Hanover Township (part 20 of 29)

No carefully conducted experiments have been made to determine the most economical mode of raising and fattening stock. The general custom of bestowing as little attention upon the stock of the farm as possible often prevails. We have, however, many exceptions, where intelligent and well-directed efforts are giyen to

The number of marauding cattle found upon the pub- © lic roads has sensibly decreased. 'The law upon that subject has had a salutary effect, not only in restraining the wayward footsteps of 'famished cattle, but in educating their owners to a higher sense of their obligations to their neighbors. Yet there are sore-heads who have not yet become reconciled to the necessity of caring for the prop-

The breeding and fattening' of hogs is an important branch of the business of farming as conducted in this county. No county in the United States of equal area has produced so many hogs of a superior quality as the county of Butler. The breed which is here so highly esteemed is the result of careful and judicious selection,

The precise history of the method adopted to produce this popular breed of hogs can not be given as fully and as reliably as its present value and importance demand. The best information of a reliable character which can be obtained gives us to understand that as early as about 1820 some hogs of an improved breed were obtained and crossed upon the then prevailing stock of the county. Among the supposed improved breeds of hogs there were the Poland and Byefield. They are represented as being exceedingly large hogs, of great length, coarse bone, and deficient in fattening properties. Subsequently more desirable qualities were sought for, and the stock produced by the crosses with Poland, Byefield,-and other breeds underwent very valuable modifications by being bred with an esteemed breed of hogs then becoming known, and which were called the Big China. They possessed important qualities in which the other breeds were sadly deficient. At a later period Mr. William Neff, of Cincin-

England. Among them were some Irish Graziers. They were white in color, of fair size, fine in the bone, and possessing admirable fattening properties. Berkshires, about the same time, were attracting much attention, and both breeds were freely crossed with the then existing stock of the county. The result of these crosses was highly advantageous in the formation of a hog of the most desirable qualities. The Berkshires had obtained, with many breeders, great, favor, while others objected to them because they thought them too short and too thick in the shoulder. Nevertheless the Berkshire blood was liberally infused into this stock of hogs, but in such a judicious manner as to obviate the objections urged against them, and to secure their conceded good qualities.

Since the formation period of this breed of hogs, as above stated, there have been no material or decided innoyvations upon the breed thus obtained. Breeders have carefully selected and judiciously bred from the best ani- 'mals thus produced among us. Wherever defective points were apparent, they have been changed by careful breed- -ing. There has been for many years no admixture of any other breed of hogs. This breed is now, and has for nearly fifty years been the stock predominant in this county. Breeders believe that they have a well-established breed of hogs, which is unsurpassed in the most desirable qualities of a good hog. This breed of hogs, although of comparatively recent origin, may be regarded as thoroughly and permanently established. They have been bred so long, and with such judgment and uniform success, that they may be confidently relied on as possessing such an identity and fixity of character as a distinct breed as to give assurance that they will certainly and unmistakably propagate and extend their good qualities.

_ For many years there was some diversity of opinion as to the proper name to be given to the popular and prevailing breed of swine. The subject was thoroughly discussed, and the name definitively and authoritatively determined by the action of the National Swine-breeders' Convention, held at Indianapolis in November, 1872. That convention settled on the name Poland-China. action of the convention has been almost universally adopted by breeders throughout the country.

While we claim that Butler County has more good hogs than any county in the State, yet we do not desire to do our neighbors any injustice by appropriating all the credit for this breed of hogs to ourselves.

Warren County assisted in the formation and establishment of this breed of hogs. They continue to raise them in their purity and perfection, and take into the market as fine lots of hogs as have ever been raised and sold.

Tn verification of what we claim we propose to show the averages of hogs sold and delivered to packers - not isolated cases, nor single specimen hogs, but the lots of hogs raised by our farmers and sold in the market.

These hogs are usually kept over one Winter, and are sold at ages ranging from eighteen to twenty-one months. Mr. David M. Magie has made the following sales:

These are individual lots, among many which have been noticed as remarkable for their high average. A1- though they have never been equaled, so far as the public know, yet some may regard another kind of evidence as more conclusive. To such we submit the following facts, kindly furnished by Mr. Chenoweth, who, for many years, weighed the hogs packed by Jones & Co., at' Middletown, in this county. The hogs there packed are mainly furnished by citizens of this county and Warren County. The following table will explain itself:

These figures, which are obtained from unquestionable sources, must decide the superiority of our breed of hogs over all others. To produce such averages, the stock must be of the best quality, and then care and judgment in breeding must be practiced, and good attention given in raising and fattening.

The course adopted in breeding, rearing, and fattening ourshogs, as practiced by our successful breeders, is very uniform indeed. Young sows are usually preferred for breeders. They and the boar are carefully selected, so as to perpetuate good points and to avoid any that may be deemed either defective or unsatisfactory in their appearance. Breeders aim to have their pigs come between the 1st of March and the 15th of April. The sows, with their pigs, are carefully attended until weaning time, when they are duly separated, and the pigs are then abundantly supplied with slop and other feed, so as to prevent them from losing growth or flesh in consequence of their weaning. Whenever they attain sufficient age they are turned into clover, where they remain during the continuance of grass. During the ensuing winter, they are kept in a thrifty growing condition. In May of the second year, they are turned into clover pasturage, where they remain until August or September. This Summer pasturing upon clover is deemed essential to the proper development and growth of the hog. They increase rapidly in size, and become in the best possible condition for receiving fat-producing food, which is given to them with care and regularity until they are ready for market.

Some feeders deem it advisable to give the stock they propose to fatten a slop of meal or shorts during a part of August and September. Others rely upon nothing but corn, fed to them in the ear, or by '' turning in" upon standing corn. 'This latter mode would seem to be a very slovenly and improvident manner of feeding hogs. It is, however, not always so. When the weather is favorable there is economy of labor and no waste of grain in thus fattening hogs. If turned in early they consume a large portion of the stalks and all the corn. There is another reason in favor of feeding off corn by turning hogs early in the season upon the corn: The hogs take off but little from the land, and it is, therefore, less exhausting to the soil than feeding the grain produced in any other way. To feed hogs thus in a wet season is very objectionable, Grain is lost, hogs do not thrive so well, and the land is very liable to become injured by compacting and baking.

As yet, no carefully conducted experiments have been made in this county to test the advantages of cooking food for fattening hogs. Farmers estimate that it requires from eighteen to twenty-five bushels of dry corn to fatten each head of a fair lot of hogs. In two instances the experiment of fattening hogs with corn boiled on the ear has been tried. One gentleman, some years ago, fattened some twenty-five head on boiled corn, and stated that he had done so by using about seven or eight bushels per head. Another gentleman claimed to have produced the same results by using half the usual quantity of corn. There is but little question but what an immense saving would be effected by cooking all our corn used for fattening purposes.

The prevalence of that fearful, and usually fatal disease, the hog cholera, has done its work with us as with others. It does not prevail as extensively now as heretofore, nor is the disease as virulent. Farmers now watch the condition of their.stock with more care than heretotofore. While there is no reliable remedy known for curing the disease, yet careful attention to the health and growth of stock, and the use of some supposed preventives may be efficacious in staying the ravages of the disease, and saving us from great losses.

For the purpose of showing the capacity of Butler County for raising hogs, and making pork for the market, the following statement is submitted, showing the number and value of hogs assessed for taxation purposes :

This table shows the increase and decrease of numbers, as well as their aggregate values, for the last thirty-six years. It will be seen that the number of hogs reported has undergone decided changes. The largest number was 66,695 in the year 1854, and the lowest number 'was 27,886 in 1865. While our population was increasing at nearly the rate of 550 per annum, amounting in 11 years to about 6,000, the number of hogs decreased in the same time about 55 per cent. The variableness in price has keen remarkable. They were worth, in 1848, $1.52 per head ; in 1855, $2.23; in 1863, $3; and in 1866, $8.

and possibly one or two others, strongly imbibed the mania, which prevailed at that time, for raising Merino sheep. This variety of sheep was not generally introduced among our farmers, owing to the high prices they then commanded. They therefore constituted a very small portion of the few sheep then in the county. ''Common sheep," as they were called, were the predominant breed. They possessed no very desirable quality, save that of a high capacity to endure excessive bad treatment. Their wool was coarse and hairy, and only suitable for the manufacture of such goods as were denominated ' home-spun."

From the introduction of the Merinos, a few years previous to 1820, some change in some localities was affected in the quality of the wool. A very few appreciated the value of having a better grade of wool than that furnished by the common sheep, and hence the introduction of the Merino blood was very limited indeed.

Subsequently new breeds of sheep were sparingly introduced, and were received with greater favor. Some Southdowns were introduced as early as 1850, and subsequently Leicesters, Cotswolds, and their crosses were ocasionally seen. At this time we have creditable flocks of 'improved Spanish Merinos," of Southdowns, of Leicesters, and Cotswolds. Considering the little interest which had existed for many years in sheep husbandry, the present prospect for increased attention to that interesting and profitable branch of the farmer's business is very encouraging indeed. Our contiguity to the Cincinnati market, and the rapidly increasing consumption of choice mutton, which exceeds the increase of population, has induced many farmers to give more attention to raising sheep which are esteemed to be best for mutton, quality and quantity considered. Here, as elsewhere, great difference of opinion exists as to the best breed of sheep for making mutton. Some prefer the Southdowns, while others pre fer the larger breeds.

Those who prefer the Merino rely upon the superior quality and quantity of wool, claiming that for a given quantity of food they realize more money on their small sheep than can be made with the larger breeds. It is probably best that this diversity of opinion should prevail as to the relative value of the several breeds of sheep. It excites more interest, and a rivalry that is neither unpleasant nor unprofitable, and thereby our manufacturers are furnished with a better variety of wool, and our markets are more abundantly supplied with mutton of an improved quality.

Recently a new breed of sheep has been introduced, which attains a mammoth size, and which promises to be a great addition to the stock of this county. It is known as the Oxfordshire Downs.

The condition of sheep husbandry in this county can be seen by an examination of the following table, giving their number and value in the years named :

1861, and that their average values have fluctuated between 55 cents and $4.74 per head. These extreme fluctuations, in numbers and in price, are not credible by those who have not bestowed immediate attention upon such questions. Precisely why such remarkable fluctuations have taken place, it would be difficult to determine to the satisfaction of many. Causes have existed which legitimately would tend to affect not only the number but the price of sheep. Yet no adequate reason can be assigned for such extreme changes in numbers or price. The figures show that men have been influenced in their movements as sheep are - the one follows the bell-wether, while the other regulates his business by the movements of his neighbors. There has been nothing which should have produced these violent changes. Sheep husbandry, for the last fifteen years, has, upon an average, been as profitable as the ordinary business of the farm for the same period.

Present pecuniary profits should not be regarded as the only motive which should influence the operations of the careful and considerate farmer. The cleanliness of his farm, the preservation, if not the increased productive capacity, of his soil should not be lost sight of in deciding in what manner he should conduct his farming business. If experienced English farmers are content to fatten sheep for the butcher, only asking the manure made as their clear profit, then surely our farmers ought to consider whether they will not be able to enrich their farms to so great an extent by feeding sheep that they will be content with a small profit for the grain and labor expended.

These comparisons show that we in Butler County are greatly behind in the number of sheep. Our population, our acreage, and our ability to raise and keep sheep, all suggest that we should give more attention to sheep husbandry, and should speedily increase our flocks. If other countries, or other parts of our own State, less favorably situated, find:it profitable to keep so large a number of sheep, surely this county, in such proximity to Cincinnati, where good mutton always finds ready sale at a fair price, can find abundant warrant. for increasing their flocks of sheep, and for improving their quality. .

Thus far no serious disease has prevailed among our sheep. They have been exempt from ailments of almost every kind. Their only enemy has been found in the four thousand ravenous dogs which infest the county, and which not only annoy and disturb the quietude of whole communities, but which do, annually, injuries exceeding in value all the dogs of the county one hundred fold.

Butter and cheese must not be passed unnoticed. As to the latter article, neither the quantity made nor its quality give it any special claims upon our attention. We do not aim to make enough cheese for domestic use. The amount manufactured is consequently very inconsiderable,

Butter making, however, has grown to be an important business. In no branch have we made greater im- . provements than in this domestic department. Formerly good butter was a rare commodity in our markets. Now they are pretty well supplied with a fair quality, in many cases a superior quality, of butter. Our housewives, in this department, as in most others over which they have special supervision, have made most commendable progress in improving the value of their products.

There are other topics connected with the agricultural interests of this county which most probably should have received attention. In considering the multitude of the more important questions, they have been overlooked.

In conclusion, it affords us great pleasure in being able to bear favorable testimony to the general progress which has been made in the intellectual, moral, and social culture of our agricultural population. This improvement has been more general and more marked among females than among males. In substantial educational attainments, in moral culture, and in social accomplishments, our young women of the county are far in advance of our young men. Even in the same families, the daughters have more refinement and more propriety of deportment than the sons. It is greatly to be desired that there will be no abatement of effort on the part of our young women to attain a high position, and that, by increased manly exertions, our young men may make more rapid progress, so that they may soon occupy a like honorable position in the good opinion of worthy men and women everywhere.

The Miami Canal

Tue navigation of the Miami River did not please our forefathers. up, except with so mitch difficulty that it was practically never tried. Enlarging and digging out its bed was discussed for many years, as is related in a preceding chapter; but nothing ever came of the project. No canal of great size had been made in this country when the idea was first entertained of uniting Lake Erie and the Ohio River by digging a navigable channel from the one to the other. But it was not long after the second war with Great Britain that New York began its surveys from the Hudson River, along the channel of the Mohawk, to the eastern extremity of Lake Erie, under the leadership of DeWitt Clinton. The result of the labors of the surveyors of this route was before the people of the world when, on the 14th of December, 1819, Goyernor Ethan Allen Brown, the chief magistrate of the State, incited by the example set him by a long list of

His words did not fall on unwilling ears. They were repeated year by year, and inquiries were made of those who had gained experience by the construction of these water-ways in New York, as well as of capitalists and money-lenders in the great commercial centers of the East. It was necessary not only to find out that canals were practicable, but that they would pay; and not only this, but that money enough could be borrowed by the State in its corporate capacity to arrange for their construction. All these questions were in the end answered satisfactorily.

Before making any recommendation on the subject, Mr. Brown had had an extended correspondence on the subject with DeWitt Clinton, then the head of the Board of Canal Commissioners of New York State. This was in 1816. In February, 1820, an act was passed by the Ohio Legislature appointing three commissioners to locate a route for a navigable canal between Lake Erie and the Ohio River, and providing for its location through the Congress lands, then lately purchased of the Indians. This act also proposed to ask of Congress a grant of one or two millions of acres of land. The enactment was not thoroughly carried into effeet by reason of some failure to appoint commissioners or to have a suitable survey made,

In a communication sent by Governor Brown to the House of Representatives in the preceding month he treated at some length the idea of a canal through the two Miami valleys. In the valley of the Mad River little more than excavation and a few locks would be required. Following down the route of the Great Miami no obstacle would be met with until the hills at Franklin were reached. Near Hamilton there was the choice of two routes - one by the valley of the Great Miami down the stream, or the other following the line of Mill-creek, the valleys of both coming together in 'airfield Township.

On the 3d of January, 1822, Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, a representative from Hamilton County, and chairman of a committee to whom the report had been referred, made an elaborate report, discussing the question at length. He said:

"Tt is a well-established fact that man has not yet devised a mode of conveyance so safe, easy, and cheap as canal navigation ; and although the advantage of cheap and expeditious transportation is not likely to be perceived when prices are high and trade most profitable, yet the truth is familiar to every person of observation that the enormous expense of land carriage has frequently consumed nearly, and sometimes quite, the whole price of provisions at the place of embarkation for a distant market. This is essentially the case in relation to all commodities of a cheap and bulky nature, most of which will not bear a land transportation many miles, and consequently are rendered of no value to the farmer, and are suffered to waste on his hands. The merchant who engages in the exportation of the produce of the country, finding it a losing commerce, abandons it, or is ruined; and crops in the finest and most productive parts of the State are left to waste on the fields that produce them, or be distilled, to poison and brutalize society."

The valuable report of Mr. Williams concluded with the introduction of a bill authorizing an examination into the practicability of connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River by a canal, which was read the first time, and finally passed January 31, 1822. The second section appointed Benjamin Tappan, Alfred Kelley, Thomas Worthington, Ethan Allen Brown, Jeremiah Morrow, Isaac Miner, and Ebenezer Buckingham, Jr., commismissioners, '' whose duty it shall be to cause such examinations, surveys, and estimates to be made by the engineer as aforesaid as may be necessary to ascertain the practicability of connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River, by a canal through the following routes, viz. : from Sandusky Bay to the Ohio River; from the Ohio River to the Maumee River; from the lake to the river aforesaid by the sources of the Cuyahoga and Black Rivers and the Muskingum River; and from the lake by the sources of the Grand and Mahoning Rivers to the Ohio River."

In a letter addressed to Micajah T. Williams, one of the Ohio canal commissioners, by DeWitt Clinton, governor.of New York, on the 8th of November, 1823, in response to inquiries from Mr. Williams, Governor Clinton thus refers to the project of constructing a canal from the lake to the Ohio River: .

"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 form a 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 ocean 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 it will ¢reate, and the energies it will call into activity."

James Geddes, one of the most honored names in the State of New York, was employed as engineer, on the recommendation of the governor and canal commis- sioners of that State. He retired within the year, and was succeeded in September, 1824, by Mr. David S. Bates, also of New York, who remained here as principal engineer until March, 1829. The engineer in charge of the preliminary work upon the Miami Canal from the first, Samuel Forrer, was superintending engineer of the line from Cincinnati to Dayton. Mr. Forrer is still alive, as are also three of the other engineers, Jesse L. Williams, Francis Cleveland, and Richard Howe.

'""The unhealthiness of the season, and other causes which have 'operated to retard the prosecution of the surveys and examinations, have prevented the location of a line of canal on the Western or Miami route.

'The canal line south from the summit would probably cross Mad River near its mouth, thence pursuing the valley of the-Great Miami to a point where it may be thrown into the valley of Mill Creek; thence along that valley to Cincinnati. The waters of Mad River may be thrown into this line near Dayton, and those of the Great Miami below, and, being conducted in sufficient quantities to the termination of the canal at Cincinnati, would afford power for extensive and valuable hydraulic works, which are there much needed.

'This line of canal would pass through a section of. country inferior to none in America in the fertility of its soil or the quantity of surplus productions it is capable of sending to market. That part of the canal between Dayton and Cincinnati may be with great ease supplied with water, could probably be constructed for a moderate expense, and would become a source of immediate and extensive profit."

''From Dayton to Cincinnati this line, sixty-six miles seventy-one chains in length, assumes generally a very favorable aspeet. To Middletown, a distance of about twenty-three miles, it is of the most favorable character, with the exception of two points. The first is situated about three miles below Dayton; the second at and immediately below the mouth of Clear Creek, below Franklin. The first of these difficulties is occasioned by the contact of the river (the Miami) and the highlands for the distance of forty-eight chains. To pass this will require a wall of stone-work at low-water line, or an embankment of earth and loose fragments of stone, protected from the outside from abrasion by- the floods, by loose stones. This wall or embankment must be raised of sufficient height to protect the canal from the floods of the river, which rises from twelve to fifteen feet. It is believed,that such a work can be built and sustained without difficulty. The bottom of the river is composed of detached masses of rock, and at this point the river is very shoal. The adjoining hills and bank are composed of loose masses of stones, gravel, and other materials necessary for the construction of the embankment or wall.

The second of these difficulties is of a character very similar to that of the first, though of an aspect somewhat less formidable. The river does not bear so hard upon the hill as at the first point. A wall or embankment will be required to pass this difficulty very similar to that above described. This line, as far as Middletown, can be supplied with water without any cost on account of feeders. The crossing of Mad River above Dayton with the line of canal by means of a dam will afford any supply of water from that stream which may be required for the purposes of navigation, and an additional quantity may be drawn from it for the supply of hydraulic works along the line below, without injury to the valuable works already in operation at Dayton.

''From Middletown to the Ohio River at Cincinnati, a distance of about forty-four miles by the line of location, there are few serious obstructions. With the exception of half a mile of side-hill near Irwin's mill on Mill Creek, which has a tendency to slip, and three or four miles in the same vicinity of side-lying ground, and a few points of inconsiderable difficulty on the Miami between Middletown and Hamilton, this line is of the most favorable character. It presents nothing but proper cutting of the easiest character. The line follows the immediate valley of the Miami River to Hamilton, and then bears off from

_ the river on a level plain, with proper cutting, and passes into the valley of Mill Creek along the margin of some ponds and swamps, which in flood-time flow into -that stream. The excavation to get into the valley of Mill Creek from that of the Miami does not exceed five feet depth at any point. There is not in the whole a half mile of the line which amounts to that depth. Down the valley of Mill Creek there are no obstructions until the line reaches the side-lying grounds near the Ohio. These, though presenting difficulties, are not of the most serious character. e

"From a point on Mill Creek near White's mill, about nine miles from the Ohio, two lines were run, - one on the principle of keeping up the level so as to command the upper plain on which Cincinnati stands, entering the Ohio at the mouth of Deer Creek, above the town; the other by locking down the valley of Mill Creek as it descends, and passing on the west of that plain to the lower plain of the town. The first of these lines, in consequence of keeping so high a level, will cost something more than the second or lower level. The difference, however, will not be great, as the lockage, which on the lower line is distributed along the valley of Mill Creek for a distance of seven miles, is on the plan of the upper line thrown into the valley of Deer Creek near the river, where suitable, stone for their construction can be had from the bed of the Ohio, without the cost of hauling them from six to seven miles. But should the difference in the cost of these two lines be considerable, the superior value for hydraulic purposes, which the surplus water which might be thrown to that point would have on the upper plain over its value on the lower plain, will probably more than compensate for the difference in the cost of the two lines. The upper plain is elevated one hundred and eight feet above high water in the Ohio. The surplus water that might be conveyed into a basin on the upper plain, with so great a power for its use, might be made a very considerable source of revenue to the canal without interfering with its usefulness for navigation, the primary object of its construction. This section, from Middletown to Cincinnati, may be supplied with water from the Miami with but very little expense. By a cut of twenty-four chains the mill-race of Abner Enoch, near Middletown, may be turned into the canal. Building a dam, and enlarging this race, will be all that is necessary to command from the river any quantity of water which may be required for the supply of the canal to the Ohio. As much water may be introduced at this point as can be thrown forward through the canal without injury to the navigation, without sensibly affecting the mills on the river below. This surplus water may be very profitably used at several points in the valley of Mill Creek, by throwing it at the heads of locks, on to wheels, and taking it again into the canal on lower levels, losing nothing except the extra evaporation and absorption occasioned thereby. The surplus water which may be passed through the canal and used for hydraulic purposes, both in the valley of Mill Creek and at Cincinnati, would unquestionably be a source of considerable revenue to the canal and of general benefit to the surrounding country. It may be remarked, also, that at no points within the State would this hydraulic power be of so great a source 'of revenue as at these. The surrounding country sustains a dense population, and is almost entirely destitute of water-power. The same remarks will apply, in some degree, to the line from Dayton to Middletown. Suitable stone for the construction of locks may be obtained near Dayton and in the bed of the Ohio River near Cincinnati. Through the intermediate parts of this line stone of the proper quality for that use has not been discovered convenient to the line. Stone of a good quality may, however, be transported from Dayton and points above that by water, and deposited near the sites of the locks between Dayton and Hamilton."

In their next report the commissioners enter into a calculation of the revenue to be obtained from the lower section of the Miami Canal. They say:

'*''The following statement will exhibit the probable revenue which may be derived from the proposed canals during the progress of the work and after their completion. So soon as that'part of the line extending from the Miami above Middletown to the Ohio shall have been completed, which will be in three years from the commencement of the work, an extensive and valuable water-power at the southern termination of the canal in Cincinnati, where that power is much needed, and as valuable as at any other place, will be at the disposal of the State.

This power may be estimated as follows: Any quantity of water which can be permitted to pass in the canal without injury to its banks or to its navigation may be taken into the canal at Middletown. From a close calculation, it is thought safe to introduce 8,000 cubic feet per minute. Admitting 4,400 cubic feet per minute of this quantity to be expended on the forty-four miles of canal between Middletown and Cincinnati, equal to 100 cubic feet per minute for each mile, and 600 cubic feet per minute to be used in locking boats from the Ohio River into the canal and from the canal into the river, which will be sufficient to pass eighty boats per day, there will remain a surplus of 3,000 cubic feet per minute applicable to hydraulic purposes at Cincinnati. The descent from the proposed basin, on the upper plain at Cincinnati, to high-water mark in the Ohio, is fifty feet, and to low-water mark one hundred and eight feet. This water may, therefore, be applied on three overshot water-wheels of fifteen feet diameter each, in succession, before it reaches the level of high-water mark. It has been ascertained by. actual experiment that 300 cubic feet of water per minute, if applied to the best advantage on an overshot wheel of fifteen feet, will give power sufficient to keep in operation two pairs of four and a half feet mill-stones. Calculating from this datum, twenty pairs of mill-stones could be driven on the first descent of sixteen and a half feet of the surplus water from the basin, the same number on the second descent, and the like number on the third descent of sixteen and a half feet, in all power sufficient to keep in operation sixty pairs of mill-stones in the descent of the surplus water from the basin to the level of high-water mark. Two hundred and fifty dollars would certainly be a moderate rent for water-power sufficient to drive a pair of mill-stones, or the same power applicable to any other machinery, in such a place as Cincinnati, especially when it is considered that the power would be constant, not subject to interruption from high or low water. At this rate the water-power from the basin to high-water mark in the Ohio would rent for fiftéen thousand dollars per annum. And this rate is much lower than that for which power is rented in other places. The power obtained by descent from high-water to low-water mark would not be as valuable as that above estimated, as it would be subject to occasional interruptions from high water. These interruptions on the upper half of the descent from extreme high-water mark would seldom occur; and it will be safe to estimate the rent of water-power from high to low-water mark at five thousand dollars per annum; making the total amount of water-rents twenty thousand dollars per annum. Much water-power may also be obtained in the descent between Middletown and Cincinnati, which is one hundred and seven feet. The amount of tolls arising from transportation on the canal extending from Dayton to Cincinnati It 1s not so easy to estimate. The following, however, is the most correct view we are able to give of the subject.

It is ascertained, from information on which the utmost reliance can be placed, that thirty thousand barrels of flour have been exported from the county of Montgomery alone in one year. It will undoubtedly be safe to estimate that the same quantity will be exported when additional facilities are offered by the canal for exportation ; and that at least an equal quantity will be exported from the counties of Clarke, Champaign, Miami, Darke, and other adjoining counties. The lowest price for which flour can now be transported from Dayton to Cincinnati is fifty cents per barrel. A toll of twelve and a half cents per barrel from Dayton to Cincinnati will not be unreasonable, and this on sixty thousand barrels will give a revenue of $7,500. On all other articles exported from Dayton to Cincinnati on the canal it will be undoubtedly safe to calculate on receiving a toll of $2,500 per annum, making on the descending navigation from Dayton an aggregate of $10,000. From the business which will naturally fall into the canal from the intermediate counties of Warren, Butler, and those adjoining them, together with the whole ascending navigation, it will be safe to calculate on receiving an equal amount of toll, making a total product from tolls of $20,000 per annum, which, added to the estimated rents for water-power, will produce the annual sum of $40,000."

"Proposals in writing will be received by the undersigned at Hamilton, on the 15th of July next, for the construction of about fifteen miles of the Miami Canal, extending from a point on the Great Miami River two miles above Middletown, to a point near Hamilton.

"Persons who are disposed to contract for the construction of any part of this work are invited to examine the ground before the day of sale. Any information as to the character of the line, manner of constructing the work, or terms of contracting, may be had on application to Samuel Forrer, Esq., engineer on the line. :

'""A profile of the line, with the estimates of the value of the work, will be exhibited on the day of letting, for the information of all who may be disposed to take contracts.

In that year (1825) his excellency DeWitt Clinton, governor of the State of New York, visited Ohio, on the invitation of the citizens of this State, in order to be present at the commencement of the internal improvements of the State by our canals. As soon as it was known that he would be present on that date, an invitation was extended to the most prominent gentlemen of the vicinity to meet him, on the 11th of July, in Hamilton. The invitation read as follows:

'"'Str, - You are respectfully invited to attend, at Hamilton, on Tuesday, the 12th July instant, at an early hour, for the purpose of partaking of a dinner to be prepared for their excellencies DeEWrrr CrLInTon and

JEREMIAH Morrow, governors of the States of New York and Ohio. Inyite any of your friends who can make it convenient to attend with you. '« By order of the committee of arrangement. '' Lewis P. Sayre, Chairman. "'Haminton, July 11, 1825."

The dinner which was provided on the occasion, of which one hundred and fifty persons partook, was elegant and abundant. It was prepared by T. Blair, and served up under the shade of the locust-trees in the court-house yard. The day was fine, and the pleasure which was universally felt at welcoming the 'father of internal improvement" was heightened by the presence of Jeremiah Morrow, governor of the State of Ohio; Ex-Governor Ethan Allen Brown, the Honorable Benjamin Tappan, and Micajah T. Williams, Esq., canal commissioners; Judge David S. Bates; the chief engineer, Samuel Forrer, Esq., and a number of other 'distinguished citizens and strangers, who honored the occasion by their presence. John Reily presided at the table, assisted by John Woods, as vice-president. Governor Clinton was met at Middletown on the previous day by a deputation from Hamilton, with Captain Dunn at the head of his fine company of cavalry, together with a large concourse of citizens, who escorted him to Hamilton, where rooms had been prepared for his reception.

The enthusiasm which was excited by the presence of Governor Clinton was, if possible, heightened by the toasts and sentiments which followed the removal of the cloth. Thirteen regular toasts had been prepared, as follows :

1. "' The President of the United States and heads of departments. - If talents, virtue, experience, and patriotism at the helm will afford security, the ship of state is in no danger of foundering."

3. " Internal Improvements. - Whether their accomplishment legitimately belong to the States or the nation, a prophetic spirit may look forward to the period when, in times of trouble and difficulty, the works of the present age may become the safeguard of our national independence and the bond of national union."

4. '"' The State of New York. - She has given a noble specimen of what the genius and enterprise of one man may accomplish. Let Ohio profit by the example."

Dd. " The States of Ohio and New York. - Connected by mutual interests, and not less united in policy than in their admiration of the illustrious father of internal improvement."

11. " The Friends of the Manumission and Colonization of the Blacks. - They are the friends of man, and their exertions will promote the best interests of their country."

13. "The Literary Institutions of Ohio. - May they continue to be encouraged by an enlightened and liberal policy until the Western wilderness shall become an academic shade !"

'JT rise, gentlemen, to propose a toast in obedience to the instructions of the committee of arrangements; and, in thus becoming the organ of my fellow-citizens, I have the satisfaction of performing a duty highly gratifying to myself. ;

'Tt is only an act of justice to testify respect to men of distinguished worth and talents, whose lives have been devoted to the service of their country. But this is an ~ occasion of more than common interest. Our State has just commenced a stupendous work of internal improvement similar to that which New York has nearly completed, under the auspices of our distinguished guest - a work which is destined to elevate her to a proud rank among the States of the Union. Under such cireumstances it is natural for her to look to New York for her model, and to DeWitt Clinton as her presiding spirit. I shall, therefore, meet the cordial response of this assembly when I propose -

'« Fellow-citizens, - I receive with grateful sensibility this expression of approbation, and I fully appreciate its importance. Its communication through so respectable an organ in behalf of this respectable company renders it peculiarly interesting, and I offer to you my sincere thanks for your kindness to me on this occasion, and during my visit to this place.

'' For fifteen years I have devoted myself to the great cause of internal improvement, and it has been my good fortune, during my administration, to witness the commencement of the canals of New York, and in a very short time I hope to witness their completion. To the 'moral power and intelligence of the people we must ascribe the success of these stupendous undertakings. Ohio in her infant state, with inferior revenues and a less numerous population, has followed the example set by her elder sister, and has undertaken 'an enterprise without a parallel in the history of mankind, considering all the circumstances under which it has been commenced ; and the whole exhibits wisdom, patriotism, and magnanimity that would reflect honor on any age or country. 'The success is as certain as the resulting advantages, unless some destroying spirit should be let loose among you and darken the brightest days that ever opened upon the West. I beg leave to present as a toast: |

"« The public-spirited State of Ohio and her excellent chief magistrates who have pointed out her way to greatness and glory, and supported her in her illustrious career."

'"Under his administration the State of Ohio has 'commenced the great work of forming by internal improvement the bonds of union between all the members of our government, and by whose wisdom and prudence were pointed out the only means by which we shall be enabled to march with firmness to the accomplishment of the magnilicent work."

""Gentlemen, it would manifest insensibility on my part were I not to acknowledge the gratitude I feel for your kind expression of regard. That I have performed public services in which important interests were rendered, early in the settlement of our country, is certain. But it-is equally true that these, which are overrated, have been more than compensated by the repeated expressions of your confidence.

'"'Permit me, then, to say that I express the feelings of my heart when I assure you that I entertain a sincere respect for the people of this town and its vicinity, and tender my best wishes for their welfare. I propose -

Arrangements having been made at Cincinnati to entertain the distinguished gentlemen as guests in that city on the day succeeding, the company retired at an early hour, and Governor Clinton, accompanied by the gentlemen who had attended him hither, together with an escort of military and citizens, proceeded, that evening, to Martin's tavern, where he was met by a military escort from Cincinnati.

After Governor Clinton had been entertained at Cincinnati, he visited the falls of the Ohio; then returning to Hamilton, which he reached on the 18th of July. The next day he proceeded to Middletown. One of the local papers thus speaks of the day : that ever was, or perhaps ever will be, witnessed by them. It was the ceremony of commencing that great work of internal navigation which is destined to raise their character as an enterprising people, promote their happiness, both in a political and moral point of view, and increase saw the first sod raised by the great father and patron of internal improvement; and, notwithstanding it will be a matter of much exultation to see the completion of the work, yet it will not detract from, or even equal, the excitement produced by viewing the first breaking of the ground - the first step to the daring and stupendous undertaking.

'* Although notice had been given but three' days previous, thousands of freemen, drawn by the interest and novelty of the scene from different parts of the country, were on the ground; and never, perhaps, was observed a greater degree of harmony in a like assemblage than what prevailed on this occasion. Unanimity in the object for which they had assembled to view the commencement seemed to be the prevailing sentiment, and was strikingly expressed in almost every countenance ; and all appeared to be animated by the importance of the matter, and to take a deep interest in the ceremonies of the day.

added greatly to the occasion. A fine troop of cavalry, commanded by Captain Morsell, escorted Governor Clinton from Cincinnati; the other companies, three in number, were the Cincinnati Guards, commanded by Captain Emerson, Captain Avery's company of light infantry, and the Lafayette Greys, commanded by Lieutenant Burley. They deserve the unbounded thanks of our citizens, and are most certainly entitled to the highest commendation for the patriotism displayed in marching so great a distance, and for the good discipline and soldier-like conduct evinced during their stay in this place and in Middletown; and we sincerely hope that their reception and

'"'Among the distinguished guests, in addition to Governor Clinton and Governor Morrow (the latter of whom arrived about 11 o'clock, A. M.), we observed our late governor, EX. A. Brown, General Harrison, General Beasly, Judge Bates; Dr. Drake, of Lexington, Ky. ; Mr. M. T. Williams, acting commissioner, and Mr. Forrer, principal engineer, together with many others, whom our memory does not sufficiently serve us to particularize at this time.

'The ceremony was commenced by an appropriate and impressive prayer to the Throne of Grace by the Rey. Mr. Vickars, chaplain of the day ; after which Judge Crane, of

Dayton, rose, and, in a commanding strain of eloquence, delivered an excellent address. Nothing we could say by way of commendation would add to its excellence ; for it amply speaks its own superior merit, and attaches great credit to its intelligent and classical author. It is sufficient to say that it was received by the audience with loud and repeated acclamations.

'Governor Clinton and Governor Morrow then descended from the rostrum, which had been prepared for the occasion, followed by the commissioners, contractors, and other persons of distinction who felt an interest or were to assist in the enterprise. The governors each raised a sod, as the commencement of the work ; after which the other gentlemen assisted. The latter part of the ceremony was greatly enlivened by the continued volleys of musketry and by the many appropriate airs performed by the band of music. >

'After partaking of an excellent dinner, prepared by Mr. J. P. Reynolds, a number of toasts were drunk. The one given by Mr. Clinton was received with loud cheers. He responded with the following toast :

"<* The Miami Canal, like the Nile, will enrich and agerandize the region of its transit - not by fertilizing a soil exuberantly rich, but by opening lucrative markets for its production.'

"'The company separated at an early hour. Governors Clinton and Morrow, with their respective suits, departed the same evening for Lebanon."

The place at which these ceremonies took place was in a field about a mile south of town, at the place where the first lock is now constructed. The land was then owned by Daniel Doty, and is in section 28.

As we have elsewhere said, the northern portion of the route, that part going from Dayton to Lake Erie, had been partly located in 1824, and the next year it was regularly surveyed. This section of the work was not done till some time after the other, and, indeed, was for a period in danger of not being done at all. But the general government, in response to a petition from some of the best men in Ohio, made a grant of land equal to one-half of five sections in width on each side of the proposed route, between Dayton and the Maumee, so far as the same should be located through the government lands. In return it was simply provided that all persons or property of the United States should forever pass through or over the canals free of tolls. The amount of this grant, as afterwards ascertained, was three hundred and eighty-four thousand acres. Its market value could not have been very far from a million of dollars. The same act granted the State half a million dollars more, in aid of its canals. This grant was conditioned upon the completion within five years of the canals already begun at the time of the passage of the act, and the grant for the Miami extension upon the commencement of the work within five and its completion within twenty years, on penalty of payment by the State to the federal government of the value of the lands. The Legislature accepted the former, but declined the latter grant, as it was feared that it might be impossible to fulfill the conditions. These were the initial grants by the general government in aid of internal improvements, and were the forerunner of those to the Illinois Central, Northern Pacific, and Union Pacific railroads, as well as to a hundred others of less length. When Judge Jacob Burnet, of Ohio, was sent to the United States Senate in 1830, he succeeded in getting a bill through which repealed the forfeiture clauses and made the grant equivalent to five sections for every mile of canal located on land previously sold, as well as that unsold, by the general goyernment. The land so given was located by the governor, and by it, undoubtedly, the extension was effected.

Work was speedily begun above Middletown, taking the water from Enoch's dam, and running to the head of Mill Creek, a distance of twenty miles. The Advertiser of August 23d says:

'"'Tt will be remembered that twenty miles of the Miami Canal was put under contract on the 20th of July last. It was divided into forty-three sections. On the 28th of July the sod was first broken on section No. 8, a part of a contract taken by Seymore Scovel, Esq., of the State of New York. On the 23d the whole of this section was taken by a sub-contractor, who commenced active operations on it on the 24th, and has now, August 23d, completed thirty rods ready for inspection. No less than thirty-nine parties, or near five hundred workmen, under original and sub-contractors, are now engaged on twenty-seven sections. Many of these sections are in a rapid state of forwardness, and present a scene more like the effect of magic than reality, and can only be accounted for by the number of workmen so suddenly thrown upon them, and the determined perseverance of the undertakers. A little more time will be necessary for farmers to remove their corn from the ground occupied by a part of the canal line, when all the sections will speedily be commenced; and, from the number of persons continually flocking in for employment, and the character of the contractors, there can be no doubt that the whole twenty miles will be completed within the stipulated time. We understand that the resident engineer will set out in a few days to prepare the south end of the line for contract, which has been delayed in consequence of the great press of business occasioned by the immediate commencement of labor by so many of the contractors on the part of the line already let, and that the acting commissioner intends to dispose of fifteen miles more on or about the 15th of September next." , the Miami Canal for contract ; and on the 20th of July, in pursuance of public notice previously given, contracts were made for the construction of twenty miles of that canal, including six locks, extending from a point of the Miami River near Middletown to the head of Mill Creek. These contracts were, as in the former cases, effected at prices in all cases as low, and in most lower, than the original estimates. On the day following, the work was commenced on this canal in the presence of the distinguished chief magistrates of Ohio and New York and an immense concourse of deeply interested citizens; since - which it has progressed with spirit and effect, and is now in a flattering state of progression.

« As early as the 27th of September twenty-two miles in addition, including six locks, extending to a point near Cincinnati, were prepared and placed under contract upon, terms still more favorable to the State ; making, in all, forty-two miles of this canal now under contract. Upon the whole of this line, with only two exceptions, the contractors have already commenced the work on their jobs, and are prosecuting it in a manner highly satisfactory. Thirty miles or more are now grubbed and cleared ; the excavation already performed exceeds two hundred thousand cubic yards; three large culverts-are built, and the other items of the work have progressed in the same proportion. The most serious difficulty which has been experienced or is anticipated in the prosecution of the work on this line arises from the scarcity of stone of a suitable character for the construction of the locks, and from the difficulty of procuring water-lime. It was, in the first instance, thought most advisable to construct the locks of timber, and contracts for the first eight locks were made accordingly. It was, however, soon ascertained that to obtain timber in sufficient quantities would be attended with difficulties, be more costly than was anticipated, and, in most cases, would inflict a serious and measurably irretrievable injury upon the adjacent country. It was determined, therefore, to suspend the construction with tim- - ber of most of the locks, and to make further efforts for the discovery of stone, which have so far been successful as to induce a belief that stone will be obtained within a reasonable distance for their construction. The cost of obtaining the stone will, however, be such as to forbid the hope of constructing the locks for a sum below the original estimates of their cost. If the saving in the cost of the locks could have been in the same proportion with that on the other items of the work under contract, this line would be constructed for a sum very considerably less than that at which it was estimated. From the best estimate which can be made from the other items of the work at contract prices, making a liberal allowance for all contingencies which will probably occur, and placing the cost of the locks at $4 per perch, the line under contract will be constructed for the sum of $358,984.14. This is less than the sum at which it was estimated in the last report of the board by $25,000, and makes an

'¢ Abstract marked F will show the name of each contractor, the extent of contract, the contract price of each item of work, the average price of each kind of work, the total estimated amount of each contract, and of the whole line under contract at contract prices. The value of work performed on this line up to the 21st November is estimated at $31,994. The number of laborers engaged upon this line in the month of November amounted to nearly nine hundred. The contracts for the first thirty miles of this line require its completion by the first day of October next, and for the last ten miles by the 5th of May, 1827.

'In the last report of the board to the Legislature two points of termination at the Olio River, near Cincinnati, were named. The one, by preserving with the line a high level from a point about ten miles up the valley of Mill Creek, as it descends, and passing the western margin of the city upon a low level, to unite with the river at a point immediately below it. Estimates of the cost of each of these lines were made, which showed a difference in favor of the line upon the low level of about $45,000; and the cost of the Miami Canal, as stated in the report, was estimated upon this lme. Upon a full investigation of the question of the proper point to terminate the canal, which was made in August last, it was deemed advisable, with reference to all the interests connected with the canal, notwithstanding the estimated difference of cost, to adopt the line upon the high level, and terminate the canal at the mouth of Deer Creek. The superior value of the hydraulic privileges afforded by the high level, the favorable position which the mouth of Deer Creek affords, when compared with the other point of termination, for a safe harbor for steam and canal boats, both in low and high water, the great facility it affords over any other for the construction of dry and wet docks, which the increasing commerce of the Ohio River and the interests of the public will soon imperiously require, and the prominent and mutual advantage, both to the surrounding country and the city, which the level, uninterrupted by locks for a distance of ten miles back into the country will afford, - all conspired to produce the conviction upon the minds of the commissioners that the adoption of that line was required by the general interests connected with the work.

'Tt will be recollected that, in the last report of the board, calculations were made upon the extent and value of the surplus water which it was believed could be drawn from the Miami River to that point. With a view to this object, the capacity of the upper end of this section of the canal is enlarged, for the purpose of receiving and passing forward a greater supply of water. The first ten miles from the river are constructing with an increase of one foot in depth and three and a half in the width of the top water-line; and the next fifteen miles with an increase of half a foot in depth, and one foot and three-fourths in the width of the top water-line. The increase of the capacity of the canal must proportionately enhance its cost, and is another reason for the apparent disparity between the savings on this line at contract prices, compared with original estimates, and the other lines under contract. It is, however, believed that the cost of this increase of the capacity of a part of the line will be more than reimbursed to the State in the value of the surplus water which is anticipated from it. Propositions have already been made by responsible individuals to contract for the use of the whole amount of sutplus water which"can be delivered at Cincinnati, at the price placed upon it in the last report of the board.

"Tt will be recollected, when examining this comparative statement, that on the locks in this line there is no saving from the estimates owing to the scarcity of stone, from the Miami, is constructing with an increased depth of one foot and an increased width of three and a half feet, and the next fifteen miles with an increase in depth of six inches and in width of one foot, nine inches. The estimates of last year were made for a canal of the usual dimensions."

The contractors on the Miami Canal, with their respective sections in this neighborhood, were: John Hepburn, 1, 2, 25, 34; 43; Warren Jarvis, 4, 19, 28, 31, 32; A. Amsden, 37, 41; Hale & Lyons, 26; Sells & Jewett,

SHOWING THE SEVERAL KINDS OF WORK UNDER CONTRACT ON THE MIAMI CANAL FROM MIDDLETOWN TO CINCINNATI - FORTY-TWO MILES--AMOUNT OF EACH KIND, AND THE AVERAGE PRICE AS CONTRACTED.

Amount Of Each Average Price As Contracted. Total

'The locks in the above abstract are placed at $4 per perch. They were mostly contracted for to be built of timber, but have since been changed, and are to be built of stone, so far as it can be obtained at reasonable cost.

Total cost aAs.estimated, aca thy os Ga bao $468,754 00 Amount of contracts as above shown, $358,984 14 Estimated amount of line not unde r contract to the Ohio, Ten per cent, to cover contingencies on the above items,

«A considerable portion of this line running through a dry and gravelly soil, the operations of the contractors were continued through the Winter and Spring with considerable success, and during the Summer and Autumn the work has progressed in a vigorous and efficient manner. Of the forty-three miles of this canal now under contract, thirty-four are completed, and the remaining twelve miles, consisting mostly of heavy work at the lower end of the line, are in such a state of forwardness as to afford strong assurances that the whole line will be finished by the 1st of July next. No apprehension of a failure of this desirable end is felt, except as to two or three heavy embankments on Mill Creek; and these, if the Winter should prove favorable for work, it is believed can be completed within that time. The finished work on this line, in addition to the excavations and embankments of the thirty-one miles, consists of nine locks, five aqueducts, twenty stone culverts, varying in size from three to twenty feet. chord, numerous paved wasteweirs, road-bridges, etc. The aqueducts and culverts on the whole line are completed, excepting the planking of the aqueduct trunks, which was directed to be omitted until Spring. Of the three locks remaining unfinished, one is very nearly completed, the walls of the second are raised to the upper meter-sill, and of the third to the height of four feet. They will be completed at an early day in the ensuing season.

"On the 2d of June last a contract was made for the construction of a dam across the Great Miami River above Middletown, a guard-lock, and a feeder forty-three chains in length from the dam to the canal. The work under this contract has progressed so far as to afford an assurance that it can be accomplished in the next season as the stage of the river will admit. In the mean time the canal may be supplied with water through the millrace of Abner Enoch in sufficient quantity to answer all 'the purposes of navigation. It was found; by observation during the last Spring, that the ponds at the head of Mill Créek, in the county of Butler, through which the canal passes in leaving the valley of the Great Miami, would in that season of the year entirely overflow the banks of the canal, and for some months remain in that situation. To prevent this evil - which would not only at times interfere with the use of the canal,' but would in a measure destroy it - it was found to be necessary to drain the ponds by making a cut one mile and seventy chains in length. A contract was, therefore, made for cutting this drain, the cost of which is estimated at one thousand dollars. It is probably by this time completed.

'Contracts have also been made since the date of the last report of the board for the extension of the canal into and through the city of Cincinnati, to a point near the head of the proposed locks, by which it is to be connected with the Ohio. These contracts, including those for the dam-feeder and pond-drain, have been made upon terms as favorable to the State as those heretofore made for the construction of other parts of the work. So far the work is now completed, and the final accounts of it made out. It is found that in plain line the original estimates of the work "in each section correspond very nearly with the true result, and that the actual cost of such line will not exceed the estimated cost as stated in the last report of the board; in some cases it is found to fall considerably short; but on rough, uneven, and sidelying ground, where heavy embankments and steep bluffs are encountered, a heavy portion of which is on this line, the engineers' final accounts, so far as they are now perfected, show that the number of yards of excavation and embankment in each section, as then estimated, will fall considerably short of the true result. This deficiency in the estimates on the rough line is to be accounted for in the following manner: In making out an estimate of the amount of excavation and embankment for the accounts - of last year, no other data could be had than a single line of levels divided into stations of three chains each, from which the average depth of cutting or height of the embankments was inferred. The result now shows that the number of yards then produced falls short, particularly on inclined grounds and steep bluffs. In addition to this, it has been found advisable on the heaviest parts of this line, with a view to greater security, to increase the base of the banks, and, where heavy bluffs are encountered, to throw the center line of the canal farther into the hill or bluff bank, which has necessarily added much to the number of yards of earth to be removed. It has also been found necessary to relet some of the heaviest of these embankments at higher prices. From the scarcity of stone on the line, it was found necessary, in making the contracts for the locks and other stonework, to stipulate a given distance within which it was then supposed stone could be obtained, and to agree to pay where the acting commissioner or engineer should be convineed of the necessity of going farther for stone for such extra hauling. It has been found impracticable to procure the necessary quantity of stone of a suitable quality within the distance assigned, and an extra allowance for hauling stone has been necessarily made to aconsiderable amount. Some lock excavation has been also unexpectedly encountered, and several paved wasteweirs, culverts, and some pavement of the banks, have been added to it. These items of increased cost and the unforeseen variations in the amount of work to be performed will add considerably to the final cost of this section of the Miami Canal when compared with the estimates of last year. The exact amount of the increase, which is chargeable principally to the stone-work and the heavy embankments and bluffs, can not now be ascertained, as the heavy work on the line is not yet completed; nor is it in such situation as to permit accurate estimates of the cost to be made. On that part of the line between Middletown and the locks near Reading - thirty-one and-a half miles - the excess of the actual cost over the estimates of the last year will be upwards of seventeen thousand dollars.

'"There has been paid to contractors on this canal and the works connected with it, during the year ending on the first of the present month, $265,302.78, which, with $31,994, the amount of payments last year, makes the total sum of $297,296.98 which has been paid on this line. The amount of the contracts which have been made on this canal from the final accounts of that part which is finished, and from the best estimate which can now be made of the unfinished parts, is as follows: at the head of the locks near Reading (twentyseven and a half miles finished),. . . . ._. . $228,867 20 The line from the head of the locks near Reading

"'Deducting the total amount of payment on this line from the estimated amount of contracts, as shown above, will leave the sum of $136,512.22, required to accomplish the works now under contract. The acting commissioner on this line, as provided by law, has appointed Matthias Corwine, of Warren County, James M¢Bride, of Butler County, and Arthur Henry, of Hamilton County, to be a board of appraisers for the assessment of the damages claimed by individuals in consequence of the construction of the canal through their lands, and for the materials used in the construction of the works connected with it. The operation of the law in relation to the use of materials for the construction of the canals has produced considerable dissatisfaction on this line; but it is confidently believed there will be a disposition among the citizens of that part of the State to acquiesce cheerfully in the awards of a board of appraisers composed of men of unquestionably high standing for uprightness of character and good judgment." zens of Butler and Hamilton counties had availed themselves of the opportunity of a ride upon the canal. One of the Hamilton newspapers, on November 30, 1827, Says :

"The S. Forrer, of Middletown, returned to this place on Wednesday evening last, on her way from Hartwell's basin, near Cincinnati, accompanied by the Washington and Clinton, of the Farmer's and Mechanic's line, with a party from Cincinnati. Yesterday morning they all left here in fine style for Middletown. The Washington and Clinton returned again in the evening of the same day, and left this place again early this morning for Cincinnati."

'* The water was let into the lower section of this canal to the city of Cincinnati several days since (March, 1828). Boats are now running regularly from Middletown to Cincinnati, a distance of forty-four miles."

'"'Tt will certainly be pleasing to some of our readers to learn the result of the first week's experiment on this canal. The first entries that were made on the collector's books at this place were on the 19th of March. Between that and the 26th there was entered for Cincinnati 991 barrels of flour, 432 barrels of whisky, 138 barrels pork, 576 kegs lard, and 86 barrels oil, besides a great variety of other produce of the country for the Cincinnati market. The boats on their passage outward were also generally full-freighted with merchandise and _passengers. The tolls entered upon the collector's books at this place during the first week, between the 19th and 26th, amounted to $229.36. Thus fair is the beginning."

'' ARRIVAL Extrra. - The Miami Rambler, a large pine canoe, arrived at the Hamilton Basin on Friday last, in eight days from Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, a distance of seven hundred miles. Mr. Samuel Scott, a citizen of this county, with his son, were the passengers of the canoe in her novel trip. They embarked on the head waters of the Alleghany River, proceeded down that river to its confluence with the Ohio River at Pittsburg, then down the Ohio River to Cincinnati; from thence they proceeded on the Miami Canal, about thirty miles up the line; their canoe was then hauled over the bank of the canal into the Miami River; then down the Miami to the mouth of Four-mile Creek; then up Fourmile to Mr. Scott's residence."

In May the newspaper reported that Packet No. 1, Farmers' and Merchants' Line, P. A. Sprigman, master, had arrived at the Hamilton basin, and would ply regularly between Cincinnati and Middletown when the canal was passable.

In November, 1828, the commissioners announce the completion of the lower level from Cincinnati to Middletown, although some unexpected difficulties had been met with. They report :

'The first division of this canal, extending from the head of Main Street in the city of Cincinnati to the mouth of the Miami feeder, a distance of forty-four miles, has been completed during the past season. Its full completion was delayed until the latter part of the season in consequence of the multiplied difficulties which had to be encountered by the contractors in completing their work on the heavy cliffs and embankments in the valley of Mill Creek. The greater part of the line was finished as early as midsummer. 'The introduction of water into this canal was commenced about the Ist of July, and was attended with serious difficulties. By continued and persevering efforts thirty-eight miles of it were sufficiently filled by the 1st of November for the running of boats. The extensive beds of very coarse gravel over which the first twenty miles of the canal are constructed, with the dry condition of the earth and pure state of the water at this season of the year, rendered the operation of filling it difficult and tedious. The process was rendered more difficult from the circumstance of there being but one point from which water could be drawn to supply the demand produced by the great absorption throughout the line below. Experience soon established the point that a patient perseverance was the only safe, and in the end the most expeditious, course which could be pursued. To increase the volume of water introduced from the river, with a view to hasten its progress forward in the canal, only added to. the liability of the new banks to give away, and thus to produce delays much more serious than would be experienced by the flow of water in smaller quantities, proportioned more nearly to the powers of resistance of the new and porous banks. The first view of the difficulties in filling this section of the canal seemed to wear a discouraging aspect; but a little observation and reflection only were necessary to satisfy the mind that the evil was merely temporary. 'The result has proved it to be so. Though by very slow degrees, and for a time scarcely perceivable, the absorption continued to lessen, until, with but little increase of the supply from the river, the canal was filled to a natural basin about six miles by the line of canal north of Cincinnati. It was deemed prudent to arrest the progress of the water at this point, with a view to allow the heavy clay embankment below it, under the seasoning influence of the Winter frosts and rains, time to settle and to acquire that solidity and strength which it is necessary they should have to render them safe, and which can only be acquired by the aid of time and the seasons. Embankments of the magnitude of these, where clay is the only material of which they are composed, can not be used while in a green and unsettled state without incurring greater risk than the dictates of prudence will sanction. In the present case the obligation to adhere to the counsel of prudence was the more binding, as the season had too far advanced to permit the idea of doing much business on the:canal before Spring. Navigation on this division of the canal may commence as early in the Spring as the bank can be raised, and such repairs made as the effects of the Winter upon this part of the line may render necessary; and a full confidence is felt that the business which will be done upon it, and the benefits resulting to the country, will be equal to the most sanguine expectations of the commissioners. .

"On the 28th of November three fine boats, crowded with citizens delighted with the novelty and interest of the occasion, left the basin six miles north of Cincinnati, and proceeded to Middletown with the most. perfect suecess. The progress of the boats was equal to about three miles an hour through the course of the whole line, including the detention at the locks and all other causes of delay, which are numerous in a first attempt to navigate a new canal, when masters, hands, and horses are inexperienced, and often the canal itself in imperfect order. The boats returned to the basin with equal success, and it is understood have made several trips since, carrying passengers and freight. The success of these experiments in canal navigation and the obvious facility with which heavy burdens were moved by the power of even a single horse, must go far to convince the most incredulous of the high interest and importance of such a channel of commercial intercourse passing the heart of a country as populous and productive as that through which this canal passes.

'' The levels throughout this line prove to have been taken with the nicest accuracy, and the work generally appears to have been constructed in a substantial manner. Some breaches have occurred on, the first introduction of the water and in consequence of the late heavy rains, but not to a greater extent than must be expected in all new canals. The liability to evils of this nature will gradually lessen, as time and the effects of the water upon the banks increase their solidity and strength. Two breaches occurred in the course of the season at a point about five miles from Hamilton, where the canal was constructed in the face of a bluff bank with the river, and considerable depth of water immediately at its base. The embankment at its base yielded to the pressure from above, and spread in the deep water of the river. The breaches are repaired, and probably have added to the security of the other parts of the same line of embankment. Another breach occurred in the embankment at Gregory's Creek, produced by the interference of an individual in closing the lock-gates below without the knowledge of the superintendent, before sufficient wasteways had been prepared to pass off the accumulated water. But the most serious injuries were experienced at the aqueduct over Mill Creek. From the peculiar character of the bottom of that stream, the spring-floods undermined the foundation of one of the piers so as to require the rebuilding of about ten feet of the head of the pier: and one of the wing walls of the same work also gave way a few days after that level was filled with water. The space within the wing-walls not occupied with puddle was filled with a very fine sand (the adjoining material), which, on being exposed to the influence of the water, became a quicksand, assuming a semi-fluid state. The powerful pressure of this mass overcame the wall, which, on a careful inspection, was found to have been built in a very unfaithful manner. The wall has been rebuilt, and the breach fully repaired, and measures have been taken, as far as practicable, to guard against similar evils.

the river, produced by the rains in October, caused a breach in the unfinished parts, which, from the advanced stage of the season and a constant succession of rains and high water, could not be then repaired, and its final completion was necessarily postponed until another year. In the mean time a sufficient supply of water for the canal may be drawn from the river by the aid of the brushdam, which gives the present supply. Immediately after the injury to the dam was sustained, the contract was declared to be forfeited on the part of the contractor, the work taken possession of by the State, and measures immediately taken to secure the dam against further injury, which, it is believed, will be effectual. The principal engineer was directed to make a particular examination with it, from which it appears that the acting commissioner had retained from the contractor money sufficient to admit of the completion of the dam by the State within the sum which would have been payable had it been completed under the contract. This Opinion is predicated upon the idea that the work will sustain no further injury. Several floods have occurred in the river since, which do not appear to have extended the injury.

"Contracts were closed on the 26th of May for the construction of the remaining division of this canal, which begins at the mouth of the feeder from the Miami River, and terminates in a dam in Mad River about one mile above Dayton. That part of it from the saw-mill at Dayton to the Mad River dam is designed upon the present arrangement to serve as a feeder; but, in the event of the extension of this work to the north at any future period, to be used as a section of canal. This division to the dam is twenty-three miles and twentyeight chains in length. It embraces ten locks, one aqueduct with a wooden trunk, three of heavy stone arches, with embankments of earth over them, and a dam across the Mad River. The remaining work is generally -of the ordinary character, with the exception of the cedar bluffs near Dayton, and a very heavy bluff bank at Vail's mill, immediately below the mouth of Clear 'Creek. At each of these points the river comes in contact with the high lands, presenting passes for the canal expensive and somewhat difficult to encounter. The work on this line has progressed since its commencement with much activity, and is already in a very forward state. By the terms of the contracts, it is to be completed on the first day of June next. The advanced state of the work justifies the opinion that it will be completed all in the month of July. :

'* The stone-work on this division, which has heretofore, on the Miami Canal, cost much more than it was originaily estimated to cost, has been let at rates about equal to the first estimate; and the earth-work at as low rates as on any other part of the canals. But throughout the line of the Miami Canal it has been found that the quantities of most of the different items of work upon which the first estimate was founded fall short of the actual quantity, and that its actual cost must necessarily exceed its estimated cost. The plans for crossing the different streams now adopted are, in many cases, . more costly, but probably more substantial than those upon which the original estimates were made. In several instances heavy arches of masonry have been adopted, where wooden aqueducts or dams were the plans upon which the first estimates were founded. The item of locks is, however, the great cause of the difference between the actual and estimated cost of this canal, compared with that of the Ohio Canal, north of the Licking Summit. The principal saving on that part of the Ohio Canal, now under contract, will be in the cost of the locks.. A very large proportion of the lockage is embraced in that line, and from the great facility of procuring stone of the easiest quality to work the locks from the summit to Kaldersburg, will be constructed at an average of $1,500 each less than the first estimate of their cost, and those from the latter point to Lake Erie upon terms but little less favorable; while on the Miami Canal the locks, instead of being the chief item of saving, have necessarily cost a sum considerably above the original estimate. The heavy bluffs and embankments encountered on the line have also contributed to swell the actual over the estimated cost of it.

'The payments made on the entire line, within the year ending on the first of December, amount to $258,- 525.79, which, with the sum of $297,296.98 previously paid, makes the total payments to contractors on this canal, $555,822.77. There has been paid on the line from Cincinnati to the Miami feeder the sum of $456,- 854.52, and there remains yet to be paid the sum of $1,115.16, making $10,403.40 its average cost per mile. This sum includes what has been paid in raising banks, in strengthening, securing, and repairing the canal, and in building lock-houses, up to the first of -December. There has been paid on account of the dam and feeder to the contractor, $10,614; and to the superintendent, since the work has been taken into the hands of the State, $600 - in all, $11,214. The original estimate of the cost of this division of the canal, commencing at the Ohio River, and including the dam and feeder, was $474,254. The actual cost of the same, beginning at the head of Main Street, in Cincinnati, including the payments on account of the dam and feeder, is $469,183.68. The estimated cost of the upper division of this canal under the contracts is $234,686.54. The work performed agreeably to the certificates. of the engineers amounts to $96,040.41, leaving work to be performed to the amount of $138,646.13. To this should be added the probable sum of $3,000, which will be required to complete the dam across the Miami River. Awards have been made by the board of appraisers in favor of individuals for damages sustained by the construction of the canal to the amount of $5,011.54, which have been paid to the amount of $4,521.87. The sums awarded have been mostly for stone and timber used in the construction of the canal. There are several claims for the value of land occupied and for injuries alleged to have been sustained by the separation of the different parts of a farm, which have not yet been decided upon by the appraisers. A schedule of the awards which have been made is herewith submitted, marked A.

On The Miami Canal, Made By The Board Of Appraisers, Under Dates July 41H, October 22D, November 24Th, 1828

"The injury which this canal sustained in consequence of the floods of the last Winter was not so great as, from its exposed position, was expected. The cost of repairing the several breaches which occurred on that part of the line below the Miami feeder did not exceed the sum of two thousand dollars. The effects of the Winter on the line, in the lower part of the valley of Mill Creek, were of a nature calculated to cause serious difficulty, and to require a véry considerable expenditure to prepare that portion of the canal for navigation. The settling of the heavy embankments, and the sliding of the earth lying in its natural. condition from under the banks of the canal on the lower side, and into it from the upper side, were evils of much magnitude, which were increased by the peculiarly wet Winter and Spring. The breaches caused by the flood were repaired, and the effects of the Winter upon the lower part of the line so far overcome as to permit of the passage of boats. throughout the line from Middletown to Cincinnati, on the 17th of March. Navigation on this division of the canal has been continued throughout the season with frequent interruptions, arising out 'of the peculiar character of the lower part of the line, and the unpropitious nature of the forepart of the season for the safety of a new canal, constructed upon clay side hills and artificial banks. A very salutary change has been produced in the appearance and character of this line since the termination of the Spring rains. The base of the embankments generally had been extended with a view to their greater security, the inner slopes and bottom of the canal, where it was deemed necessary, have been puddled, and the banks have now become much more solid and compact, and the evils arising from the slips are evidently lessening so far as to give assurances of less difficulty hereafter. But it will require time, with the exercise of much vigilance, to render this part of the canal entirely free from the evils incident to its peculiar character.

'"'The measures which had been taken at the date of the last annual report of the board to secure the dam across the Miami River from further injury proved effectual. It sustained little or no further damage through the Winter and Spring, and on the arrival of the proper season the breach through which the river had flowed for more than six months was closed in a very substantial manner. The sum expended in securing and rebuilding the dam, added to that which had been previously paid to the contractor, still keeps the cost of the dam and feeder within the sum which would have been payable had it been completed under the contract without the occurrence of the breach.

'The causes, in part, which delayed the progress of the work on the Ohio Canal have operated in their full force to retard the progress of the work on the upper "division of the Miami Canal. It was confidently believed that this line could all have been completed in the month of July; its full completion was, however, delayed until the month of November, notwithstanding every reasonable exertion was made by the contractors to finish their work at an earlier period. The transportation of stone for the locks and aqueducts, the quarries for which were situated seven miles from the line, was necessarily delayed until the middle and latter part of the Summer, in consequence of the impassability of the roads during the Winter and early part of the season. This unavoidably delayed the completion of these works until late in the season. The entire canal from Cincinnati to Dayton, with a feeder from the Miami River a short distance above Middletown, and one from Mad River near Dayton, is now completed with the exception of the dam over Mad River, which was injured by the floods of January last. The water of this river continued so high up to the month of July as to induce the postponement of the rebuilding of the dam until another season. The feeder has been extended a short distance further up the stream, which, with the aid of a temporary brush and stone dam, gives an ample supply of water for the present.

"The filling of the new line with water has proved to be a tedious operation. That part of it nearest to Dayton, being first finished, the water was introduced into it as early as the 27th of September, and with an intermission of ten days made necessary by the unfinished state of a job, and another of twelve days, in consequence of a breach in an embankment, there has been a continued flow from Mad River in the canal of from six thousand to ten thousand cubic feet of water per minute up to the present time. Such has been the absorption of the water by the gravelly plains through which the canal is constructed, that with the utmost exertions on the part of the superintendent the water of Mad River has but just reached the head of the lower division of the canal. This portion of the line being filled with water, a change in the temperature of the weather is all that is now required to open navigation from Cincinnati to Dayton.

''Witb the exception of about seven miles of the line near Cincinnati this canal is believed to be a very safe and permanent work, which will require for its annual repairs an expenditure comparatively small. It embraces twenty-two locks, overcoming one hundred and eightyeight feet of lockage. These are built in a permanent manner, most of them in a character of workmanship that will bear a comparison with other works of the kind in the United States. The aqueducts on the lower division are constructed with wooden trunks, those in the upper division, with one exception, upon. stone arches with embankments of earth over the arches. That over Clear Creek, supported by three arches of forty feet chord, is built in a style of workmanship which, for strength and beauty, is not surpassed by any work of the kind. It reflects much credit upon the skill and fidelity, of the contractor. A side cut to connect the canal with the town of Hamilton has been laid out and constructed under the authority of the board within the past season, the length of which is fifty-three chains and sixty-two links. The cost of this cut is between six and seven thousand dollars, two thousand of which have been paid by the State, and the remaining sum by the citizens of Hamilton and Rossville.

And 18Th Days Of December, 1829

SCHEDULE OF FURTHER AWARDS SUSTAINED BY INDIVIDUALS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MIAMI CANAL MADE BY THE BOARD OF APPRAISERS ON THE 16TH AND 18TH DAYS OF DECEMBER, 1829.