canal. As a result, Schriver was satisfied with the head of the Youghiogheny which, though it could never be made navigable, yet contained plenty of water to fill a canal. Schriver's proposed route, therefore, left the Potomac at the mouth of Savage River, ascended that stream and its tributary, Crabtree Creek. Reaching Hinch's Spring by means of a tunnel,[1] the canal would follow the North Fork of Deep Creek and Deep Creek itself to the Youghiogheny. Descending the Youghiogheny and Monongahela, the Ohio River would be reached at Pittsburg. The vital question was thought to be whether there was a sufficient current of water to supply the summit level of the canal at the tunnel under Little Backbone Mountain.
The bill to incorporate the Potomac Canal Company, however, failed to pass the
- ↑ The probable success of a tunnel of a mile and a half in length was not doubted at this time. The Trent–Mersey Canal in England had five tunnels in ninety-three miles, and one (at Harecastle) was more than a mile and a half long, and over two hundred feet beneath the surface of the earth. Its cost was £31 10s 8d per yard. The Chesterfield canal had a tunnel at Hartshill three thousand yards long.—An Account of Surveys and Examinations, p. 57, note.
