Bradford reporter. (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, March 21, 1849, Image 1
71DIViffElil =0 TOWANDA: i2Jetinabaß Morning, Muth 21, 1819. REPORT COMMITTEE WAYS & BEANS, RELATIVE TO THE COMPLETION OF TH E NORTH BRANCH CANAL, ECM AN APPENDIX, BY A CITIZEN OF NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA. The liberal views expressed by the Committee of Ways and Means to the annexed report. on the subject of completing the North Branch - canal ; and the lamentable want of informa tion which would seem to exist in tome other portions of the State, in regard to the merits of that work. are deemed a suffi cient apology, by a citizen of Northern Pennsylvania. for • re-publication of the report in its present form The further liberty has been taken, of appending tifew notes and tables. which arc believed pertinent to the subjects discussed; and not altogether unworthy the attention of iliceie i.ao feel any inter est in the progress and prosperity of the old t• Keystone" Com monwealth. ' W. The Committee of Ways and Means, to whom was referred the proposed iesumption of the work nn the '• North Branch extension of the Pennsyl vania canal," in pursuance of notice given, beg leave to submit the following SUPPLEMF.NTARY REPORT: This canal. We find, was undertaken by the net of the 9th of April, 1327, by which the Canal Com mursioners were requited to locate and put under contract, a canal up the valley of the Susquehanna to Northumberland, and to examine and survey a route from Northumberland. up the North Branch, to the State line.* Ott the 24th of March, 1828, the LeDslature directed the Canal Commissioners to " locale and contract tor constructuq, a canal, locks and other works • necessary thereM," from Northumberland to the New York State line, on - the North Branch of the Susquehanna,; thus making about twenty years since this work was first under taken by the State. In 1823, the canal was accor dingly commenced and fift), -six miles of it, exten ding from NOrthumberland to Nanticoke, at the southern gorge of the valley of Wyoming, were completed in 1830, at a cost of one million ninety three thousand arid fifty one dollars and thirty-nine cents. .1h 1830, that portion of the work extending from Nanticoke to the mouth of the Lackawanna, seventeen miles. was put under contract, and com pleted in 1834, at a cost of three hundred and two thousand twhundred and thirty-four dollars and ms making the aggregate cost of the whole work pto this point, one million three bun Bred mid ni ety-five thousand two hundred and eighty-livedollars and eighty-two cents. • - The extreme north portion, called the " Tiog,a line, - extending from the village of Athens, at the State line, id Bradforvi ettunty, southward to Wyo.- losing, in the same county, a distance of thirty-six miles, was t ext placed under contract, in 1836. The last port on contracted for, was the " 'funk hannock linerextending between %Vyalusingcreek and the Lackawanna river, a distance of fifty-four miles, which was commenced in 1838. From 1836 to 18.11, the work progressed with great energy : , but in May of the latter year. owing to her financial embarrassment, the State directed a suspension of work on all the unfinished lines of improvement, and the North Branch extension shared the common fate. The whole eaten', of the work above the month of Lackawanna (to which point The canal is in operation) is embraced in one hundred and eighty-five sections, and when thus • suspended, sixty-two of these were finished at inter vals, making altogether thirty-two and a half miles. Three-fourths of the Work upon the other sixty-lour sectlons, a distance of thirty-six miles, was also done. The remainder fifty•nine sections, all light work, a distance of twenty-five and a half miles, were never put under contract. The following is a RECAPITULATION. 62( sees. or 324 miles, finished. 64 4. or 96 ' three-fourths of the work done. 59 ' or 254 " all light work,not under enteet 94 miles 15 INCORPORATION OF THEN. BRANCH CANAL colitrAzor At the next session of the Legislature after the suspension of the work, the citizens of the North ern countieti, whose best hopes of prosperity lay in the completion of the improvemer ts in the valley of the Susquehanna, demanded•that the Common wealth should either finish .vrliat, in its present ham, they declared to be a public nuisance, or give it up to be completed by individual interprise. The State yieldeil„and passed a law authatizing the' in corporation of a corn pany,to finish that portion -of the line extending from the mouth of Lackawanna In the northern boundary of the State. Sulmegnent lv, by a supplement to the original law, thirteen tniies of the finished " Wyoming extending from the - Lackawanna downward, to the mouth of Solomon's creek, four miles below Wilkesbarre— were added to tha work at first proposed to be giv en up by the State. In June 1841. at Wilkesbarre, it appears that the books for the subscription of stock were opened, and the stock was all subscribed to the amount of a million of dollars, which was the capital of the company. The first installment of. one dollar a share, was all paid. About one hun dred and fifty thousand dollars of this stock was subticribed by inhabitants along the valley Gf the Susquehanna, and et izens of Philadelphia. The remainder eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars was taken by three or four individuals from New York, claiming to represent other persons,. capital• ists in that city. But the agreeable anticipations of a speedy completion of the canal; based upon this ready subscription of the whole of the stock, and upon the statement of Ilieritidliiidtittle taking the great majority of it, atthe titne—were doomed to ultimate disappointment. Whether, as is variously alleged by citizens of that reefed,' these persons were speculators. the agents of others of the • same kidney in New York city, who obtained possess ion of the stock for the mere purpose of " fancy speentatere—or whether, asothers have contend ed, they were acting for another and rival work, s not for us Itideternline. it does appear, however, that the people 'of Northern Pennsylvania made every exertion to get the company to co on with the project ,• but as a majority of the stock, was held abroad and that, trio, by persons who seemed pre-determined to do nothing, the time fixed inthe charter for its commencement expired, withimt any effective action on the Part of those,ho then con trolled its destinies. Upon an application for that privilege, the 'Leg islature, last winter, refused to extend the period of commencing operations beyond one year; and then, on terms which at once deprived the stock pf all speculative irafile;- anditfie eortilatitir - iwas &me quently dissolved. It is atated by citizens of 000- era Pennsylvania,. that if kited not been bribe un fortunate absorption of the stock by hands *inch PAppeuda • -.' 1 411111111=mminnisim • • 1. •- -; ; ta m . ".! ft: 171 • Z 'PI • • 1 , f ,l •.§ . T.' AN'T • ' ••••• . . , _ •11 : 4 t! • X T. L „ • I •.i a pi, • .cf • ; .„_ . • il• • • 1_ 7 1 1 : ,••• ; . • 'tt.e.- 4 4?! • IV, r.fr would neither proceed to complete the work, not part with it to others, the capital would - probably have. been benefit's subscribed by their own ctn._ zens, and the canal finished. Such we have mend to be an outline history of thismifinished improve- ment, which the State, by the unanimous voice of the citizens of the region through which it passes, and many elsewhere, is again asked to complete. A resumption even in part of the improvement system, while the State is still deeply involved in debt, and her credit but recently restored, is un questionably a matter for the gravest reflection. But the committee think considerations of superior urgency, and of financial propriety, unite in favor of completing the unfinished work on the North Branch line; and thus, placingit in a situation to reimburse some of the immense outlay already made; to pay an interest into the State Treasury, instead of abstracting yearly a large amount from it. It is perhaps fortunate for the interests of the Corn mon%, ealth, that the unwise bestowal of the val uable improvement upon a company was not per fected. The same regrets which are b eg ining to be expressed at the abandonment of the Erie exten sion, and the sacrifice of the four millions which that work cost, would have resounded throughout the State in deeper tones, and been expressed in stronger terms, had the North Branch canal been likewise thrown away into the hands of a private corporation ; and bad the large sum already expen ded upon it become the stock in trade of specula tors, leaving the State only the record of the debt. and the semi-annual demand for the payment of the interest. THE COST OF THE EXTENiIION TO THUS TIME In estimating the expediency of resuming the work on the North Branch extepsion, it is right to look at the amount it has already cost our Treasn• ry. In a report of a re-survey made in 1847, by a late member of the Board'of CanatCommissioners, Mr. Foster, he mys there has been' expended upon what was termed the " North Branch extension," the sum of ttco millions four hundred and eiehty four thousand nine hundred and thirtyinine dollars and slily cents. On more critical examination, we find -the sums appropriated to have berin in the follow ing detailed amounts, at the dateinamed ; and we have thought it expedient to calcplate the interest on each sum respectively, for the purposeof show ing more clearly the exact cost of the work up to the present time: ' Ain't of appropriation. In't to uh time. February 8, 1836, $150,000 00 ° $90,000 .January 9. 1839, 100.000 00 50,000 April 14, 11338, 300,000 00 145,000 February 3. 1839, 220,006 00 105,000 July 18,1839,' 406,000 00 175;000 July 11,1840, 600,000 00 262,500 May 4, 1841, 513,714 90 198,000 Total, 2,243,714 90 . Damages, &c., 191 ,opo .000 Int. for '4l, 74,000 2 484,714 90 1,100,000 Add compound interest for 8 years, ' 880,000 Total cost of improvement to this time, 4.481,714 We have already said that the resumption, even partially, of our internal improvement system, is a subject for the gravest reflection. ;But the abandon ment of a work of such high promise as the one un• der consideration appears lobe—one on which so much money has already been expended—is, in our view, of still deeper. moment; and is a conclu sion which ought not to be adopted, until every reasonable effort %has been made to-escape it. Un til this canal is finished no benefit can result from the immense expenditure the State has already in curred. She will continue to pay interest upon this expenditure, wrung by taxation from the people, instead of deriving the slightest income. If it could be made sufficiently productive to pay even expen ses and repairs, and a part of the interest, the State would be gainer, although it may require a small present sacrifice in going on with the improve ment. Every year there flows from our Stale Treasury on account of this unfinished work, in the*.form of interest at least one hundred and fifty thousand dol. tars, calculating the principal at only Canal Com missioner Foster's estimate of.toe cost. If nothing be done, and the extension'remains in its present condition, the interest which will have accrued and been paid for it in,this view, in the course of the next seven yearn l t will give an aggregate sum equal to that now asked to finish the line. At the expiration of seven years, we will not only have paid one million one hundred thousand dollars merely in interest, but the completion will then be farther off than ever; because time and the ele ments, with neglect, will have caused the improve went to become still more dilapidated, required a large sum than is now requisite, to put it in order for business. in the mean time, the credit of the State, and her ability to borrow a small amount of money, will become even less than at present. Staggering under a load of debt, and a. continually increasing burden of taxation, to pay the intere.t, in part, for unfinished and unproductive improve ments---all prospect of the redemption of the prin ripel is shot out ; all hope of ultimate liquidation is at an end ; and capitalists will decline taking a loan on nny terms, which has barely the pledge of the !State for its redemption within a reasonable period. In truth, the Commonwealth owes it to her loan holders, as well as to the people of the north, at once to take measures to push this work on to corn pletion and profitable use. To abandon to ruin an improvement of acknowledged plying resources, that has already cost, in principal and interest, not farfrom four millions and a half of dollars, becatise it !feeds an expenditure done mi lion one hundred thousand dollars more to put it in operation, is cer tainly making wasteful use of our creditors' money ; and it would not be surprizingif they' should des pair of ever seeing it returned to Them again. Rightfully mayrapitahsts tittubt the paying ability efts State which thus acs; aml be, willing to part with its securities at three-fonithstheirnotninal val ue. It is a thriftless economy which gg buries half its talents in the earth ;" or which proposes to re store a broken credit by the exercise of neither judgment, energy or emeMrixe, in developing the vast resources of this great Commonwealth; but sits 1 1 down supinely, like a stolid agriculturalist, who, with a fine farm and a rich :toil; refrains from pur chasing a horse and.llough-with which to cultivate it, lest he should run for a small' sum deeper in debt. The committee are farther , surained intheircon. victions of the ihipoliey, in -a financial point . of view, of thus sinking, hopeless of recovery, the un mense outlay on the North Branch- of the Simile hanna—by the facui and urguments of the friends of the work in question',i n regard tri its becoming speedily a source of rich end certain-reventiirtothe Commonnrealth, 'redeeming ell it bu eiric tifid aid ing to relieve the people from theturdrinvol tints non, li is our duty,' in this ernmectinn;ta present these facts and arguments for Wet consideration of Ibis -Legislature. What productions of our soit, - durindustrY, tWtitit Skill, will slippy salfitarit Vomits to -re kel .this work frniadithe 7 3 1% Wifkl„pigrit - Or cOtito,,, ""ivill ni they be V 0004441; at oewlkii ail 'ill, eiltate , Marketl . : ., PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY, ,AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY GOODRKII. 1.980 . .000 2.484,714 " ascianDLEss Or DrO/QECL►TIOW PROM ANY QVAITIeI." Here a wide field opens•upon us. In the items of emending tonage, going north, we may embrace. First, and mainly—Anthracite coal, of the Wyo. min and Lackawanna valleys. Second.- , -Iron, including pig-iron and castings from the furnaces, in the entire valley of the Sus- qnehanna, and to a considerable extent ; eventually from that of the Juniata. Third.—Bittemutim coal. Fourth.—Lime. Fifth.—Alerctrandize, produce and miscellaneous freight. In the descending , tonnage may be included. First.—Lumber from the Northern counties of PennsylvattiN and those counties of New York, bonienng upon the Chemting, the Conhocton and Can isteo rivers Secorel.—Gyprum 7 or plaster, from the . Cayuga fake; and salt from Syracuse, Salina, Montezuma, and other towns of the salt region. Third.—Mibcellaneous height, produce, mer chantlize, The amount of these several articles of 'tonne which would probably be transporetl on the emit, can be best determined by adverting to the natural and artificial resources of the country through which it is to piss, and the immense chain of inland nav igation, of which it fotims a cenral and uniting link. The unfinished improvemen i. on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, it will be remembered, are between the mouth of the Lackawanna and the northern boundary line of the State. From this to Elmira is the 6, Junction canal," seventeen miles in length. This link, we are assured, is provided for : a company has been organized ander a very favorable characterfrom the State of New York, and only awaits the commencement of the Penn• Sylvania work to begin their operations. Running all the way. in the valley of the Chemung river, it will be cheaply and expeditiously made. The dam at the of Athens creates a pool, which extends even beyond the State line; at this point, and along the upper part of this pool, runs the New York and Erie railway, which is to be - finished to Elmira the ensuing summer.* A certain connection is then made with the Che mung canal. This canal unites with the Seneca lake, which is forty miles in length, narrow, deep and never frozen, lying precise) r in the requisite direction ' is navigated by rueimbroads at all seasons ; making, for its extent, the cheapest possible oven ue ot transportation Seneca lake is connected by canal with the great Erie canal of the State of New York; so that when the unfinished lirie on the North Branch is complete, there will be through the heart of the two great :hates of Pennsylvania and New York, an unbroken line of canal nacigaiirni, uniting Chesapeak and Delaware trays with lake Erie, lake Ontario, lake Champlain an all the other vast inland seas of the north The Atlantic may be reached through the gulf of St. Lawrence, or in land down the Ohio and Mississippi to the gulf of Mexico. If the mini recurs to the vast net-work of canals and railways in each State, which will thus be connected together in their very centre, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that this uni ting link is a necessary, and must be a productive improvement Indeed, we shall wonder why it has been so long delayed. But we proceed to the details of its prolable tonage: AIiTiIiLkCITE COAL. One of the articles upon which the friends of this improvement mainly rely as an item of revenue, is the transportation of anthracite coal northward into the fertile and floutishing regions of central & wes tern New Yin k, - and those of other States contiguous to the great northern lakes. This countryorith the exception of the State of New York; (of which we shall speak hereafter,) may now be said to be On ly in an incipient state of improvement. Its bound. less forests have hardly began to recede before the triumphant march of human industry. An immense tide of emigration has for some years been setting toward the west, and after overspreading the borders of our inland seas, it will throw back upon the great commercial emporiums on the seaboard, and upon the inland cities in its path, a tin:responding reflux of wealth and prosperity. At this time the country embraced in our view contains a population Ofsome four millions. Such a population enjoying the pro. per advantages, will more than double in every fif teen years. It now possesses but one available ave. note to the Atlantic, for heavy transportation, if we except the more difficult passage by the golf of St.' Lawrence. It has none and can have none, which will compete with the North Branch improvement in the trade in anthracite coal, as will be seen by reference to the local position of the mineral: The great depository of anthracite in the United • States, and the only one of any material value, is Pennsylvania. An able geologist tin a recent work describes this interesting region as a group of elon gated hills, having axes ranging in exactconfoneity to the base of the Allegheny mountain. When viewed from the latter., they bear a striking resem blance to those long railing lines of surf, wave be hind wave, in long succession, which break upon& flat shore. A century ago, this region was styled upon our maps, the not un apt title'of the " wilder. ness of St. Anthony." -Until within the last twenty years, except in some.of its valleys, this region re mained a stony solitude. But at length, the miner entered this ride domain—canals have penetrated it, railroads of the most costly description have trav ersed it—basin after basin of its mineral treasures (worth infinitely more than all the glittering . wealth of California,) .have been discovered—tract • alter tract has seen the establishment of collieries within lines, until, in the course of a single year, 1847, three millions of tans have been sent to tide wa• ter, producing an aggregate of twelve millions at dollars! From out commercial emporium alone, eleven thousand four hundred soil thirtphine res. sets cleared coastwise thole/in laden vrith eini& lion and a quarter of ton" of coalfor the use of our sister States : giving lo 'Philadelphia uptin - this One ankh" nearly. half a' million greater tonespelhatt all which arrived at the city of New yotir.liniri: the rams period ! That sagacious tritternarri'De Vitt Clinton, beide appositely remarked, 4 ' that vrithout coal are eriii be no staple' manufactures i withent there can berm flourishing tuternallnide ;:atidWitte. out internal trade there ao elevation of ea timid Masperity." lbw fulfy is this' remark' trite; tamed by the late experience dl thiistatititiy-=leatr. in oat of view the results in Eurtliatt.' 'Ah sectinit plished engineerll of onr own State, has forcibly and eloquently illustrated the various and progressive uses of anthracite coal. g , 'This' (he remarks) is erseutiallyfbe. ago otmumerce. and of ateum:-.-4he foundations of which,are .our coal wines., In the machine shop Ind factory; on the railroad, and vim, al; on the rivers and the mean t —it. is steam- that is heneekorth to perform the labor, overcome resis tance, and.vanquish vow. It is not.for human in. telleetto assign alimit to this power in- a, country like our& A quarter of sit century ago,• there. were not morethan-a thorusand Tons of anthracite, attnpal ly raised end Amato market; now the imam came is. mere Than a~ diorama teas. per,day, arid corn, pounding rapidly upon that. Zack -railway :equip es.uuts.for tat track,Artgities apritats, and frequent. ly for its stations. Each new steamer, .requiuss coal to drive it—iron for its engine, sometimes for! Uri liat—teidllvit teutirotcortf for . .eith 'On` - -if Iron it ciattruntes:' Everrstearalxiaiibat ;Ist Jail and, every. mkt Writ foireeditito theen interibr gprie - - - ?Appesl4.—DjApinwtikii-TC. tiLea,ayloc.l4AppßoWtlp 14aiks alet, F AA . . • birth tonew emerprize, -new wants mad.:nersrenat. merce. The manufacture of 'iron; a0.4)4 6 4 1K0504 - sinn of machinery, - respire coal.—•Tha quantity ip• Creases with the expansion of pttblie iinprattemeins; these extend the area of civilizaticm, 'and quent agricultural wealth. This wealthneeds trans. portation.and this transportation need coal and iron," Applyhthis reasoning to the local position and nn equalled resources of Pennsylvania, and how proud and certain if her speedy triumph over the tempo.' ary financial embarrassments which DM clog .her onward path. A liule energy and firmttessrtf per-, pose ; a searching revision of her system of tainat4Oup andidl *ill be well. Of the three distinct, yet corresponding mess, oc cupied by the Pennsylvania anthracite coal_ fields, that of Wyoming is the 'second in point Of size and if the friends.of the North Branch improvement are correct in their estimates;it Will in time be fi rst-in point of 'salve and pro duction. We refer :to its' having an exclusive market in the flourishing re gions we have glanced at—should the outlet we. are considering be opened. The Schuylkill, or• southern basins, contain one hundred and four thou.' and 'sixty-four square miles, or one hundred and lour thousand nine hundred and sixty acreti,--,- The Mahanoy and Shamokin, one hundred and fa-. teen square miles. or seventy-three thousand six hundred acres. Wyoming, one hundred and eigh teen square miles, or seventy five thousand five hundred and twenty acres including the coal field of Lackawanna valley. Professor Silliman suppos es the beds of coal are continnonsthrough the whole region : and confirms the conclusions of another scientific examiner, Mr. Cist, who estimates the entire depth of the coal strata and their attendant rocks, at one-third of a mile—being altogether in exhaustible for all purposes of `fuel. Mr. Loma. n. in a communication to the 'geologieal society of Lem . - don in 18-12, also furnishes details of the formations of this region. lie estimates the coal 'beds at four teen in number, and the aggregate depth at severity or eighty feet. The bituminous coal field el Bradford county is also destined to contribute largely of its treasures to the tonnage of the North Branch improvement. This field embraces an area of ten by fifteen miles. Intermingled with the cart strata, are rich reins of areillaceous or clay iron ore. The coal is found by analysis to be superior to the average of English coal, by at least ten per cent. •' and contains less vo latile matter than that of the Allegheny regions. There is then both varieties of mineral coal, inex haustible mianfities, conveniently locarid along the line of this improvement. In estimating the proba ble inarketi, we should swell this report beyond res limits, if we go into details in regani to the num• erous cities and villages scattered throughout the rich and populous regions of Western New York. It is assnmed a+ beyond all question, • that through the North Branch outlet, would be supplied all the country lying west of the Chenango valley up to Utica) with the line extended northivard to lake °nein°, through the valley of Black river. This line would comprehend about one half the geogra. phierd area of the State of New York, embracing some twenty-seven of its moat thickly settled cone ties.l Within this region are no less than free nicer porditd cities, Buffalo, Utica Rochester, Syracuse and Auburn; and the number of inhabitants to these counties at the next census, will be found to..be at least a million and a half. A letter from Mr. Allen, the present mayor of Buffalo, dated January 27th, 1849, which has been furnished the committee, estimates the presenfpopu lation Odle city of Buffalo, at fifty thousand. The same gentleman supposes the consumption of wood in that city at Iwo hundred thousand cords; and of coal at twenty thousand tons per annum. He states that there are sixty steamboats running from the port. besides a large number of propellers all, or nearly all of which consume coal in „ ,, enerating steam. The upper lake boats, he adds, " wdl average about fifteen trips in tiseason, and consume from two hundred to two hundred and fifty fens of coal per trip. But as they procure at present the most of it on the south shore of the lake, where it is brought from Penusylvania and Ohio, and sold cheaper than it can now be had at the,place, I have not iuctuded it in my estimate ofconsumption here." This take commerce isszemarkable feature even in the giant strides of enterprise.,twhiehl our country annually exhibits. The entire line oflakecoastex tends about five thousand miles two thousand of which belongs to Great Britain. 'Here are no less than seven immense inlandseas, connected through out their whole extent : lake Champlain connects with lake Ontario, by the improvements on the Ilichlieu find St. awrence rivers, and the Rideau canal through Canada. Lake Ontario is doubly con nected with Lake Erie by. the Wellsdid canal in Canada, and the Oswego and Erie canal in New York. Lake Erie with St. Vair by the - navigable strait of Detroit. Lake St. Clair with Lake Huron by the deep Wail of St. Clair. Lake Huron with lake Michigan, by the fine wide strait of Mackinaw; and with lake Superior by the strait of St. Wry's. The commerce and tonnage of ,these lakes have continued to double every five years, since there have been means of estimating them. In 1847, there eighty six steamboats in commission ; and of shipping of all kinds, five hundred awl sixteen.— Sixty of these steamboats belong to the city of Buf falo, some of them are of two thine* tons burthen. The entire value of this lake comnterce in 1847, was about one hundred and thirty m ease( dollar's. Well may Pennsylvania desire a tral and di rect communication with. these dens of the north; and well may Philadelphia. ire to parti cipate in this trade, without payi tribute to her great commercial rival. The use of anthracite coal from Pennsylvania,on the lakopy whenever the improvement W 6 arecon sidering is made, , must be very , great- This coal eam be tarnished. at Fluffiest stns fiv.e.dollers and twenty five cents percton. It haa.beess mostswis factorily.assertainede-byrexpariments on the.,Ohio river heath-that the evpeusevof - bimminonsenal is less than; Gyre half that of cord wood.. The price of thiewariety of coal at •Buffillo, at. the present•time, is stated by Mayor Allen, its the loner referred to, at four dollars: Iled 'fifty elate-per ton. Now, the evaporative power ofanthiseito, is fmat t wenny five Snits half tothirty Mreeiter Cent greater than that of bituminous:coal ; .and the bulk pc stowage is two to onein favor oflie forum. • Tire experience of the stoamboatson the Hudson, (which-Are probably nearer the size ,of the lake boats than any other i )gives,actonsumption - of about thirteen-hendredlorm.oet annum each. • But sup, pastille lake boats from Buffalo use, half of this amount—the sixty steamboats alone would con same thirty:thousand tens of anthracite. cad -per annamt.; apreseni and-immediate 'want. A 'letter from-Auburn, slated few weeks since, 'etas the averageprice of wood ionise city through. out the:year; pt three-dollars per cent, - -Sometimes itielawhigliseeii or seven dollar. The Opals tion of Ssebeetbr trat-ttris time, atleati flirty five •Mousandllhat-Of Utiery-folty thousand The rage prieri-of wood itrtheee &Mr isiaxmr the-Mime asilitestAntamrs: • " •. • • ahotherletteri lahnefoirit titeeriMmitteet,frons worentimmtettiaen ofSyreedie‘ita' presitertiopnlit tiowieset toefirat sittaarnboesand. — aTtle:enrannt of wood consumedie - thevitricmftwdt works in per eitt efirritis , -Wei) - Boring iliithekehlr%Priattritifitelinhig eilt, ia"atfoat ziAlOrittAkr r of,r(eiteltif " Yearg froirt tieeld,MM: , - - :'J~ S SO FMB no. , d ktiluntsdollars and twenty five cents pe:, cordP • ^ Mach ofthe mood -av Syracuse and the salt vil• laps is brought by canal hem •ri distance of thirty and forty miles; awl itstampanttively law pricer is because the state) of Neva York charges • no toll en • fuel used in Ike stmtvfrotere of sob. In lookirerat the descending *Mei --we shall - again recut tu-the iLrobable-eonsumptionefcctal in the manufsetureef MU In Srecuite arid the salt villages, a fair esti mate of tineconsumption is forty thousand . tone: Without fulther - detaili upon *is bmtieh'ef the subject; it must be hem whit we he're al ready said. apeoially to any one acquainted with Western New Vint, and the country bordering v i n the lakes; who knows the islacity and high - prices 'cif 'Viet throughout 'all this banrishing regatta, thitl the populous towns with Which ii thickly mu& `a. 0 that two hundred Ybousand tons of anthracite coat ‘4ll at once be required, and find a ready an , hiel market from -the outset* • ~ The 'city of Boston, much more distant, and ata cost of a dollar a ton more, consumes. annually for manufacturing purposes; half this amount of Penn sylvania anthracite. For all purposes, last yea!: the received from Philadelphia, coastwise, after it hail been transported one hundred miles on the Schuylkill and Lehigh mprovements, two hundred and fin eight thousam tons. The bituminous coal of Bradford would also find an extensive market iti this region. For smiths' use it is now hauled by teams forty and fifty miles into the state of New York. It is also pmfened by many for ordinary dontestic•porposes. • . The lime of ColuMbia county would supply-all the country northward to the State. line. Scarcely second in importance fo the coal ofPedn sylvania, are her resources for the large and -stig ma/fill manufacture of iron: and only second in value to anthracite coal will it prove, in coutnbu fing to swell the revenues of this canal when it is completed, and a few years in operati nn. The iron . business of the Union,- already great, is steadily increasing. In 1845. the number of blast furnaces had reached to five hundred and forty, yielding four hundred and eighty-six thousand tons per annum; the bloomeries, forges, rolling -and 'alining mills. nine hundred and fifty—yielding two hundred and ninety one thousand six hundred tons of biker, hoops, &c.: blooms thirty thousand tons; castings, machinery and stove plates, &c., one hundred and twenty-one thousand five hundred tons. The ag eTeeater value of these productions is estimated at thirty four millions of dollars! Pennsylvania pro. doves. it is said. more than one-half this amount. Our furnaces alime, numberthree hundred and six teen : of which forty-three are - for the making ' of iron with anthracite coal ; 'producing about one hun dred and twenty thousand tons of iron annually, being more than one-third the total of pig iron man nfactured in the United Stales. b ell may,. the " Keystone State" look with a jealous cam to her coal and iron interests When her immense re sources are fairly developed. and all the nec es sary outlets made, she will be able to produce coal, and to manufacture irott sufficient nut only for half :he United States, but for half the world—reven in. this " iron age." Ode of those necessary elolotes wttla seenito be the North Branca extewiimof the iPenn sylvania canal, In Western New York and on the great lakes, a wide and profitable for P nn sylvania iron would be opened by its couple t en. A gentleman resident in that State, well inforMed on the subject, and engaged himself in the iron bus iness, assured an informant of the committe . , that ' not leas than forty thousand tons would be requir ed, and be taken to market through this route. Upon diligent inquiry in ihe limited time allowed for this report, we can learn of but two fiimsees in the northern part of New York (where most of her iron is made) which manufacture pig iron for mar ket. One, the Rossie furnace, -in St Lawrence county, owned by George Palish, Emi l produced , in 1845, fifteen hundred tons of pig iron ; of this, three hundred tons were made up into castings, the remainder'was sold - at Buffalo, a distance of three hundred miles •, and at Rochester, two ban died and fifty miles off. The other furnace is at Port Henry, on lake Champlain, and is owned by a . mdemart of Boston, Mr. Gray. The quantity of mg iron it produces annually ; we are unable to state, but it is probably but little, if any, greater than the RoAii•furrince yield/. . Thus : to supply the'eneSurription .rif inin by three quarters of a million of people, rich , and cnoaper ous.there are but two native fumaces„ making an- 1 . , , nnally not t quite en much as one anthracite furnace in, this &Alt! What a market is. here resew. Led, ready, 40 be taken possession of by the iron manufactures, of Pennsylvania, upon the opening of this natural outlet from dre center of the iron:Paton into the heart of a youthful empire to be supplied. We should be able to entirely-con/mond this-mar ket for our iron; because having a direct means of communication and transportation, we could - easily sell it much cheaper than that which is brought by a circuitous route, and from a long distance. credit - possibly be afforded at. , - Western' - New York is mainly supplied at. present with iron frein New Jerseyohe New England States, and Great Britain. At Elreirs, New York, welearo, that sue mercan tile establiehment sells 'two . hundred tens bf 'bar iron every -year, bronght from Centre county, in Pentnrylvania. It is hauled by teams torn kits ton in Lycoming county, at an expense of nine dol lars-per ton, having been delivered at Ralston, which is twenty-five miles from Williaatspnrt,. by the Bald Eagle and West Branch cannts amt , the Williarnspod and Elmira, railroad. The two foun dries in Elmira use annu ally six himdied _torts of pig metal, and probably consumes two lumdtet) tons decal. . Tin. Eagle you ,dry at . ,.Butlalia ern. ploys seven hunclred tons ot i pig inettal, and,osisa two Inindred toga-of Lehigh coal, et ten dollars per lea- 414105Ceeery: town and., village .in Western Issier, York ; have; similar eitabliehmentel erhapt not in.alheases sq-extensive„ but in many,c them ' Green. more so. . To- supply . them animus. foun r dries with pig i ,-would afford aa largelyi , Tema iterating item of asceindkig- , tonnage; mot...less, it may well.be p , drantheeatintale furnish; and use-fray forty - thonaund tons anntrally.s , . .. pc.gclinEatin 011 1 agrApt tftpcflit.,. One' obi-ions, advarhtge tie _North llralteli irn provernitit possesses, iiith.at of a relom freight, re galar' and Certain,. Which' reduces , of course, the emit of trarisportaben beith waya. The limithetrint to, market from Bradford county annuailki*SafelY estimated at twenty 'millions effect, 14 sayinothing or that manufactured `higher Up - the Stisquehinps, and in the, region traversed by the i. (Amman. , .and its bianclies AB this huddler ivoritit go'citithecinal when eturinleted; becausedieriskialetwithe Nandi are better for use, and -brute:a higher isricerin Mlir ket—arenly..roPe3ing-i4a m oortitutrieti, impious of IIIMPoltttleo• , , . • • -' .• ' ..- if Pennsylvania' may cony'aliilaieli -- erseli 'upon : hisi in eihtinstiVeli rotO" t 'hi dial". diitni,an May New-Tett Point , with:pride- to , '' rdiunierons beds of SYPlUM , lind , berliek and . .. oetitsealines.gin many . finances, tlin;_grF '4 -of Weston' Net!, York is auto:4-41:1164 ma : era. NOrth'ef . die g re at ridgitiilrliniiiitteniir` ,IClP•irkvereiti' thecotnitty fironreastleanesti - edge rignennit eantimences; mad berepalsisi, ono. ofentiooe. , . Oatha border of . g l ig.p. .. ~ ano : lo„rsEgionsolienuiei mien of UT... est ...Tr• l l e = Nab lia° 4 2. o i eott Mt or civil '' -di • "'''' Jae/idle iimiliriiiiiVllii?'iii iliiiii MEM ME 11E=MIE THE IRON TONNAGE. t+►rßtagii~y~,~. yfQ=Mni" _; r!:" !Mill cement is found. This valnabli fikesit is Wm& he great abundance over thii=hne of to on* If*. dred miles in. extent. The principal-salint% ain situated- Oh' Ott , lafgei elnarrthy level -amend Orionthiga -lake. 'Mere the flourishing city of Syracuse and the sinallertewne of Salina, Liverpool and G eJdes have spousttlp. The quantity of gilt waterat the Onondaga salines is inexhaustiblei-and :11,-tetioiskevattpply of fuel could be had, the manufacture - might be extended. , almost indefinitely. It at said that-small•treinie of salt water break out in flume mound the aoexh.enst end of the lake to Ihe mouili . of Nine Mile crick. .ft`dimatue of ten miles The Fr.:tiling tiiiniou that under the witoferof this ftittottl• et - mover! greki depth, are large masses of fossil salt. 'The quantity manufsetured , lasi, year ; was four millions seven hundred and thirtyjseven thousand one htmdreil and twenty-sit betstePitt beingilearly a million of bashelsincreaseoverthemminctoPn. We have stated .the .price -of. -.wood at from fro es. 4 dollars and fifty vents to three, dollars and twent -. five cents—ifs Consumption - it one . thousitnrfCal s per diem. One ton 'of anthracite is equait" ' - r oordstof the wood ordinarilrased. Coal-eatt.,Ats `delivered - by the..North*Branch mutest Uncork:Sims and seventy-live cents and four dollars -per ,ton.Att Syracase. Whit is to prevent its 'hiking thilitiCe -of wood altogether itt This roarket: titta grisaffy cheapen the price of salt I Then, and , even- at pre sent pdcas, all the country.bonlering -on .the,Sus qrsehanna and its branches, would be auppiiga rifith Onondaza salt, throusth the North Branch imitVe ment. Nnr would - Ih *or tiny competition liere, with the Pennsylvania Winer; for their market intrat,ever - be found we of the AfieetcliY. - ~-,' Gypsum and water tune, are colter prominent. at tiehis of desc:entling:tOnttage. Largequantities of gypstun. are now tilted in Permsylvartta, - 'aiid the amount would be greatly increased wererite Wane pcmation cheapened.- These items -we have put down togetherin thirty thousandlons; an - amount , Which would soon be doubled. . RECAPITULATION. 200,000 ions Arilbratiti. lc toll 94 miles, $2.98.000 30.000 " Bituminous, lc • " 29,20 D 40.000 " Iron sod castings., 117.000 .10.000 " liypsum. say bOc. ; lb 20.000 " barrels of salt, Umber. boards and shingles. 20,0110 60,000 miscellaneous tonna_e, • • 6%000 Estima aggregate of tot!, cmccßir, IPE4ANCIAL Ithas been well said. that shorten& isolated im provements are keldorn productive . ; but .always in this,coantrY as well as in _Ettrope, long clundo,.eod railways afford the rjehest returns - for the cost and labor of cripstinetion. Not only is the NorifillranCh improvement a pin of the moat eitendedebnitrof inland navigation in the.workl,bittiit-willalso bare the advantages that have everywhere rePulled,4o those works which - depended nialtily,fcr reienue upon the transportation of the coarser more bnikly articles of commerce.• The English canals, and those' of . all Europe, empOltid in the. transportation of coal rind iron, have gone: on_stea 'clily increasing in vatrie; some of the have • reached a point of valuer - five times the costef con struction. This, too, in Many instances, like those of the Grand Junction cabal, between London and Liverpool, and the bake of Bridiewater's canal, between Liverpool and Manchester, where costly and complete railways are running by their sidii. The capacity of these Englirlucanals es much less than those of Pennsylrani% and they are ererrpray inferio4 in Regard.to theAtianaer of -construction, In this country, the voposition is moot triumplata !lttlfasirted•the" the cosoo of the-improvements on Me Sehrtylii, on fife Lehigh and Delaware, and • 'the Delaware and Hudson canal. • The Schuylkill navigation was opened in,. 1828% and the -tolls upon anthracite coal the tint year amounted to only nine thousand seven. handled dollars on five thousand five hundred tens.- In 184-1, after a steady increase each year, it had retched the sum of four hundred , and eighty two thousand four hundred-NW sixty dollar* upon five hUndied and &slim:four thou;and'ai; ' hendred.rind anat. P two lons. - The Delaware anclTlodsen &end iruseciinPleted in 1829. The next yearn ther amount of coal which passed over it, waseerserrthoortandttons. In 1817, A coal transportation amounted -to near kour, hon. dred thonsand feria . The profit:ea this . eoitiintny must be verygrent---its dividends last- year to ask= per ant: Ihrer, ; much remains ondivided, or what areits at 'clnitulatione,Art !aids and improve ments, ire have tui Ceitnin means 'Of ascertaining. None of its stock in iti / the' market at arty~ riee; tuni it may. well be suppose& to poems' one of the MOM productive itnpresemeuts inthe Union. The Lehigh- improvements show an increase to.an ex, tent equally surprising. The first yen'', 1820; the number of tons of cial . taken to.tharkct was. three hundred and sixty-five. Itt 1811 therli Were"sen; down the Lehigh in the -I‘,rr.,.wr%ate: six hundred and forty-three thousand nine , hundred and 'mien . . ty-one tons. ; It ,must, bkftltirtaiesg - 40r .eitY,fattlter of illustration .at the valuelose combs m this country which firm avehnti fon'the coil trade, to ?O vert ter the -Delaware-division tit the Pennsyleania canal: his, so fur the only productire canal (re.. gar.ling the original-cost) in tlan.State.. : It would, at any, hour; sell fora much Jaeger sum than it cost—because it IS a coal currying canpl,and and an outlet from the Lehigh Coal region. AnOth .er advantage which the North Praneh Rita enjoys, is its great, cap - aril pt transportation,, consequent upon the Banal amount of lorkst;,, , nti lie 'enemata paratlect "wherdettlared Win De." the ilolortestentrial of-its Ivngtheand.ie havegyestleratliadts 1 4 1 3 411 Y o;hero.f, its,r4cent.rhe unload:... lockaileaveraps only two, feet we mile,„and - ,wlt rilit is trembensd that twerittfeek of leek - Stela' ' reed equal to h Z a mile in distance; iti - theion tint irbilitarirfinftsorL tenon, the .toctipted:4l .A tetp . ttlerf - referred, to ie fully scuniintd. • ' - ' • '' '• ' l- in orderto - illustrate -inert, loveibly,lif Prelsible: the value of this improvement ' s If Abet of • tonnage on anthmehe epattr,co r ec etwoci Is proper.tesunmit thelulltming ri ,nt um pritit able revenue, and thirreiriliiffroni thist'il. elifern. -Mr. Fogies eMitnetenf the amount i's rytei complete the work, steeonling-.to-the.plats And specifications which-had-been adoptedpt the time the work was inspendedrwal, vow 4 illicit two hemdred erubseventy/stivert thousand four hundred end fifty t l tro thillarth and- eilluy-one ,eents. •We take this as the nfaxiintrin cost of Completion ; es it fs - probabla,•ir ilie - worf le mistimed; th e 'cluitipest, phuis*ill'be4u 4 Opred. Soppeaing - then: iirratiart numbers, she.completion tacos' one milliamlhren hundred thousand dollars, and the coil, + a we have assumed, ihe ecceunl Will itanetbast • • -• - . • .- Stith tictia- itt. accotatrwakite,Camostiva mount Advssixtl_ for4‘ F.4o.tp etton, 69 , Item, 1441 Y; 1856, ' , _. ". '• - lit' Add intend ta it Of entryes" ,n 1 - i P ;lope Total. - - .... - —LI 1,378,000 Cr , Wroilihr*lialioli:VOAXX.4 o 4 4 .,.. :.. vlBll.OOO ' 7 - " - iiiiiiiiiid6, , '" '' . L' ,--.- .''''''. - '',-.• Al - 3: --- 1 boo Interest n tame one yeltri'• 3 1.2. '.1 , 4 .., ` ,. . 4.... - ''''' YS!': , . ELT. PvtlP l4 ,P-451 , . , IMiNIZE E!IMN3I 3 ME %Ist KO • .1..1‘A.e.., " ""' ' i;:efitoo