a ee Ses PRESENTED BY Cty lids of Cc: % , ei pin lhe totne ? patios ~* et i. f Se ey! FT Ape eh Aue ease Me AM Ris 5 Tage = OER GS Ge CS re ey Vy eg rh Pw BNC os Pet) Pays - Re r a P at 4 Rie: RY) CSCS) Seutieta CCAS OEK OD Ress) Ded ay, wen Sy 3 : 2 * a Daakf Gf 4 2, AVE te . ”, eo OL: ~ . Sa p Ha eos} zZ iene) Ps . j y i yg er . wr 5% bre 1 We & “ " 7 i Ss 7 ‘ 4 . fe vg Pas i : . » y q . oR ANG fi axa 1 S S)) a GEICO i : 5 a ? NG a) re \ = Loree - See ov x La 7% oh att , Inland Waterways CITY ?GLUB Report of Committee on Waterways CINCINNATI JuLy, 1909 Ry £ ee: Noe Seale of Miles wo roe MAP oF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS EXISTING AND PROJECTED J Ps ex @ . & = > mire > ENGR CEES PAGE Waterways Abroad.............. Seat EMO NAG), «elk ating) til Gomteteratne nia eeene 5 Government. Bond lssuestOr Waterways) 149 Sidiey BEeders sho. .05.<5 100 144 Loramie Reservoir F’r.118 126 TNO TCEVS COSC a aa 120 124 ESE TERG Lge ea lp: enacsrovanicn tare 1A Pal Nrereer iGo. Res;, Fs... « 130 «114 SOMITE EVES ie 0/0) « aseishe.e o sive 131 113 ESTOS ionsetaraistars tis /er nti S 140% 103% Spencerville... ........< 1438-101 MO SUD MOS oe Ar reek siccescsc cn 154 90 ERATION tee acd svat siavonteat: 164 80 MUCLLON eater fo o52 5. Ske 180 64 DENA CES cri oso ais « Sc 189 55 Independence.......... 192 52 DSCC 198 46 INADOLEON ch. cine sn sed 206 38 WAIRASEUS 2.60 Joceicne eee 213 31 SSS 8 A een a 216 28 Providence............. 220 24 WWARETVEITE: t.0bre cs. es: 231 18 Maumee Side Cut ......235 9 MMIC OSC ILY etc fu che a 236 8 SLGVEAO (521 er as ec wes Dad 0 | rotton | Lye 5 — | WILLIAMS L | AN , 9 H Sa ae ae as, peal als - : Bias | “GFinonee wood | : DEFIANCE i ait pee | ee ee [ a Be eee HANCOCK 2 — | i | AN WERT © [ 3s : ee bese HARDIN C= | ERCER ale we 4 | ~“teae Hi ustae ex. 12 Gee et toca, 3 cue UNION | in ey aie Se | | i ia Z Et 3 DARKE | Piqua * ki Syd | | “wi\am! | CHAM)PAIGN : | | Treg Wi) ae ee — eit es ; [rpeceneeVAN | CL/ARK i oe eee Lp ee ' ' rae / mies | | = ry 4 ae © af, / = eal Swe cS | PREBLE | © Ba ali SSX GREENE | oy, Se Dayton | —<<- a oe Hamilton gf ‘et a i~ -] —) — - vn = 3 a> we ay) A NS é By See el oe oe” | | aa Y 7 . 4s TOn i AES ! ; PZ Jig Sb ted ! Y wy es! = | | ies ae \ _ | | eo, _— Woe or pny Explanations. | | ADAMS ———= FSi Ai eS | eee 60K050007719 Canals Ne es eeusPaseq Mhandoned Canals \ eo: Se es a Proposed Canals oe Dien anne Creeks «° —e Dams ona Jeeders 71640-8035 MAP OF MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL DRAWN FROM MAP AND DATA PREPARED BY CApT. HIRAM M. CHITTENDEN, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. A. opinion, which is that it is of highest importance, in both a local and a general sense, that the Miami and Erie Canal must be converted into the largest possible barge or ship canal to con- nect the Great Lakes — first in importance, in waterway trans- portation — and the Ohio River, third in importance, in the United States — and that considering the possibility of such enlargement, and until a careful survey and scrutiny has been made by competent engineers, no abandonment, or even impair- ment, of any part of the canal should be tolerated. The Gov- ernment Engineers, in their report of the canal survey, said: “Tf the State abandons the canals, and if the lines are occupied by railroads andthe reservoir sites are. sold, it will never again be possible to build a canal along any of the proposed routes (except possibly the central route, which BO ae largely through new terri- tory) for what it would cost now.’ We would not have it understood, however, that this public favor toward the canal is unanimous, for there are, and have been, those opposing it and everything connected with it, who are actuated by covert designs for personal advantage or profit, who would absolutely destroy or cripple it, but fortunately these persons and their selfish designs have become well known, and as they have from time to time been branded and beaten off. they have ceased to be respected, and their conduct is ever under strict surveillance, so that the danger of losing the possibility of this great public improvement, by their plots and schenies, is minimized. It is to be regretted that there are quite a num- ber of honorable citizens, who either because of Jack of knowl- edge touching the subject or because of apathy, have been wheedled or cajoled by the siren voices of wily promoters into at least an apparent alliance with them, but even these are com- ing to “beware of the Greeks bearing gifts,” for each effort to acquire the canal for other than its legitimate purpose has been upon the false pretense of public advantage. Those who have heen most active in maintaining and pre- serving the canal for its greater usefulness, freely confess that in its present physical condition and with its insufficient draft, it is inadequate as an aid to the ever-growing local and general commerce of the country. STATE Policy AS To GCANane. Both of the great political parties of Ohio have, for a num- ber of years past, at their State Conventions, declared i in favor of the maintenance and the improvement of the canals of the 18 State, and the Legislature has, by formal enactment Cactcar April 9, 1902), declared it to be the settled policy of the State to maintain the Miami and Erie Canal. Your Committee feels it important to furnish some general information as to the history, the physical condition, and the present and future value of the canal as a facility for trans- portation between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. History oF MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL. About the time the State of Ohio was admitted to the Union, New York was considering the construction of the Erie Canal, the chief promoter of which was that great statesmen, Gov- ernor DeWitt Clinton, of New York, a profound student of economic and practical industries, himself engaged in promot- ing canal construction in New York, and for a long time Presi- dent of its Board of Canal Commissioners, and who once vis-. ited Ohio on a tour of inspection of her resources, who wrote, November 8, 1823, to Micajah T. Williams, one of Ohio’s Canal Commissioners, a prophetic letter on the subject of the import- ance of connecting the waters of the Lakes and the Ohio River, and said in part: “The projected canal between Lake Erie and the Ohio River will, in connection with the New York canals, form a navigable communication between the Bay of New York, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; of course, it will embrace within its influence the great part of the United States and of the Canadas. The advantages of a canal of this description are so obvious, so striking, so numerous, and so exten- sive that it is a work of supererogation to bring them into view. The State of Ohio, from the fertility of its soil, the benignity of its climate, and its geographical position, must always contain a dense population, and the products and consumptions of its inhabitants must forever forma lucrative and extensive inland trade, exciting the powers of productive industry and communicating aliment and energy to external commerce. But when we consider that this canal will open a way to the great rivers that fall into the Mississippi, that it will be felt, not only’ in the immense valley of that river, but as far West as the Rocky Mountains and the borders of Mexico, and that it will communicate with our great inland seas and their tributary rivers, with the odean in various routes, and with the most productive regions of America, there can be no question respecting the blessings that it will produce, the riches that it will create, and the energies that it will call into activity.” *k *k xk xk xk x x *k xk *k 19 “Next to New York, Ohio will be the most populous State in the Union. She is susceptible of a population of twelve and one-half mil- lions, contains 39,000 square miles, and has every facility for carrying the pursuits of productive activity to the highest pitch of improvement.” “In one word, sir, all that is necessary to complete this great enter- prise is the will to direct it. Considering, as I always have, that it is only a continuation of the Erie Canal, that it will promote corresponding advantages, and that it is identified with the stability of our Government and the prosperity of our country, I own that I feel a more than-common solicitude on this subject.” Our Ohio forefathers, stimulated by the example of their sister State, and aided by the advice of Governor Clinton, began the agitation of connecting the lakes with the Ohio by canals, the first official act being Gov. E. A. Brown’s inaugural message of December 14, 1818, urging the improvement, until finally, under the great disadvantages of a wild and unsettled country, its occupancy by Indians, slow methods of travel and lack of money, the State began its construction (speaking of the Miami and Erie Canal), July 21, 1825 (the act for internal improve- ments having been passed February 4, 1825), and finished it in sections, in about 1845. The following is taken from an old record: “On the 20th of November, 1827, three fine boats, crowded with citi- zens, delighted with the novelty and the interest of the occasion, left the basin six miles north of Cincinnati and proceeded to Middletown with the most perfect success.” Afterward the canal was completed to Day- ion, and then by government aid from Dayton to Toledo. Funds necessary for its construction were raised by private contribution, by county and municipal aid, and by lending the credit and security of the State to borrow money from John Jacob Astor and others, and by the sale of lands ceded to the State by the general Government. The Government Engineers, in their report of February 12, 1896, say: “Under acts of Congress in 1827 and 1828, grants of land were made by the United States to Ohio and Indiana in aid of canals. The State of Ohio finally received 1,240,521.95 acres of land, from the sale of part of which the State has realized $2,257,487.52, and there remain unsold lands valued at $1,250,000. In consideration of these grants 20 | CAy\ the aided canals are public highways of the United States, over which its property and the persons in its service must be trans- ported free of tolls.” Of these lands 438,301.32 acres were sold for the purpose of constructing the canal between Dayton and Toledo. In the course of its construction it was found necessary for the Legislature by act to memorialize Congress to intercede with the Indians, through whose lands it was desired to con- struct the canal, to permit the work to go on. Immediately upon its completion it became of immense value, directly and indirectly, to the State and to commerce generally, and this . continued, notwithstanding the advent of railroad competition and the disastrous policy of leasing it (in common with the other canals) to private parties, until the blight put upon it by the proprietors and the promoters of what has come to be known as the “electric mule,’ which has done everything pos- sible to prevent navigation of the canal or its improvement. The Constitution of the State of Ohio provides that so long as the State shall have public works, there shall be a Board of Public Works, by virtue of which there was created a Board of three members, known as the Board of Public Works, which Board has charge and supreme control, subject to. legislative direction, of all of the public works (the canals) in the State which are owned in fee simple by the State. it may be that the system which has been in vogue for so many years for the management of the canals is obsolete, and should be reorgan- ized, and a new one adopted, but these are questions which we do not care here to discuss. The Ohio canals were administered from 1825 to 1835 by Canal Commissioners; from 1836 to 1837 by a Board of Pub- lic Works; in 1838 by a Board of Canal Commissioners; from 1835 to present time by a Board of Public Works. The Miami and Erie Canal in about 1850 had 301.49 miles of canals and feeders. COMPARATIVE WEALTH OF CANAL AND Non-CAaNnaL COUNTIES IN OHIO. There are thirty-seven canal and fifty-one non-canal coun- ties in Ohio. In 1900 the assessed value of real estate in the canal counties was $371,434,173 more than in the non-canal counties, and there was in the canal counties $1o1,948,053 more personal property listed for taxation than in the non- 21 canal counties, or a total of real and personal property in the canal counties of $473,382,226 more than in the non-canal counties. Direct BENEFITS TO COUNTRY TRAVERSED BY MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL. No sooner had the canal been constructed than hundreds of manufacturing concerns were established on its banks because of the facilities offered for transportation and ‘because of the use of its surplus waters for manufacturing and power. These manufacturing centers have become rich and prosperous cities and villages, until now, the proportion of population of these counties (1900, 1,094,733) to the population of the entire State (4,157,545) is 26 per cent. This canal passes through fifteen of the eigthy-eight coun- ties of the State—17 per cent. The average number of employes engaged in manufacturing in the whole State is 345,- 869, 37 per cent of which are engaged in these counties. The wages earned by the wage-earners in the whole State amount to $153,955,330, 35 per cent of which Wages are earned in these counties. The capital invested in manufacturing in the whole State amounts to $605,792,266, 31 per cent of which is engaged in these counties. The value of the products of manufacturing in the whole State is $832,438,113, 37 per cent of which are produced in these counties. The estimated true value of real property and improvements in the whole State is $2,918,961,315, 34 per cent of which is located in these counties. (The above percentages are based upon the United States Census of TQOO. ) The paper mills in these fifteen counties, principally between Cincinnati and Dayton, have a daily production of paper of over 2,000,000, pounds; their daily consumption of fuel is over 2,500,000 pounds, and their daily consumption of raw material Is Over 3,500,000 pounds, or a total daily tonnage — the natural freight for a canal—of over 8,000,000 pounds. The annual tonnage of these paper industries is 1,200,000 tons. In manufacturing, Cincinnati stands first, Dayton third, and Toledo fourth in the State of Ohio. This canal passes through these cities. In population, Cincinnati stands second, Toledo third, and Dayton fourth. This canal passes through these cities. 22 ORIGINAL Cost oF MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL AND RESERVOIRS. The Miami and Erie Canal, including reservoirs, cost the State, for original construction, $8,062,680.80. Exclusive of the Sidney navigable feeder and reservior system, the cost was $5,920,200.41. The following reservoirs belong to this canal: AREA IN MEAN CAPACITY RESERVOIRS. COST. ACRES. DEPTH IN MILLION FEET. CUBIC FEET, St. Mary’s, Mercer County... $528,227.07 13,440 7.6 4,500 Lewiston, Logan County.... 600,000.00 6,022 aaa 2,000 Loramie, Shelby County.... 22,000.00 2,464 6. 600 Major Chittenden, one of the Government Engineers referred to, reported with reference to an additional reservoir to supply the Miami and Erie Canal, when enlarged: “In the Valley of the Great Miami, above Port Jefferson, it is pro- posed to build a new reservoir. The site is one of the most advantageous in the State. The valley is inclosed by banks of sufficient height to retain the water within a narrow area, although the length of the reservoir will be more than twenty miles. The dam will be forty feet in height, and in construction similar to that of the other reservoir dams. This reservoir would be 4,579 acres in extent, 15.1 feet deep, and have a capacity of 3,000 million cubic feet.’ The report of the Government engineers, under the act of Congress, August 17, 1894, made on February 12, 1896, was, after a survey had been made to ascertain, pursuant to the terms of said act, the feasibility and advisability of improving by widening this canal to a width of seventy feet at the water line and deepening it to a depth of seven feet. The engineers estimated that the total cost of enlarging the canal to these dimensions would be $23,011,374. They estimated that the canal could be enlarged to a depth of ten feet at a cost not to exceed $27,000,000. Modern methods would greatly reduce this estimate. APPROXIMATE PRESENT VALUE OF MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL. The present value of the Miami and Erie Canal is a matter of conjecture. If it were to be considered as a right of way for a railway company, it would certainly be worth many mil- 23 lions of dollars; if considered as a right of way for a barge or ship canal, it must certainly be worth as much, if not more; if considered as a naked real-estate proposition, in which light it is not apt to be viewed, its value would be very great indeed, in view of the fact that some years ago a competent real-estate expert made a careful appraisement of the canal lands in the City of Cincinnati, considered strictly as a real-estate proposi- tion, and placed their value at $1,032,000. RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL. The net earnings of all the canals of the State, to Febru- ary, 1909, over expenditures, for maintenance, operation and improvements, is $2,805,407.84. The total receipts on the Miami and Erie Canal, from 1827 to 1907, both inclusive, were $7,321,018.50. The expenditures for superintendence, repairs and costs of collection, etc., on the Miami and Erie Canal, from 1827 to 1907, both inclusive, were $6,156,325.66, leaving a net gain on the Miami and Erie Canal to the State of $1,164,692.84. The receipts and expenditures on the Miami and Erie Canal from Cincinnati to Dayton, from 1894 to 1901, both inclusive, showed each year a gain over expenditures, but in 1902, the year of the advent of the “electric mule,” the loss was $9,879.84, and in 1903, $17,106.38, but, notwithstanding these losses between 1894 and 1903, the excess of receipts over expenditures was $47,277.38. These figures conclusively show the benefits and advantages of this canal as a revenue producer from its construction until now, and, considering railroad competition (which commenced in 1839), and the leasing of it by the act of 1861 for ten years, and the disastrous results to the canal by the “electric-mule” experiment, the showing, we submit, is a rather remarkable one, but of far greater importance than the mere matter of revenue to the State is the inestimable value this canal has been directly to the State and indirectly to the country in a commercial sense. It has been found by the Government and the State of New York that the direct and indirect benefits derived from the con- struction, maintenance and improvement of waterways are of so much more importance than the revenues from tolls, etc., that tolls have been abolished. This is doubtless founded upon the same theory which has brought about the abolition of tolls for the use of roads and highways in many of the States. 24 In the Rivers and Harbors Bill, passed March 3, 1909, it is provided at Section 4, ‘“That no tolls or operating charges what- ever shall be levied upon or collected from any vessel, dredge, or other water craft for passing through any lock, canal, can- alized river, or other work for the use and benefit of navigation, now belonging to the United States, or that may be hereafter acquired or constructed.” UsrE oF SURPLUS WATERS IN MANUFACTURING. One of the great incidental advantages to the people by waterways is the use of surplus water for power and in manu- facturing. It was one of the original thoughts of the promoters of the construction of the Miami and Erie Canal that it would be able to supply such power and use in manufacturing, and but recently President Roosevelt has called attention to the great waste of water power throughout the country, and in the Rivers and Harbors Bill, recently passed, there are frequent allusions to the use of the surplus water for power and man- ufacturing. Those who have had contracts with the State for the use of surplus water of the Miami and Erie Canal, in manufacturing and for power, who are naturally the friends of the canal, have been slightingly and insultingly referred to by unthinking peo- ple and by those hostile to the canals as “water erafters.”’ These charges are unfounded and unjust, because all such con- tracts, or water. leases, have been secured lawfully from the Board of Public Works, and are such as can be now secured by any citizen, and the rates for the use of water for manu- facturing and power have been fixed by lawful authority. The revenue to the State from present water-right leases on the Miami and Erie Canal amounts now to approximately $32,000 annually, the greater part of which is derived from the canal between Dayton and Cincinnati. FisH CULTURE. An eminent authority says that “the reservoirs have a high value for fish culture, and that the present yield brings about $15.00 an acre to the fisherman, while the consumer pays double, and with proper care, with laws to protect, it is not too much to expect that the yield could be increased to a value 25 of from $25.00 to $30.00 per acre, or in the case of the reser- voirs connected with the Miami and Erie Canal, between $600,000 and $700,000 per year, and that the policy of improve- ment by the State should carefully guard this source of wealth for its citizens.” PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL. The total length of this canal, from the head of the Maumee Bay to the Ohio River is 244 miles. Its ‘mimimum breadth at the water line, from Cincinnati to Dayton, is forty feet, at the bottom twenty-six feet, and the depth four feet; from Dayton to Junction, breadth at water line fifty feet, at bottom thirty-six feet, and depth five feet; from Junction to Toledo, width at water line sixty feet, at bottom forty-six feet and depth six feet. The minimum width of the tow-path is 15.68 feet, and of the berme-bank 12.12 feet. It has a capacity for seventy-ton boats. When increased to a depth of five feet, which is now being done by available appro- priations, it will have a capacity for 100-ton boats. The distance between the Maumee Bay to the north end of the summit level is 125 miles. The summit level is 24 miles long. The distance from the south end of the summit level to the Ohio River is 99 miles. The elevation of the water surface of the summit level (Loramie Summit, the only summit) above Lake Erie is 374 feet; the elevation of the water surface of the summit level above low water mark in the Ohio River is 516 feet — which makes necessary a total lockage of 890 feet. The number of locks on the north slope is forty-six, and the number on the south slope is fifty-two (in 1863 ten were cut off at Cincinnati), a total of ninety-eight locks. The canal originally connected with the Ohio River from its present terminus south, but this connection was abandoned in 1863. The side cuts, feeders, etc., connected with this canal, some of which were abandoned, were the Wabash and Erie Canal, from the Junction to the Indiana State line, eighteen miles; Sidney feeder, fourteen miles; Grand Reservoir, two miles; Loramie Feeder, one-half mile; Hamilton Sidecut, three-fourths mile: Middletown Feeder, one-half mile; Dayton Feeder, one-third mile; total, Nee miles. The Miami and Erie Canal has nineteen aque- ducts. 26 The main streams of water supply for the canal are the Maumee, St. Marys and Auglaize Rivers and their tributary streams, and the Big Miami River with its branches and tribu- taries, including the Mad River at Dayton. Motive Power. The motive power for the traction of canal boats has been animal power until the pretense made of propelling canal boats by electricity, by the “electric mule,” which proved an utter fail- ure, scientifically and practically. “The haulage was by electric locomotives (“electric mules”) on a standard-gauge track laid along the tow-path, the center being about six feet from the water's edge, and the whole track about two feet above the water level, so as to avoid the wash. The locomotives were of the four-wheel mining type, and weighed about 55,000. pounds each, with a wheel base of seven feet. They were equipped with two 80-horse-power induction motors, with double reduction gears, and three self-cooling oil transform- ers. The current was supplied by the Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company. Three-phase, 60-cycle current, at 4,200 volts was transmitted over the transportation company’s line of three overhead transmission wires to a station five miles distant, where there were three 1 50-kilowatt, 60-cycle oil-cooled transformers, including one in reserve. A generator at this station furnished the current to the Cincinnati section of the canal. The railway track was used for the return.” The Ohio Boat Company installed on eight of its steel hull boats a system of propulsion by gasoline engines of fifteen horse power, operating a propeller in a chamber in such fashion as to absolutely prevent the wash of the banks. This system of pro- pulsion has been constantly used for several years, and has proved a decided success. Leon Gerrard, electrical engineer, Past President of the Belgian Society of Electricians, gives an interesting descrip- tion of a method of hauling by an electric tractor, running upon a single rail, which has been subjected to severe practical tests with great success. In connection with his description of this electrical. tractor, or motor, he has published the following table, which is inserted as a matter of information upon the subject of possible motive power for the traction of canal boats or barges: 27 ‘Ayroedey uoy-Qo] ‘HeUULOUID UL Surpue’y ye ‘IOMOd ISIOF{-GL “STINE 9091S S}VOg IOJOJ SUT[OSe®) Jo JOoT HY ww AN A 28 Model Gasoline Motor Boat. 29 COMPARATIVE TABLE OF EFFICIENCY AND POWER OF ELECTRIC — TRACTORS FOR -BOATS. ge |G S O & ae ee we pe S Q opaay wos UL HAL * Lapeer avn : oe ee — ‘ 1 OMe, opburyoo7 ' ' { | Pee AIP2OyY P2UDLOT i pndrgzo \ NI 1 Sit 1 a] ‘ S| fl ' v1 ' M1 ! VI : X1 NE wy : sik ix “SI otyaou noah 7 | zy | 3 ! v ' s | : gonpanby moyy | ' ' 1 1 2OL maLf 1 37/ qenpenoy pup | ‘UOR LIPOAL NY POY, t 1 ' t 1 ! UO ZIFOLuLDDO { 5 oynvi DRE \ YOANGS? UD IPO ' 1 UrPYUDL FO $ 3} & mS | co Rj umora)ppryyo Si N! 1 “‘ppuDdwERo ! t ' 1 ! t ' ' ‘uO? 2WOITe ! ¥ i} o ' oe ' 2 a 2 ! one : ‘2 Ce Mc ere Q 8 aie ns ees ~F PQ - ' Bey e i 6) AX RRR 4 \ vr 2 »p e Cp} 1 So 332 » oO <3 » 3 2S PUD 2070 : 2, 423 23 ee | BSS stoma ' : ! | ’ 1 ' a 8 : aurT Hor DLoeIOT! : eoe 4 Ohio RiverLevel. i Date Due MAIN Line ba or = Bb. of AR eat ANCH aan | mai 3 Sa? te.