the years 1819 and 1825 at an expense of 850,000. Attention was given at an early day to the subject of canals in the Italian states, and the invention of the canal lock is commonly attributed to two of their engineers of the 14th century, although Belidor, in his Architecture hydrauligue, gives the credit of the invention to the Dutch. Some writers say that Leonardo da Vinci first used locks on the Milanese canals in 1497, and soon after intro- duced them into France. The latter country has a very complete system of canals. That of Languedoc, called the canal du Midi, was commenced in 1666 and opened in 1681, and was the first canal of any considerable magni- tude in Europe. It commences at Toulouse on the Garonne, and, after traversing considerable mountain chains, valleys, and rivers, ends at 1'Etang de Thau near Agde. From thence navigation is continued to the port of Cette by the canal of that name, thus uniting the Atlan- tic and Mediterranean. It is 150 m. long, 60 ft. wide, and 6 ft. deep, and has 114 locks and sluices; and at the highest point it is 600 ft. above the level of the sea. It cost 17,000,000 francs, and it is said that the collections from