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Georgiaa Statesman.
TERMS,—S3 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE,]
Bv BURRITT & MEACHAM
THE GEORGIA STATESMAN
Is published weekly at the Seat of Govern
ment, opposite the State-House Square, at
Three Dollars per ann. in advance, or Four
Dollars if not paid in six months.
N. 11. Sales of land and negroes, by Ad
ministrators, Executors, or Guardians, are
required by law, to be held on the first Tues
day in the month, between the hours of ten
in the forenoon, and three in the afternoon,
at the court house of the county in which the
property is situate. Notice of these sales
must be given in a public Gazette SIXTY
days previous to the day of sale.
Notice of the sale of personal property
must be given in like manner, FORTY days
previous to the day of sale.
Notice to the debtors and creditors of an
estate must be published for FORTY 7 days.
Notice that application will be made to
the Court of Ordinary for leave to sell land,
must be published for NINE MONTHS.
Am. Letters must be POST PAID.
A Society for the Promotion of Internal
Improvement in the State of Pennsylvania
was organised in December 1824. This So
ciety in the prosecution of the great object
before them, appointed William Strickland,
Esq. to proceed to Europe to obtain all the
information possible, which could benefit the
Society, in the prosecution of the great work
of Internal Improvement.
The following are his instructions which we
copy from the First Annual Report of the
Actiqg Committee of the Society.
It will be seen from this extract how valua
ble and important are the subjects upon w hich
Mr. S. was charged to collect information,
lie spent a long time in Europe, and suffered
nothing to escape a critical inspection, that
could aid him in the duties of his mission.
The.world affords not greater facilities for ac
quiring that practical information which is so
judiciously embodied in the instructions of
the Pennsylvania Board, than that which Mr.
Strickland has explored. We think there are
but few men in our country so well qualified
to discharge the high duties of such a mission
as this gentleman ; and we venture to say,
that if his instructions have been fulfilled
with a faithfulness equal to his opportunities,
tile arrangement and publication of all the
facts thus •collected, will be worth all the
books that have ever been published on the
same subjects.
The “Board for the Internal Improvement
of the Commonw’ealth of Pennsylvania,”
have already appropriated five thousand dol
lars for the publication of these Reports ; but
having accurately counted the cost of the
long and numerous engravings that are in
tended to accompany the work, it is ascer
tained that even this liberal appropriation is
insufficient to defray the first cost of publica
tion, by about sloon a copy. This Board,
therefore, oiler to give the work to the public
handsomely' printed, for ten dollars the single
copy, which is certainly much less than half
its cost..
Specimens of the Engravings, &c. may b*-
seen at this Oflice, togetlier with a Prospec
tus anti Subscription paper, where those who
wish the work can leave their names.
Philadelphia, March 18, 1825.
William Strickland, Esq.
Dear Sir. —The Acting Commit
tee of “ The Pennsylvania Society
for the Promotion of Internal Im
provement,” beg leave to call your
attention to the general outlines of
the duties you will have to perform,
as the agent of the Society in Eu
rope.
The objects for the attainment of
■which the Society have determined
upon this measure, the execution
of which is delegated to you, are
known to you, and you will con
stantly have in view their accom
plishment with your best abilities.
The confidence we place in your
talents and industry, the obliga
tions you will be under to obtain,
for the heavy expenses attendant on
your agency, an adequate return; and
the satisfaction, as well as the re
wards you will yourself have in con
tributing, by the success of your la
bours to the prosperity, wealth and
happiness of your native state and of
you country ; are ample pledges of
the fidelity and diligence with which
you will execute the duties of the
important trust.
You will proceed from this city to
Liverpool, taking your passage in
one of the line of packets from this
port, and commencing your voyage
within the present month.
As England, Scotland, Wales and
Ireland, have made more progress
in the arts and sciences, and have
more extensively and successfully
applied them to internal improve
ments, •your observations, inquiries
and investigations will, in the first
portion of the time you will "be ab
sent, be directed to the great works
which have been accomplished in
those countries. You will after
wards proceed to France Holland and
tiermany, should any objects of suf
ficient interest exist there, and time
shall permit the same Thus w de
sire it to be distinctly understood,
that you will visit no other parts of
Europe, unless further instruct'd,
than England, Scotland, Males, Ire
land, France, Holland, and Gernia
ny-
Asa general principle which shall
govern you in all your proceedings,
as the leading purpose in all your
pursuits, we wish you to understand
distinctly, that all the knowlcdgc # and
information you can collect, all the
facts which you shall become pos
sessed of, which may in any manner
be connected with your mission, must
be carefully, accurately, and minute
ly written down and preserved in the
form of a diary, or such other record
as will enable you to communicate
the same to the society, in memoirs
or reports, when your duties shall
enjoin the same. All the results of
your enquiries and exertions will be
the property of the Society.
Another and equally important rule
which we wish you to observe and
faithfully execute, is the following.
It is not a knowledge of abstract
principles, nor an indefinite and gen
eral account of their application to
the great works of Europe, we de
sire to possess through your labors.
These we have in books, and your
mission would be of little compara
tive value, should you acquire for
the society such information only.
What we earnestly wish to obtain, is
the means of executing all those
works in the best manner, and with
the greatest economy and certainty ;
and for these purposes you will pro
cure and exhibit in your reports, all
that will enable those who shall un
dertake the formation of Canals,
Railways and Roads, and the con
struction of Bridges, to perform the
work, without such persons having
the science by which such works
were originally planned and execut
ed. To use a term which is familiar
to you as an architect, we desire to
obtain working plans of the best con
structed canals, and their locks and
inclined planes; of railways, and all
the means of using them to advan
tage ; of roads, and of the mode of
their formation and preservation;
and of the construction of bridges.
To be more definite on this head,
we desire that you furnish such min
ute and particular descriptions, plans,
drawings sections estimates and di
rections, as possessed of them, those
works may be executed in Pennsyl
vania, without the superintendance
of a civil engineer of superior skill
and science.
Before we proceed to a particular
statement of the subjects for your
investigations on your mission, urn
would claim your attention to a
pledge which has been given by the
society to the public ; that your first
efforts shall be directed to railways,
and that at as early a period as pos
sible you shall communicate all the
information you can w collect upon
them.
Canals. In your examination of
the canals of Europe, we request you
will always bear in mind the fact that
the great capital which is ever at the
command of those who there under
take such works, and the immediate
and profitable use to which they can
be applied; have induced those who
have executed them, to regard then
cost of less importance than we are
compelled to consider it here. When
a work of that kind will produce re
turns of three or four times the rate
of interest in the country where it is
executed, expenditure is of less con
sequence than with us, where the
pecuniary means to accomplish any
such purposes are collected with
great difficulty, and where attempts
to execute them frequently fail from
want of capital Whatever may be
the certainty of ultimate profit from
any of our canals or roads, we have
always found obstacles to obtaining
funds for their prompt execution In
the differences between the cost of
labour in England and Scotland, and
in America, the cheapness of some
of the materials used in the con
struction of th ir public works, and
in the facilitiss of transporting those
materials which the improved state
of the country, and the existence of
canals and railways in the vicinity
affords ; may be found many impor
tant facts which have materially in
fluenced the cost of those works; on
the other hand we have materials,
which may not have been used there
on account of their scarcity and
expense, and which if substituted in
our undertakings, would materially
diminish our expenditures in the
formation of canals with their locks,
and inclined planes. Thus wood is
in England a most costly article, and
hence stone is there generally sub
stituted. If wood could be used in
the construction of the locks of can
als, more than two-thirds of their
expense would be saved, and the
execution of many works of this des
cription in our country would ho cer
tain.
With those introductory remarks,
which are submitted to your candid
consideration, we proceed to say,
that you will iu reference to canals
inquire and report to the Society
upon, Ist The most approved and
substantial method of constructing
Eock Cates together with their valves
and sluices.
2d. The best mode of lining and
puddling Aqueducts and Culverts.
Hac tibi crunt ailes, pacisquc imponere rnorem, pnrrfre subiectis et debcliare superbos.— Virgil
Milledgeville, Tuesday, May, 30, 1826,
3d. The best plan for overcoming
the difficulty in forming the bottom
and side .banks of a canal through
lime stone formations ; or formations
which are cavernous, porous or so
uble in water; particularly in deep
cutting and in embanking.
4th. The cost of the work by the
cubic yard, stating the particular
quantity and parts thereof.
sth The failures in canals ; their
causes; and other circumstances con
nected therewith.
6th. Rock excavation; tunnelling
generally, and through gravel and
other loose soil; the use and frequen
cy of shafts ; together with the best
method of removing the materials,
and draining the work in its progress:
the greatest depth of shafts, and how
preserved and constructed ?
7th. The quantum of evaporation
and soakage, particularly considered,
reference being made to the loca
tions. soil and quality of the work
We also request your attention to
the following queries, which relate
to canals or subjects connected with
their use.
Bth. Is there any substitute for
locks, now in use in England, or on
the continent ? If so, what advan
tages have they been found to pos
sess 1
9th. Is there any information in
England concerning the evaporation
of water occasioned in canals by va
riations of climate ? The great min
ing districts of Germany, furnish
some very curious results as to the
evaporation by high winds in the au
tumn and winter season.
Perhaps the canals of the south of
France may afford some facts on
the solar evaporation, in summer.
Our climate is so different from that
of England, that we must endeavor
to obtain data on this subject from
the continent.
10th. Are steam boats permitted
to navigate any of the canals in Great
Britain. If any, what means have
been devised to prevent the destruc
tion of the banks, produced by the
motion imparted to the water
11th. Are any of the tunnels in
England made through crumbling
rocks ? If so, what arch is preferred
fvr il.vil pi LUCiV,liv#t» 'i la *l*l-.
case where a complete elipsis has
been required, as in mines 1
12th. If a rock is not to be obtain
ed for a foundation for the lock
walls, do they iii e' ery instance pile
or construct inverted arcdl?*- upon
which to build their walls ; pr do i
they, when they have good gravel
or slate, rely upon it for a founda
tion ? If not, may not timer laid
lengthways be relied on ? When
they have not rock for the bottom
of their locks, do they make am ar
tificial bottom of stone or w ood ?
13th. Do they build the lock walls
in straight or curvilinear lines ?
What is the tickness of their lock
walls, and are they supported by but
tresses extending into the banks ?
Or by giving the walls a greater
thickness, do they supersede the ne
cessity for buttresses ? How are
their lock walls built—if of cut stone
in front, how is the backing con
structed*—whether of common rough
mason work, or large stone w tl
fitted together I What is the best
kind of cement, and how is it affect
ed by the seasons ? llow soon does
it perish ?
14th. What is the slope of the
banks of a canal 1 What the height
of the banks above the surface of the
water, particularly the towing path
side, and its width ?
loth. In very deCp shafts, are
the workmen affected by the gases
from the bowels of the earth ? Is
their an instance ofthc workmen be
ing driven off by the gases l What
proportion does the diameter of the
shafts bear to their depth? What
distance are shafts apart, and is not
this regulated by the depth of dig
ging or height of the hill ? What is
the greatest depth a shaft may be
sunk ?
16th. What kind of river naviga
tion have they above the tide ? Hoto
is the navigation constructed ? What
kind of towing paths have they ?
What distance are they from the
boat channel, and when the distance
between them is very great, is the
power for propelling the boat neces
sarily very much increased ? If so
is it in direct proportion to the dis
tance ?
17th. What kind of gates
they across the towing paths, where
they pass through different inclos
ures ?
18th. In the severe weather in
the winter, do they draw the water
off their canals ?
19th. Have the frosts of winter,
any pernicious dffcct upon their ca
nals, locks, turnpikes and railroad ?
20th' What descent have their
canals, or what is the approved de
scent ? What isthe greatest acclivi
ty of railroads ?
Mr John Blair of our state,'whose
communications to the Society have
always been valuable, has expressed
a wish that you should inquire, wheth
er wooden locks are in use, what
length of time they will last, and
what is the comparative .expense be
tween them and stone locks? He
remarks, and justly, that as our wes
tern canals must hare the greatest
portion of their lockage in, and near
the mountains, whore thery ore in
exhaustible forests of timber; should
timber be useful, and the durability
of such locks considerable, a great
saving would be effected. This sub
ject is placed in a very interesting
position by a letter of Mr. Sellers,
which we request you will peruse.
Like the early settlements of our
country, we may find it advantage
ous to be simple and homely in our
first works, and in time, replace them
by others of a superior execution
and of permanent -materials.
Rai waus. —Of the utility of rail
ways and their importance as ( means of
transporting large burdens, we have
full knowledge. Os the mode of
constructing them and their cost
nothing is known with certainty.
Even in England, where railways
have been used for more than a
century, these are subjects of con
troversy and doubt. You will arrive
at Liverpool at a peculiarly fortu
nate era in the construction and em
ployment of railways. The great
communication by their means be
tween Manchester and Liverpool,
and between Birmingham andLiver
pool, will have been commenced, or
all the principles and plans, by which
they will be governed in their con
struction, will have been settled and
determined.
We desire that your inquiries in
relation to railways shall be com
menced and prosecuted as soon as
you arrive, and that as speedily as
you shall have obtained all the infor
mation upon them you deem import
ant and sufficient, that you transmit
th same to us, retaining a duplicate
of your report, and of the drawings
and estimates which may accompany
it for illustration.
You will bear in mind, in your in
vestigations of this subject, that we
ssa ...
Pennsylvania; and you will there
fore so exhibit your facts, so that
they may be understood by reference
to the drawings which you may make
and which shall accompany your re
port.
Comrflencing in your examina
tions with the plans observed in
making surveys and forming the line
of the rout of the railway ; it is de-.
sired that you ascertain with precis
ion the greatest angles of ascent
which the profitable use of railways
will bear. In our mountainous state
if railways shall be adopted, they
must passover numerous elevations,
some of them abrupt, and many of
them so formed as to render their
reduction impossible.
The foundations for the reception
of the iron rail will next require at
tention. Climate must enter mate
rially into the decision upon the
question how th^ - foundation of a
railway shall be made in Pennsylva
nia ; and the difference between the
moist and moderate winters of Eng
land, and the deep snows, sudden and
hard frosts, variable temperature,
and long continucnce of our winters ;
must have your consideration and
attention in these examinations. —
Without entering into the subject
particularly, but submitting; it, with
great deference, to your considera
tion, we would remark, that if ma
sonry could be avoided in the con
struction of the foundation for the
irou rails, if w ood, how ever large in
size, and great in quantity can be
employed here, the influence of our
climate upon the work would be less
njurious Durability of the mate
rials would be lost by the use of
wood, but the parts might retain
(heir form and connection for a long
time, and the small expense of re
placing any part of the work, which
might decay, would perhaps com
pensate for the absence of perma
nent substances in the foundation.
In relation to the construction and
form of the road and rails, we desire
you to ascertain every mode which
is now 7 in favorable use in England,
Scotland, and Wales. It is said that
recent improvements have been made
in the form and position of the rails,
and that different forms are used for
different purposes. How railways
are crossed by wagons heavily laden,
how wagons pass when proceeding
in opposite directions, what means
are taken for the protection of rail
ways from injury by wheels not pro
perly constructed to pass upon them,
and how the wagons and their car
riages are constructed, and of what
materials ? Upon all these subjects
wo ask particular information, ac
companied with drawings which will
make the same easily understood
and employed
The expense of railways will be a
subject of careful and particular in
vestigation. In your statements un
der this head you will inform us of
the separate cost of each part, dis
tinguishing accurately between the
charges for the formation of the line,
and the preparation of the founda
tion, and the expense of the mate
rials employed. The difference be
tween the cost ofjabor in England
and in this country will affect those
statements; and it would, therefore,
be well if you would accompany your
report with information of the rates
of day labor, in the particular parts
of the country where the railways
are located, which may be referred
to by you.
Locomotive machinery will com
mand your attention and inquiry.
This is entirely unknown in the Uni
ted States, and we authorise you to
procure a model of the most approv
ed locomotive machine, at the ex
pense of the Society.
Turnpikes. —On the subject of the
improved mode of constructing roads
by Mr. M’Adam, we have, as you
know, all that have been published.
These publications, however, give
us rather the evidence of the excel
lence of the roads made upon that
plan, than a practical and familiar
description of the manner in which
they are ex- cutcd. A report des
criptive of the first preparation and
arrangement of the ground over
which the road is to pass, and which
is to become the foundation of the
stone work ; the following steps pre
paratory to the covering of this with
stone; the nature of the stone to be
used; its preparation and the man
ner in which it is applied; the mea
sures adopted to prevent injury to
the road while in the course of con
struction ; the final completion of
the road and the mode of keeping it
in order, with the regulations as to
its use, particularly the description
of carriages or waggons used upon it.
All these will command and obtain
your careful attention. Should you
think the suggestion worthy of your
consideration and adoption, we would
propose that you should prepare or
obtain a memoir on this subject, di
• utlury„,nftjm can- , C j
to construct a M’Adam’s road, so
particular, so full, so descriptive, so
plain, and accompanied with such
illustrations by drawings, as will en
able any good maker to commence
and execute the work.
A person who is perfectly ac
quainted with M’Adam’s principles of
Toad making, who has been accus
tomed to apply them in the construc
tion of roads, and who should bring
with him testimonials of character
and practical skill, would find em
ployment in the United States. The
Society will not give a pledge to
compensate such an individual for
visiting the United States, but you
arc authorised to assure hitn that all
the patronage and efforts of the indi
vidual members of the assoc.ation
can do to promote the fortunes of
such a man will be exerted.
das Lights. The proposed intro
duction of gas into the city of Phila
delphia, makes it important that at
as early a moment as your other du
ties will permit, you furnish a full re
port upon this subject. What is the
best and most economical apparatus ?
YVhat material is pref rred, and the
reasons for the preference, the cost
of thc material in England, the most
approved plan lor conducting gas
from the place of manufacture to
where it is used, the employment of
detached and transportable gasome
ters of fountains, and their cost, and
their mode of use, and how all the
machinery which may be required
for the construction of the works
and for the distribution of gas in Phil
adelphia can be obtained, and at what
costs ? These arc submitted as beads
of enquiry.
Rrcak H aters. The intimate con
nection between the commercial
prosperity of our state and its inter
nal improvement, and the important
advantages which would be conse
quent on the erection of a Break
water at the mouth of the Bay of
Delaware, have induced the Society
to ask you to procure information,
of the most approved plaD, for con
structing a floating Breakwater. A
floating Breakwater is said to have
withstood the destructive storm which
lately shook, to its foundations, that'
which was built of stone at Plymouth;
and as the cost of the former is said
to be much less than that of the lat
ter, it is desired to obtain a full
knowledge of the plan and construc
tion of the same ; how anchored and
sunk, its capacity to resist the ocean,
and the effect of the same upon it;
its cost and its competency compared
with works of a similar kind, which
■arc built of stone and are intended
to be immoveable ?
Manufacture oj Iron. We ap
proach this subject with the deepest
impression of its importance, and
[OR $4 IF NOT PAID IN SIX MONTHS.
Number 24, Vol. 1
with a firm conviction that the full
investigation of it will require more
time than you can bestow upon it.
We arc satisfied it would yield gold
en returns, if an agent of competent
talents and information, should be
exclusively employed in the investi
gations and inquiries connected with
the manufacture of iron in England
and Wales. If the wealth of Eng
land has been corrcctjy ascribed to
her iron and her coal, Pennsylvania
may with equal certainty become the
England of the New World, ill theso
riches ; for she has coal of a quality
superior to that of, her most prosper
ous rival, and she lias great varieties
of this most valuable mineral; and
she has iron ores of every descrip
tion and kind which arc known irr
any part of thc worjd. No improve
ments have been -made hero-in if
within the last thirty years, and the
use of bituminous and anthracite coal
in our furnaces is absolutely and en
tirely unknown. It is said that since
the use of mineral coal in the making 7
of irou was introduced England has
.increased the manufacture of this
article many thousand fold ; and the
cost of its production diminished
one-half.
Attempts, and of Ihe most costly 1 ’
kind, have been made to use the coal
of the western part of our state in
the production of iron. Furnaces
have been constructed according to
the plan said to bo adopted in Wales
and elsewhere ; persons claiming ex
perience in the business have been
employed, but all has been unsuc
cessful. In large sections of our
state ore of the finest quality, coal
in the utmost abundance, lime-stone
of the best kind, lie in immediate
contiguity, and water power is with*
iu the shortest distance of these
mines of future wealth. The prices
which are obtained for iron on
western waters are double those of
England, the demand is always great*
er than the supply ; and thus nothing
but knowledge of the art of using
tiiese rich possessions is wanted.
But it is not only in the knwoledge
of the production of iron, that we
are behind the country you arc about
to visit. In the art. o&acastinsr. in
making bar-iron, the improved stal#
of knowledge you will find in Eng
land has given her* a superiority,
which would enable her to command
our own market, but for the protec
tion the manufactures have in the
tariff’.
We desire your attention to the
following inquiries on the subject of
the manufacture of iron.
Ist. What is the most approved
and frequent process for coking coal,
and what is the expense of the pro
cess per ton or chaldron ?
2d. In what manner are the ar
rangements or buildings, if any, con
structed for the coking of coal, ob
taining drawings and profiles thereof.
3d. Are there different modes of
coking coal, and if they have any
differences in* principle, what are
they 1
4th. In what manner are the most
approved furnaces for the smelting
of ore constructed? Drawings and
sections of the same to accompany
(he information which may be ob
tained upon this inquiry.
6th. The mode of drawing off the
pigs, and the plan adopted for keep
ing a supply of ores, if peculiar or
superior to that used in this country
Oth. The making of castings. Is
there any process by which castings
are made soft, so that they may be
substituted tor brass or copper, it
there is, what is that process ?
7th. What is the most approved
construction of a foundary, and what
the most approved mode of casting f
Drawings, profiles, and minute des
criptions to accompany the informa
tion you may collect upon these in
quiries.
Cth. What is the most approved
mode of making bar iron, and what
is the most approved machinery used
in the same ? Drawings, profiles and
a discription of the same are request
ed.
Oth. Is the Anthracite coal used in
any processes for making or using
iron ? If it is, all the information ot
the mode of its use will be of the
greatest importance.
10th. The best mode of making
steel. Where is it made, from what
quantity of iron ? How the English
blister is prepared, the process for its
production, does it require a pecu
liar kind of iron, or docs the quantity
of the best steel depend exclusively
on the mode of carbonating tlr iron 1
11th. At what stage of the pro
cess of converting bar iron into steel,
does the agency of the coke com
mence. Is charcoal used in any of
the processes for making steel?
When, how, and to what extent is it
used, it at all ?
12th. What is the construction of
a furnace for making stool upon the
best and most approved principles '?
What time is required to convert u