Show If IMPORTANCE OF ERIE CANAL WILL BE THE LARGEST ARTIFICIAL ARTIFI-CIAL WATERWAY IN WORLD Improved Excavating Machinery to he Tested In the Work Which Will Cost 101000000 Ono of tho big projects which Is occupying the attention of the people of the state of Now York Is tho enlargement en-largement of the Erie canal an appropriation ap-propriation of 101000000 having been made by tho legislature for tho purpose Tho extent of tho proposed enlargement will make tho canal the largest artificial waterway for navigation naviga-tion In the world considering the length as well as tho breadth and depth When speaking of tho Erie canal wo Include Its two Important branches which are frequently overlooked over-looked and these arc to sharo In tho Improvement Theso branches aro the Oswego canal 3S miles long extending ex-tending from Onondaga lake near 42 J I Ij y C li l General View of Excavation Showing Deep Cut Near Rochester Syracuse to Lake Onatrlo at Oswego and the Champlaln GG miles long which furnishes a navigable waterway water-way from the upper Hudson near Troy to Lake Champlaln Each maybe may-be called a branch of tho Erie for tho reason that boats passing through tho Oswego canal enter tho main channel by way of Onondaga lake whllo boats from Lako Chnmplaln bound southward south-ward and westward enter tho Erlo near tho southern terminus of the ChamplaIn canal The value of these branches Is Indicated by tho fact that they furnish tho Interior of New York state Its only water connection with Lake Ontario and the St Lawronco river and are tho means of considerably consid-erably swelling tho traffic of tho main canal slnco they also give It a connection con-nection by water with Canada Tho main canal and branches will be of uniform depth and breadth on the bottom Vessels drawing ll4 feet of water can pass from ono end to tho other of tho system while the width at the bottom will bo at least 75 feet Otnorally speaking this means that tho main canal will bo enlarged en-larged to about four times Its present transportation capacity At present tho depth ranges from 7 to 9 feat about ono third of tho waterway being be-ing of tho latter depth to which It was excavated by tho expenditure of 9000000 appropriated for this purpose pur-pose In 1891 When tho historic Seneca Chief the first boat to carry freight and passengers upon It made tho trip from Buffalo to Albany tho cannl was but 28 foot In width on tho bottom 70 feet on the surface whllo ltd avuroie dopth was not over 4 I feet The demands of commerce sq crowded It with tratllc that only ten years later tho Now York legislature authorized tho enlargement which approximately ap-proximately represents the dimensions of tho canal prior to the enlargement of 1895a work which was not completed com-pleted until 1862 Tho bargo of tho futuro howovor will have a cargo capacity of 33 1t times tho original craft 22 23 times the boats of tho period between 1S30 and 18DO ten times thoso In Bervlcq between I860 and 1802 and four times as groat as tho average bout In present pres-ent use What Is perhaps moro significant sig-nificant however Is tho extent of Limo cargoes which can bo shipped at ono tlmo by a fleet of tows of tho now boats Tho majority of tho towing vessels aro Intended as cargo carriers car-riers but provided with engines sufficiently suf-ficiently powerful to pull from two to three boats In addition moving at a rate of from tour to six miles an hour Thus from 12000 to 15000 bushels ot wheat can now be transported from I Buffalo to Now York at a single ship mont If desired The present plan will probably bo followed In making up tows for convenlonco and economy This means that a single series ot barges will carry enough grain to load an ocean steamship of 4000 tons capacity ca-pacity A very largo fleet of vessels of thin kind IB plying across tho Atlantic At-lantic In the socalled train service for It has boon demonstrated that thoy can bo constructed and equipped with engines which make them among tho most economical freight carriers In the world Already seine Interesting machinery has been Installed especially on Contract Con-tract No C between Rochester and Buffalo find on Contract No 4 I on tho eastern dIvision Enough work has been thus far performed to glvo some conception of tho great size of tho excavation required Whllo western Now York Is comparatively level when contrasted with tho Mohawk valley tho country Is roiling In character necessitating several deep cutson tho contract referred to Up to tho present pres-ent the digging has been performed fchlofly by steam shovels equipped with toothed bucket scoops holding from two to five cubic yards |