CHAP. VII. OF THE SYSTEM OF NAVIGATING. As a plane will rise from fifty to two hundred feet atone time, consequently, the ponds of canal may be longer, without interruption, than on the lock principle; and as men will be stationed at each machine, whose business it must be to pass the boats at so much per ton, I conceive the best mode of navigating will be, when a man arrives with his ten, or more, boats at a plane he should immediately leave them for the men to transfer, and, taking such boats as are ready, return to the source or machine from whence he came. When the boats have been passed by the engine-men, they are navigated by a man to the next machine, and so on, till the voyage is completed. In a trade of lime-stone, coals, iron-ore, slate, slogs, deals, and various other articles, it could not make the least difference, in such materials, if a boat remained a few hours at a plane waiting for transfer; but in case of the arrival of merchandise, it should be passed immediately, leaving the other boats for that purpose. By this mode the same boatman will not navigate the whole the line of canal, but will always work on one pond; which I conceive to be a convenience: for if I suppose the ponds between the planes from one to ten miles, it will be easy to calculate the number of trips which a man can perform per day, on each respective length, from which his wages may be determined; he will be set out without fear of interruption by his lock keepers, or of being delayed by numerous boats meeting at the same lock or locks; and he may ever work in the neighborhood of his own habitation. In the course of a voyage a person at a particular place may want to receive four, eight, or more, tons of coals, lime, or other materials, who has no occasion for more; thus one, two, or more boats may be left at the most convenient situation to unload, without detaining the remainder, and the boats so left may be emptied by the purchaser, before the boatmans return: but in the case of a twenty-five ton boat, the whole must be detained till the quantity purchased is discharged. This mode of a man always working on the same pond, and in the neighborhood of his own house, will be productive of boatmen, as any kind of horse will set a poor man up in business; the size of the boats enabling him to take a weight proportioned to the strength of his horse, mule, or even ass. Besides, as the whole object is merely to get them conveyed from one machine to another, he needs but little capacity, as he has nothing to do with the machinery. Thus almost any kind of man will do for a boatman, hence a competition will arise on the different ponds, and competition will not only produce attention, and civility, but also moderate charges. It now remains to consider, how this system will operate on a home, or extended, trade. As the property will pass through various hands, or rather come under the care of many, during it passage to any great distance To take a general view of this, the practice which most resembles it, is the mode of sending valuable merchandise by the mail or other coaches, for instance, from Scotland to London; which property passes through the hands of various coach proprietors and change of coaches, yet arrives at the destined spot with certainty: or it resembles the practice of a merchant, who ships goods for the continent; in which case they have first water, and then land carriage, sometimes for many hundred miles: he and his correspondent have their agents established in various parts to facilitate the transit; who being also agents for many other, find it worth their while to pay a proper attention to the goods, and thus the articles safely reach the foreign market to which they are consigned; custom and regularity having rendered the mode familiar and easy. Interest will also bend men to the various circumstances, if one mode can be proved cheaper than another; it is therefore almost impossible for a mode to be pointed out, which may be precisely followed on these navigations. But I will mention such as I conceive will answer; and this by established agents. Suppose, for instance, a man of good capacity resides near or in the building over the machinery, where at least he might have a counting-house; this man might be toll-collector to the company and at the same time agent to the various traders who used the canal which employment probably would produce a handsome annual profit, and his agency might be performed at so much per ton; on a canal, for instance, with a trade of three hundred tons per day, allowing two hundred and eighty working days in the year, one farthing per ton would produce him 87l. 10s. per annum; which, with toll-collecting, might amount to upwards of 100l a sum sufficient to induce a very clever man to fill the office; if two machines were in that space, he should govern both, but if they were twenty miles distant from each other, he should have all goods passing on that pond under his guidance, in which case the agency might be raised. Therefore, averaging the agency at one farthing per ton, for ten miles, the expense of it could not be felt on the value of any kind of materials; the agency of one hundred miles being performed for two pence half penny per ton. But as even ten-pence per ton on one hundred miles would be no object to the seller or buyer of the goods sent, I will therefore raise the agency to one penny per tone for ten miles, consequently seventy-five tons per day would pay an agent 17l 10s per annum on a canal with small trade. Having thus agents at proper situations, who may be considered somewhat analogous to the book-keeper at a coach office, also to collectors of turnpike, they collecting the tolls, each proprietor, of boats should have his name, and number, marked on each boat. I will now suppose him to dispatch ten boats, to be left in different places; with these boats he should send a ticket to the first agent, and perhaps to the following effect: The agent, on receipt of such ticket, would draw a line over the numbers to be left in his district, make out a direction for each, and deliver it to the next boatman with the first ticket to be forwarded to the next agent with such boats as pass over the next machine, and come under his care, and so on. The agent, knowing the time of the boats passing, would also know when the empty boats, or full ones, should return , he would likewise have the boatman on his pond immediately under his control, as well as the men at the machine, therefore could correct any negligence, and the proprietor would know where to apply if they were anywise remiss in their duty. The work might be so regular, as even to ascertain when any particular boats passed each machine, and when it arrived at its destination, by marking the hour on the ticket. This mode of reducing the work to system, and rendering every man by habit familiar with his part, I conceive, will facilitate navigation, and render the passage of goods of all kinds, to the most distant parts of the country, extremely simple; boats, for instance, from Manchester to London, being carefully packed and covered with a tarpaulin, would pass with the ticket, by the various agents with the same certainty as other would go thirty miles, one system being preferred throughout. The perquisites of the agent, already slated, would be sufficient to warrant the company in demanding a bond to a considerable amount for the true performance of his office; the company would be responsible to the freighter for any losses, and the agent answerable to the company for neglect: this would not only link the various ponds of canal together, but would produce a continued chain of self interest, the most prevailing stimulus to urge men to be active, and to do what is right; the agent's emoluments arising out of the tons conveyed, I conceive to be much better than a fixed salary; as his profits will, in some degree, depend on his attention: which attention might be the means of influencing proprietors of goods to send articles on the canals the might otherwise be transported by different means. Hence, even by this plan, I see no difficulty in conveying goods into the most distant, and less important, parts of the country, will no doubt infinitely improve this method. To this regularity, I conceive expedition will, in many cases, be added, as before mentioned of the market, passage, and dispatch boats. Many valuable kinds of merchandise will bear some additional expense carriage; it may be of more importance to the merchant to have them in market, in a given time, than to save the difference in expense between the flow and the more rapid conveyance. I will therefore suppose a canal drum the great trading town of Manchester to London, distant 182 miles, to which add 38 miles for the bonds, amounting to 220 miles, and on this length of canal twenty-two agents, on to every ten miles. A carrier at London, or at Manchester, we suppose to have his dispatch-boats ready, which, containing from four to five tons, might be conveyed at the rate of six miles per hour, by one horse; as they would arrive periodically, each machine-man would know when to look for them and the boatmen on the various ponds, in like manner, would be prepared with their horses, similar to the operation with the stage-coaches, the boat, thus navigated, would arrive at London, or at Manchester, in about forty hours; of which the expense would be nearly as follows. Allowing one horse to navigate a boat ten miles forwards, and ten back. In twenty-four hours, the horse and driver may be estimated at six shillings, all casualties included , which will amount to three shillings per boat for ten miles, and the total expense of ten miles will stand thus: L. s. d. Three-pence per ton per mile to the company 0 10 0Horse and boatman 0 3 0 Agency 0 0 2 Passing machine 0 0 2 Wear of the boat 0 0 2 ______ For 10 miles 0 13 6 ______ For 220 ditto 14 13 4 or 3l. 13s. 4d. per ton: what the carrier might expect for his trouble cannot be eliminated, but is probable this mode would not amount to half of what is now paid to the broad wheeled wagons; the expense from London to Manchester being about 8l 10s per ton, and the saving in time would be three days By the flow movement of the boats, every expense, except the horse, win be the same as the above , but by the flow movement a horse would take forty tons twenty miles for fix shillings, which is about three-pence half penny per boat for ten miles, thus the horse-hire on a boat to London would be L. 0 6 5 But the quick movement the horse-hire is 3 6 0 , 2 19 7 which is 14s 10 3/4d. cheaper by the flow than the quick conveyance. Thus feeling that dispatch may be produced by small boats, they may become the means of conveying passengers, and passage-boats rise to much national importance; a convenience for passengers might be constructed in a boat as last described, or a boat might be built for the purpose, similar to the First Figure in the Plate of Boats; which I suppose to be thirsty feet long, four wide, and twenty feet in the center for the accommodation of the passengers. This space would give ample room to fifteen persons, which fifteen persons would not weigh one ton and a half ton o n average, consequently, some repository should be constructed for parcels, to endeavor to complete a cargo, and pay the boatman or proprietor I will now suppose such a passage-boat to navigate from London to Manchester. In this case, as the weights would differ in almost every journey, in proportion to the number of passengers, it would be proper to contract with t he company at a certain sum per mile, loaded or empty; and, as at the boat would seldom have more than two tons, such contract at 4d per mile would, perhaps, be the best encouragement to passage-boats, and a fair toll to the company: if so, the expense of such boat to London would be as follows: L. s. d. 220 miles at 4d. per mile to the company 3 13 4 Horse hire 3 6 0 Agency, at 22 machines, 2d. each 3 8 Passing 22 machines, 2d. each 3 8 Wear of boat 3 8 ______ Total, L. 7 10 4 So that fifteen passengers, at 10s.. each, would pay the expenses; not to mention the carriage of parcels, which are very productive; I will therefore suppose every passenger to pay 20s that the proprietors may be guarded against casualties; yet 20s. a cheap conveyance for two hundred and twenty miles and not one third of the sum which is now paid to the mail of stage coaches; while the expedition with which the boat may proceed, in consequence of being small, may be equal to the speed of the stage coaches. Thus we see that the small boats, from being suited to a slow progress, or to the most expeditious conveyance, and being also governed by one regular system, would produce numerous conveniences, well calculated to draw conveyance of all kinds to such canals. But such convenience can be attained on the lock principle, for evident reasons: small boats cannot pass locks sufficiently quick; a man could not pass one hundred feet lockage in less than one hour. But a four-ton boat may pass a plane whose perpendicular is two hundred feet in four minutes,; besides the loss of water would be so great on locking small boats, as totally exclude these quick movements; nor could the expedition be performed by a large boat, as the boat itself is a load for the horse in a quick movement; this, together with the delay of locks, would prevent large boats from reaching London from Manchester in less than nine days, by the usual mode of navigating. To the advantages enumerated, may also be added, the convenience o short trips to market, or quick communication to and from the manufactories, in the environs of great trading towns. In all such cases, farmers, or manufactures, may have their private boats, which they dispatch at pleasure, with the facility of a cart, without waiting for an association of interests to compose a cargo, as in large boats; and thus the final boats passing machinery, are suites to the various kinds of trade, situations, and circumstances; and have a direct tendency to drag almost the whole carriage of a country in to channels of canal conveyance. _____________________________________________________________________________________ ( 68 )