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The Muscle shoals Improve
ment.
We have published considerable
matter pertaining to the opening of
Muscle Shoals, in the Tennessee River,
for navigation, and will add the fol
lowing description by General Boyn
ton, published in the Cincinnati Com
mercial Gazette:
The announcement from Chatta
nooga that the first lower river steamer
had passed through the Muscle Shoals
Canal means a great deal for a magni
ficent region in which Cincinnati has
a deep interest. The work on the
canal, which has just been completed,
was for some years in charge of Col.
J. W. Barlow, a very able and ener
getic officer of the Engineer Corps of the
army. As now opened, it is the most
extensive Government works of its
kind. It is also equal to any in all
parts of its c< nstruction.
The project of connecting the waters
of the Upper Tennessee with the Ohio
River system, a canal around the
shoals above Florence originated when
Mr. Calhoun was Secretary of War in
1824. Os late years Gen. Wheeler,
of Alabama, has given great attention
to the matter, and to his influence
more than to that of any other one
Congressman has continued support
for the work been obtained. His
speeches contain both the history and
the details of the work. The recent
reports of Col. Barlow are all full as
to recent progress and the condition of
the work. Secretary Calhoun referred
to the proposed canal around Muscle
Shoals as third to rank among the
projected improvements of national
importance, and in 1828 a survey was
made by a Board of United States
Engineers.
Gen. Andrew Jackson crossed the
Tennessee River at er near Muscle
Shoals repeatedly during his Indian
campaigns early in the century. With
the keen perception, rapid comprehen
sion and prompt decision which dis
tinguished him, that great man at
once saw the nece ; sity for removing
the obstruction to the navigation of
the river, and appreciated the propri
ety of this being done by the general
government. Consequently, when he
became President he called the atten
tion of Congress to its importance,
and it was under his direction that
another survey of the river, with a
view to its improvement, was made by
Col. S. H. Long, United States Topo
graphical Engineer, in 1830. It ap
pears that Congress had recognized the
great necessity for the work to which
Gen. Jackson had called attention,
and in 1828 donated 400,000 acres of
land to the state of Alabama, the pro
ceeds of which were to be applied to
the construction of a canal around the
shoals and around Colbert Shoals,
twenty-four miles below.
An imperfect and narrow canal was
constructed around the main obstruc
tion only —Big Muscle Shoals —but
before anything was done at other
points some of the dams gave way,
and, there being no funds to repair
them, the old canal fell into disuse.
It was estimated that to rebuild it and
extend the improvement to Little
Muscle and Elk River Shoals would
involve an outlay of $4,000,000, and
the whole work was abandoned.
Commencing about twelve miles
below Decatur, Ala., the plan adopted
to secure sufficient water required
excavations through solid flint rock,
which formed an impassable reef in
the bed of the river. This involved
the blasting and removal of over
1,000,000 cubic feet of this rock.
Four miles below the initial point of
the work a rock wail two and one-half
miles in length was built to cAfine
the water between the wall and the
southern shore. A canal one and one
fourth miles long with two locks was
then constructed which carried the
work to a point whence, with but
little additional labor, navigation
could be secured for a distance of
seven and one-halt miles. Here the
main canal, fourteen and one-half miles
long, begins. The fall of the river
within this distance of fourteen and
one-half miles is eighty-tour and one
half feet. At some points the fall is
very great, being a» much as eighteen
feet in a single mile, and for short
distances the fall is at the rate of forty
feet to the mile.
Altogether there are eleven locks,
sixty feet wide and 300 feet in length,
between the gates. They vary in lift
from five to twelve fejd, and are all of
the most superior One
of the viaducts is the greatest work of
the kind in the country, and the iron
girders required were of such dimen
sions that no establishment in this
country could undertake them, and
it was necessary to have them cast
abroad. The work reflects great credit
upon Col. Barlow.
Completion of the improvement is
bailed with great enthusiasm by the
citizens of the Upper Tennessee Valley
and its tributaries. With the opening
of the canal the total navigable miles
of the main river from Paducah to
Knoxville is 757 miles. The naviga
ble waters of the Hiwassee and other
tributaries above it are 685 miles, or
a total for the main river and its
tributaries of 1,442 miles.
At a river convention held at Deca
tur a year ago, the following statistics
were presented:
Area drained by the Tennessee and
its tributaries, 46,200 square miles.
It traverses eight states. It is longer,
drains a greater area, is a more reliable
water stream than the Ohio or Upper
Mississippi. It bisects about 1,300
miles of veins of iron ore, 11,000
square miles of coal, every variety of
marble and oolitic limestone, zinc,
lead; 10,000 square miles of virgin
forest, containing the finest qualities
of hard woods of America practically
untouched ; its valleys producing the
largest crops of breadstufls, and other
food products, its ridges and mountains
producing the finest fruits of America,
render it one of the richest undevelop
ed portions of the United States.
The coal output tributary to this
river in 1880 was 1,000,000 tons.
The same during 1888 was 3,000,000.
Gain, 300 per cent.
Pig iron produced contiguous to this
stream and its tributaries in 1880,
150,000 tons; the same during the
year 1887, 592,076 tons; gain, 300 per
cent. Twenty-two new furnaces in
progress of construction, to be com
pleted in 1888, will increase the pro
duct 660,000 tons annually.
Forty-nine furnaces now in blast;
twenty two new furnaces being erected;
estimated product for 1889, when new
furnaces are in blast 1,500,000 tons,
an increase of 1,000 per cent, in less
than ten years.
The value of water communication
throughout such a region cannot be
over-estimated. Many new ventures
in iron and cotton manufactures have
been waiting on the completion of this
water-way to the Ohio and Mississippi
Valleys. The event is one of vast
interest and importance, not only to
Tennessee and Alabama, but to the
water system with which they are now
connected. H. V. B.
As you go over the W. & A. ask
the conductor to show you the great
“horse-shoe bend.”
IHE KENNEbAW GAAETTK
Trip to Lookout Mountain.
“Land of the South, imperial land,
How proud thy mountains rise,
How sweet thy scenes on every hand,
How fair thy covering skies.”
Leaving Atlanta last Saturday
morning on the Western & Atlantic
Railroad, I reached Chattanooga at
one in the afternoon. The scenery
along the route was grand and beauti
ful. At one time the train would be
skirting the sides of the lofty moun
tains, anon plunging through lovely
valleys.
To me everything was new. Often
had I read of the bloody march of
Sherman along the line of the old State
road and the skillful retreats and
master manoeuvring of gallant Joe
Johnston before the superior numbers
of the Federal forces. The whole
route is historic and every station,
mountain pass and rushing stream has
its bloody record to count. Therefore
the ride was to me full of interest.
The first point of historic note was
Marietta, known as Georgia’s gem.
Situated among the mountains and
fanned by the purest health-giving
breez°s, it is a thing of beauty —a gem
indeed. Almost overhanging the city
is old Kennesaw the scene of Confed
erate bloodshed and glory. Here fell
the martial bishop, Gen. Polk. The
sides of the mountain, that so suddenly
swell from the plain, are covered with
summer’s living green and present a
most striking picture as they are out
lined against the s rnthern sky.
Allatoona Pass is a narrow track,
eighty feet deep cut through the rock
ribbed mountain with vines falling in
graceful festoons down its granite walls.
These, with the numerous wild flowers
and trickling rills, make a beautiful
scene.
It was here that just before the
battle of October sth, 1864, began that
Gen. Corse, besieged by the Confeder
ates, signalled to Gen. Sherman at
Kennesaw for instructions. Sherman
signalled back, “Hold the Fort for
I am Coming.” From this message
comes the famous gospel hymn of the
same title. From mountain top to
mountain top, far above the sleeping
valleys, the intelligence flashed and
Corse fought on until Sherman came.
At Big Shanty —I failed to see the
big building —during the early days of
the war some Federal soldiers in dis
guise stole an engine and endeavored
to escape and burn the bridges on the
road. One of the most exciting chases
on record ensued, the Federate were
captured and afterwards hung in At
lanta. The particulars may be learned
from back numbers of the Kennesaw
Gazette.
Resaca, farther on, is noted for the
battles fought there, May the 9th and
13th, 1864.
Passing the prosperous, growing city
of Dalton, a lovely valley with its
broad fields of waving grain, is entered.
Our fathers builded more wisely than
they knew when they opened up this
great section of the state by means of
the State road.
The great tunnel through the moun
tain at Tunnel Hill is another wonder.
As the iron monster plunges into its
abysmal darkness the roar and clang
of the train reminds one of the vivid
descriptions of Pademonium. I was
real glad when we emerged from this
underground passage and my eyes
once more beheld the bright glare of
day.
Chickamauga’s winding and sluggish
stream known as the River of Death
by the Indians, is crossed thirteen
times in as many miles by the railroad
track. It first appears as a mountain
valley stream which increases in size
as the train thunders past mountain,
meadow and plain. On the banks of
this stream one of the famous battles
of the war was fought and the routed
Federal hosts made haste to get back
to the fortifications of Chattanooga.
This great battle was fought on the
19th and 20th of September, 1863.
At last Chattanooga’s spires and
Lookout’s lofty heights hove in view.
For the first time I am off Georgia
soil and stand on Tennessee’s shores
and by her famous winding river.
Leaving the depot we took a car for
the foot of towering Lookout. Here
we were transferred to the inclined
road. The cars go up the side of the
huge mountain and stop right under
its jutting peak. Up, up you go along
the mountain sides, now underneath a
huge boulder, now on the borders of
a deep ravine, studded with great
forest trees that have braved the storms
of centuries. When the summit is
reached and the glories of the beauti
ful valleys greet the fascinated gaze
the inmost soul is enchanted by the
unparalleled scene. Spell-bound the
visitor views the landscape o’er and
o’er, a picture of nature unsurpassed
in grandeur and sublimity and radiant
in its panoramic loveliness.
&
Taking the narrow gauge railroad
the visitor is carried to Sunset Park
cn the western part of the mountain.
Here is Sunset Rock, so called because
of the fine view one gels of the sun’s
fiery orb sinking in matchless splendor
behind the mountains, tinging the
dense foliage with a variety of hues,
enrapturing the senses and holding the
gazer captive by the sublimity of the
scene. Grandly beautiful was the
scene before me. I was no longer in
the world I ever knew before. A
mere pigmy among the most stupen
dous and enchanting achievements of
Nature.
Close by is the scene of battle, with
the old breastworks still remaining.
Beneath my feet noble heroes in gray
poured forth their blood in defence of
their beloved South. The fight here
was muted a“Battle Above the Clouds.”
Leaving the battlegrounds the hotel
is reached. The little narrow gauge
road is a winding thread on the moun
tain side. Huge boulders are above.
Yawning, fathomless chasms beneath.
The hotel is situated amid the rugged
and picturesque scenery of Lookout,
directly under the Point 2,500 feet
above sea level. Beneath flows the
winding Tennessee like a silver thread
with the Moccasin Bend in full view.
From the balconies ot the hotel the
serpentine course of the Tennessee
can be traced for miles, dotted here
and there with a puffing steamboat.
Trains rush to and fro on the iron
track thundering over the iron bridges
and spider-like-looking trestles. Chat
tanooga and its spires are beneath
your ieet while mountains are piled,
“Pelion on Ossa,” all around. In
clear weather the confines of seven
states, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Vir
ginia and Kentucky are visible. The
great Smoky ranges of North and
South Carolina are distinctly seen.
The valley, clothed in vestments of
green, looks like a city laid off in
squares with the river flowing through
the streets. Nature seems to mock all
efforts at description of this wonder
land. After reading all that can be
said of it all must admit that pen and
canvass have left unportrayed half
the beauties the eye takes in on all
sides. Moses on Mount Pisgah had a
most enchanting view of Canaan’s
lo zely hills and teeming vales. So the
pilgrim, who scales Lookout’s loftiest
heights beholds a scene of beauty and
grandeur perhaps nowhere else wit*
nessed in the new world.