from the town of Patterson to Fort Lee, on the Hudson River, not further than 50 feet from high-water mark; to be commenced within one year from the 4th July, 1832, and completed within six years from that time, under penalty of forfeiture of the charter; and subject to be purchased by the State at the expiration of thirty years from the completion of the road, and to a transit duty of the one-quarter of one per cent. yearly, after the expiration of six years from the passage of the act, and the half of one per cent. after the expiration of ten years, upon the capital stock, in lieu of all other taxes. The Elizabethtown and Somerville Rail-road Company, by the act of 9th February, 1831, was empowered to construct a road from the village of Somerville to Elizabethtown, passing as near as practicable by Boundbrook, Plainfield, Scotch Plains and Westfield, subject to a tax of one-half of one per cent. upon the cost, annually, after the proceeds of the road shall yield seven per cent. thereon, and to the avoidance of the charter in case the road be not completed within seven years from the 4th July, 1831. This road is to be a public highway, and may be purchased by the State on the terms established in the case of the Patterson and Hudson road, and the State may subscribe $25,000 to the stock of the company, at any time before, or within, twelve months after the road shall be completed. The capital stock originally permitted to the company, was $200,000, with the privilege of increase to $400,000; but, by the act of 8th February, 1833, authority was given to add $500,000 immediately to the stock, and, eventually, should it be found necessary, $500,000 more; and to extend the road from the village of Somerville, by the village of Clinton, in the county of Hunterdon, to the Delaware River, opposite to the village of Belvidere, in the county of Warren, with a branch, if the company deem it expedient, to the Delaware River, between the mouth of the Musconetcong Creek and the Easton Delaware Bridge; subject to all the restrictions and reservations made by the original act. The great object of this extension of the road, is to unite it with the North-western Rail-road, which it is proposed to commence at the Delaware, opposite Belvidere, and to run through the Blue Mountain at the Water Gap, and by Stroudsburg, through a densely wooded country to Pittston, on the Susquehanna; being located for about 18 miles upon an inexhaustible coal bed. From this coal region, the road may be connected with several authorized roads into western New York. If this road be executed, it will open a convenient way to the New York market, not only from one of the most fertile and interesting portions of the State of New Jersey, but will give a direction to the produce of a portion of New York territory, otherwise destined to reach the city of Philadelphia. A portion of the stock for this route has, we understand, been subscribed. The New Jersey Rail-road and Transportation Company was incorporated by the act of 7th March, 1832, with a capital of $750,000, and the privilege to double it, divided into shares of $50 each; with power to make a rail-road not more than 66 feet wide, with as many tracks as they may deem proper, from such point in the city of New Brunswick, as shall be agreed upon by them and the corporation of that city, through or near the villages of Rahway and Woodbridge, within half a mile of the market house, in Elizabethtown, and through Newark, by the most practicable route, and thence contiguous to, or south of the bridges, over the Hackensack and Passaic River; crossing Bergen Ridge, south of the turnpike road to some convenient point not less than 50 feet from high-water mark, on the Hudson river, opposite to the city of New York: and to make a branch road to any ferry on the Hudson opposite to New York, which shall join the main road within 100 yards of the Hackensack River, if the main road cross that river within 100 yards of the present bridge: but if more than 100 yards from that bridge, then the branch to join it, at such point, west of the river, as shall best give to the ferries equal facilities of communication with Newark. And if the company do not construct such branch, as soon as the main road from Newark to the Hudson shall be made, then the law authorizes the owner of the ferry so to do, with the same power and liabilities as the company. The act, also, empowers the company to regulate the time and manner of transporting goods and passengers, the description and formation of carriages; and the rates and modes of collecting toll within the following limits; viz. for empty carriages, weighing less than a ton, two cents; more than one, and less than two tons, four cents; above three tons, eight cents per mile; and in addition thereto, six cents per ton for goods, and three cents for each passenger, per mile. Provided, that no farmer of the State shall pay toll for carrying the produce of his farm, in his own wagon, not weighing more than a ton, when such produce does not weigh more than 1000 lbs.: but shall pay, only, for carriages, as if empty. It also authorizes the company to construct branches to any landing, on or near the Passaic, not north of Belleville, and to any place in the township of Newark; and requires them to commence the road at Jersey City and New Brunswick, within one year, and to complete the whole route in five years, under penalty of forfeiture of their charter. The company are further empowered to purchase any turnpike road and bridges on the route; but the act reserves to the State and individual stockholders of the Newark Turnpike Company, the right, at any time, within two years from the opening of the books, to take stock of the company in exchange, or to sell to the company, at market value; but the Newark turnpike and the bridges over the Raritan, Passaic and Hackensack, are to be kept as public roads, without obstruction: to build or purchase carriages for the transportation of persons or property; but not to charge more than six cents a mile for transporting passengers and each ton of goods, nor more than $1.25 for carrying passengers from New York to New Brunswick: to hold real estate, at the commencement and termination of their roads, not exceeding three acres at each place; and to build thereon, warehouses, stables, machine shops, &c. and over the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, such bridges, piers, &c. as may be necessary. The State has reserved the right to purchase the road after the expiration of the charter, (30 years) and of subscribing one-fourth of the stock, and has imposed an annual tax of 1-4 per cent. upon the capital paid in; and should the road be continued across the State, a transit duty of 8 cents for each passenger and 12 cents for every ton of goods transported over the whole road. By a supplement to the act relative to the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and Amboy Rail-road, the companies are required to construct a lateral rail-road from the village of Spottswood to the city of New Brunswick, as soon as a rail-road shall be made from New Brunswick to the Hudson River; consequently, when the Camden and Amboy Rail-road and the New Jersey Rail-road shall be completed, there must be a rail-road through the state, from Jersey City to Philadelphia. The New Jersey Rail-road Company commenced operations in the summer of 1832, and have confident expectations of completing the road from Hackensack River, through Newark to Elizabethtown, by the fall of 1833; and from the Hudson to Elizabethtown in the summer of 1834; and the whole line, from the Hudson to New Brunswick, within two years. The estimated cost of the whole road for one track, with suitable passing places, including the purchase from the Bridge and Newark Turnpike Companies, the bridges over the Hackensack, Passaic and Raritan, and the moving power, cars, &c. as per report of N. Beach, the engineer, is $718,912 Cost of superstructure for a second track on the whole line, 30 miles, at $4,710 80 per mile, Total, 141,324 $860,236 Upon this capital, the company, after paying for annual repairs, cost of moving power, cars, &c. the sum of $35,640 per annum, anticipate to receive a profit of $134,775, equal to 15 per cent. By an arrangement with the Patterson Rail-road Company, the road for both companies, from the west side of Bergen Ridge, through the Deep Cut, and across the heavy embankments, on the east of the Ridge, and to the Hudson River, is to be constructed under the charter of this company, as joint property of the two companies; the Patterson company paying two-fifths, and this company three-fifths of the expense of construction, each company using the road without accounting to the other. This arrangement reduces the expense of the New Jersey Company $55,171. The company, in order to avoid litigation, has purchased of the United Passaic and Hackensack Bridge Companies their stock, at $150,000, equal to $150 per share, upon which amount it had, for some years, paid seven per cent. and created a surplus fund of $30,000. With this stock, they obtained also all the right which the bridge company possessed, to pass the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers, by bridges, for sixty years to come. A very large majority of the stockholders of the bridge companies used the right of election stipulated for, to take rail-road stock, and have thus become identified in interest with the company. The New Jersey, Hudson and Delaware Rail-road Company was incorporated by an act of 8th March, 1832, with a capital stock of $1,000,000, and authority to increase it to $2,000,000, to be employed in making a rail-road and public highway, commencing at any point on the Delaware River, between the New York state line and the mouth of Paulin's Kill, (and constructing a bridge over said river,) and to run thence to Snufftown, in the county of Sussex, and thence to the Hudson River, opposite the city of New York; or to join any rail-road chartered or to be chartered, leading to or terminating at the Hudson River, opposite the city of New York: but if extended to the Hudson, not to cross the Passaic south of the village of Belleville, nor to approach any point within three miles of the present bridge over the Passaic, at Newark, nor to run south of the turnpike road, a causeway leading from Newark to Jersey City; such road to be commenced within two and finished within twenty years; and when the dividends upon its stock shall amount to seven per cent. to be subject to a tax of one-half of one per cent. per annum on the cost of the road and appendages, in lieu of all taxes; reserving to the State the right, at any time within three years after the expiration of ninety-nine years, of taking the road and appendages at cost. The Delaware and Jobstown Rail or Macadamized Road Company, was incorporated under the act of 11th February, 1833, with a capital of $60,000, and liberty to increase it to $200,000, for the purpose of making a public road from the mouth of Craft's Creek, upon the Delaware River, by the villages of Columbus, Jobstown and Juliustown, to New Lisbon, a distance of 13 miles; the road to be commenced within three and completed within ten years from the passage of the act, on penalty of forfeiture of the charter: and when the annual net proceeds shall amount to more than seven per cent. to pay half per cent. tax annually to the State; reserving the right to the State to purchase the road upon appraisement after the expiration of fifty years. The stock of this road, we are told, is subscribed. VIII. There are four canals in the State completed or about to be completed, viz. the Morris Canal, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, the Salem Creek Canal, and the Manasquan Canal. The Morris Canal is among the most original and boldest efforts of the spirit of internal improvement. The idea of making it was first conceived by George P. M'Culloch, Esq. of Morristown, whilst on a fishing party at the Hopatcong Lake, near the summit of the Musconetcong Mountain, more than 900 feet above the level of the sea, and the enterprise was commenced through his zealous and active exertions. This lake, the source of the Musconetcong River, in its original state covered an area of about five square miles. To dam up its outlet, husband the spring freshets, to double its capacity, and by leading its accumulated waters to the eastern declivity and valley of the Rockaway, to pursue the western descent until a practical route could be obtained across the country to Easton, were the means he proposed to open the way to market for the rich mineral products and the iron manufactured at the many furnaces and forges of this mountainous district. At one period, 81 forges and 12 furnaces flourished in the district, but when the canal was proposed, 30 of the former and 9 of the latter had fallen into ruins; whilst the remainder were greatly limited in their operations by the growing scarcity of fuel and increasing cost of transportation. A ton of iron might have been brought to New York from Archangel on the White Sea, at nearly the same price it could have been transported from Berkshire valley; and thus, this great branch of manufacture, alike interesting to the State and the Union, was in imminent danger of perishing. But how might a canal penetrate from the Delaware to the Hudson, 100 miles, through the mountainous chain repeatedly crossing its path? How might the elevation, rapid and unavoidable, be surmounted, and how should the pecuniary sources be provided for an enterprise vast, novel, hazardous and expensive? The lake at the summit level would supply water to be sure; but to raise boats 900 feet high, and again to lower them to their first level of lockage, would have required an amount of money for the construction, and of time in the passage, alike fatal to the enterprise. Mr. M'Culloch, therefore, adopted the expedient of inclined planes for the greater lifts, and locks for the less. Such planes had never before been applied to boats of much magnitude, nor to an operation so extensive. Mr. M'Culloch endeavoured to induce the State to adopt the enterprise; and at the instance of him and others, the legislature, by act 15th November, 1822, appointed G. M'Culloch, Charles Kinsey, of Essex, and Thomas Capner, Esqrs. commissioners, with authority to employ a scientific engineer and surveyor to explore, survey and level the most practicable route for this canal; and to report an estimate of the expense thereof, with such information relative to the minerals along its lines as they could obtain, and to deposit specimens thereof in the state library. The commissioners reported, in 1823, and received the thanks of the legislature for the intelligence, industry and zeal displayed in the execution of their commission. But that cautious and prudential policy which has hitherto prevented the State from yielding her treasury and resources to the blandishment of projectors, charm they ever so wisely, deterred her from making the Morris Canal a state enterprise. A private company was therefore formed, and incorporated under the act of 31st December, 1824, with a capital of $1,000,000, and the right to increase it to $1,500,000, for canal purposes; and, likewise, to employ in banking operations, additionally, the sum of $200,000, for every $200,000 actually expended on the canal, so that the banking capital did not exceed a million of dollars. The route of the canal was selected, and the estimate of cost made, by Major Ephraim Beach, under whose direction the work was executed. This route, and the estimate of cost, were approved by General Bernard and Major Totten, of the engineer corps of the United States, and by Judge Wright; and the plan of inclined planes, suggested by professor James Renwick, of Columbia College, New York, also received the sanction of the like authority; but much modification was afterwards found necessary in this particular. In 1825, the excavations were prosecuted with alacrity, while the planes were deferred; an arrangement which experience proves should have been reversed, since the latter could be perfected only by many and tedious experiments. The erection of the planes, too, was entrusted to ordinary mechanics, who, deficient in scientific knowledge and manual skill, caused much disappointment, which was aggravated by great and useless expenditure; but, finally, proper engineers were employed, and the planes have become effectual to establish a regular intercourse along the line of the canal with the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, and with the Hudson The machinery of the inclined plane, so far as we have examined it, consists of a double railway connecting the upper and lower portions of the canal, up which a carriage supporting a boat is drawn by means of iron chains, wound round a cylinder, set in motion by a water wheel turned by a stream from the upper level; whilst another chain regulates the descent of another boat to the lower level, if there be one to pass, or if none, of the empty cradle. וי The cost of the canal, originally estimated at $8.17,000, has been about $2,000,000. The length completed is about 90 miles from the Passaic River, at Newark, to the Delaware, at Philipsburg, opposite to Easton; 113 miles between Jersey City and Newark remain to be executed, and are estimated to cost $100,000; but the cost will, as usual, probably exceed the estimate. This excess of cost over the estimate is not peculiar to the Morris Canal, but is common, perhaps unavoidable, in all the public works of the country. The engineer can judge only from an imperfect knowledge of the surface of the ground through which he is to make his way: an unexpected bed of stone, a limestone sink, a quicksand, a sudden freshet or frost, may mock his calculations. Adventurers, therefore, in canals and rail-roads, should be content when their agents, display reasonable intelligence and full fidelity. The canal was completed to Newark in August, 1831. It is deeply in debt, and pays no dividend to the stockholders; but its use has been most beneficial upon the business of the country through which it passes, and its portage will increase with population and business; and should the anthracite coal be successfully applied to the extraction of iron from ore, the consumption of that article alone will add greatly to the tolls. The transportation of the Lehigh coal to the New York market, originally counted on by the projectors of this canal, will be effected by the Delaware and Raritan Canal. The Morris Canal was adapted to boats of 25 tons only, which in many cases have proved too heavy for the chains of the inclined planes. The passage from Easton to Newark has been performed in less than five days. མ The width of the canal is 32 feet at top, and 20 feet at bottom, four feet deep. The locks are 75 feet long between the mitre sills, and nine feet wide. The line is naturally divided into two divisions, the Eastern and Western. The first has 12 planes, whose united elevations make 748 feet, and 18 locks rising, together, 166 feet, making the whole rise, 914 feet. The highest lift by planes is 80 feet. There are two of that height, one at Boontoon Falls, and another at Drakeville; and the highest lift of the locks is 10 feet. This division now ends at the Passaic River, near Newark-the section designed to connect it with the Hudson, 113 miles, has not yet been commenced. The length of the division is 51 miles 32-100ths. The western division has 11 planes rising 691 feet, and 7 locks, whose aggregate lifts are 69 feet-total, 760 feet. Its length from the summit level to the Delaware, is The 38 miles, 91-100ths, making the length of the whole line 90 miles 23-100ths. annexed table shows at one view the number of the planes and locks, their location, elevation, grade of the planes, and lift of the locks; and is, perhaps, the best exposition that can be given of the work short of an engraved profile. |