Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/694

 684 CANAL tolls have never equalled the interest on this sum. The most important canal of Germany is the Ludwig's canal, which unites the waters of the Danube with those of the Rhine. Char- lemagne conceived the idea of uniting the Danube with the Main by the Altmuhl, but the limited engineering knowledge of the time pre- vented its execution. The enterprise was ac- complished by King Louis I. of Bavaria. The work was begun at Nuremberg in 1836, and was many years in construction. The canal commences at Kelheiru on the Danube, and makes use of the Altmuhl to Diefurt, thence northward to Nuremberg, and thence along the Pegnitz to ship navigation at Bamberg on the Main. It reaches its greatest elevation at Neu- niarkt, 650 ft. above the surface of the Main and 270 above that of the Danube. It is about 108 m. long, is 54 ft. wide at the surface and 34 ft. at the bottom, and has a depth of 5 ft. It is carried over the Pegnitz by an aqueduct 150 ft. long, and over several other smaller streams. In 1755 the duke of Bridge water brought for- ward the project of connecting Manchester with Worsley by a canal ; and when this had been successfully accomplished, other works of the same kind were built in such numbers, that be- fore the introduction of railroads it was esti- mated there were over 2,200 m. of navigable canals in England, besides much slack-water navigation upon the rivers made use of in con- nection with canals. South of Durham, it is said, there is not a spot in England 15 miles from water communication. But the introduction of railroads has greatly lessened their impor- tance, and they continue to be used only for the transportation of heavy freight. There are, however, canals in Great Britain and other countries which are intended for the passage of large vessels to ports situated upon arms of the sea or rivers that are not sufficiently navigable, which will always be useful, and will rather increase than diminish in im- portance. The oldest canals in the United States are the South Hadley and Montague canals in Massachusetts, both undertaken by a company chartered in 1792. They are short canals for passing through the rapids at South Hadley and the Montague falls, on Connecticut river, the former 2 m. long, with a lift of lock- age of 40 ft., and the latter 3 m. long, with a lift of 75 ft. The Middlesex canal, 27 m. long, con- necting Boston harbor with the Merrimack at Chelmsford (now Lowell), was completed in 1808. These works are now either abandoned or used only for water power and irrigation. The following table gives the length, dimen- sions, and cost of construction of the principal canals now in use in the United States, except those of New York, given in another table : TABLE OP CANALS IN THE UNITED STATES (EXCEPTING NEW YOKE). NAME AND LOCATION. S 41 J 8 Width in feet at surface. Width In feet at bottom. Depth In feet. LOCKS. DATE. Coit of Construction. Number. P Width in feet. "* fit S a n S 1 Pennsylvania : E. Div., Duncan's Island to Columbia Juniata Div,, D.'s I. to Hollidaysburg. . .. Susqueh. Dlv., D.'s I. to Northumberland. . "W. Branch Div., N^berland to Farrandsvtlle N. Branch Div., N'berlandto Wllkesbarre. Union canal, Middletown to Reading 46 127 41 80-5 64 77-6 18 108 60 48 108 45 12 85 43 101 12'6 184-5 196-5 7 83 8-5 5(1-60 40-00 40-60 40-60 40-60 43 42 48 44 60-100 60-800 60 45 Slack 75 40 66 62-60 40 60 84 24-80 24-80 24-30 24-30 28 26 SO 26 45 40-45 80 28 water. 81^2 "42" 6 jt 6 6 6 6 5 4 Variable. 8 5 10 6 4 6 11 66 II 43 1112 11 UK; 82 63 71

8 14 29 8 74 90 180 90 90 (90 190 90 90 100 90 102 112 170 90 190 220 98 220 100 100 17 15 17 17 17 17 17 15 11 22 18-24 17 17 66 24 22 24 15 15 -582 115 501 48 1,028 "sis' 619 233 24 49 150 1,684 82 609 812 Ll827 1819 1S3II 1827 1 Paid capital stock, 4.457,150 Debt, 6,907,000 Del. and Hud., Honesdale to Rondout,N.Y. 1S29 1-30 1-L'!> 1-25 l.-Kll 1836 1844 6,817,658 '4,46X606 13,207,752 4,867,105 612,000 1,182,462 8.985.2S7 2,S25,997 8,547,561 11,875,000 6,189.280 1,068,762 1,151.000 170,000 4,695,204 7,454,727 976,481 607,269 1,627,318 (V Nil), WO "im 1816 1827 Lehigh Coal and Nav., Easton to Coalport. Schuylkill Coal and Nav., Mill cr. to Philad. Susquehanna, Columbia to Havre de Grace "Wiconisco, Millersburg to Clark's Ferry.. . Monongahela Nav,, Pittsb'gh to N. Geneva. New Jersey : Del. and Raritan, N, B'swick to BMentown Morris and Essex, J. City to Phillipsburg. Delaware : Ches. and Del., Ches. City to Del. City. . . . Maryland : Ches. and Ohio, G'town to Cumberland. . . Virginia: James R. andK'awha, R'mond to Buchanan Alexandria and Georgetown 1828 I860 Dismal Swamp, Eliz. R. to D'mmond lake. Ohio: Ohio Canal, Cleveland to Portsmouth Miami and Erie, Cincinnati to Toledo Hocking, Carroll to Athens 882 291 S6 40 50-60 26 4 5-6 1.VJ III.-, M 11 19 M 87-99 87-99 87-99 87-99 75 90 15 15 15 15 16 15 1,207 907 jo:i 90 126 505 25 Muskingiim Imp'nt, Dresden to Marietta. Indiana : Wabash and Erie, Evansville to 0. state line Illinois : 111. and Mich., Chicago to La Salle. , 91 874 100 1 Variable. 40 160 100 26 73-5 4 7 20 1882 1853 Michigan : St. Mary's falls ship canal 2 400 80 12 Enlarged 1878 Not complet'd
 * 3,274,600