COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES 43
four miles. In this section there were five locks, located at Berwick. Bloomsburg, Rupert and Lime Ridge and one near Danville. These locks were twenty feet wide, twenty feet deep, with three sets of gates at distances of ninety feet. They were very substantially built of earth, lined with stone, covered with a wooden sheathing fastened to the stones by iron rods and wedges. The capstones along the walls were of Pottsville conglomerate, fastened together with iron staples sunk in holes previously filled with melted lead. Some of these locks could easily be used at present, while others have been destroyed by fire and flood. The most important monument in Columbia county to the ability of the old canal builders is the aqueduct at Rupert , which is now used by the electric railroad as a bridge. The stone piers arc in excellent shape and the timbers arc still in fair condition after eighty-three years of use.
In 1830 the first canalboat—the "Wyoming"—built at Northumberland passed Berwick in the river, the canal being still uncompleted. The following year the "Luzerne" came up the canal. In 1835 the first boats built exclusively for passenger trade, the “Denison" and the “Gertrude,” constructed by Miller Horton and A. H. Cahoon, were launched at Northumberland for the trade between that town and Wilkes-Barre. They were drawn by six horses. For a period of some years before the advent of the railroads the canal was a favorite route for passenger traffic, as the stagecoaches were barely comfortable and more expensive. Although the progress on the canal was slow—about six miles an hour—the scenery was beautiful, the accommodations excellent, and the food could be eaten in peace and at leisure. Many picnic and excursion parties were made up and the practice continued even down to the last years of the life of the canal system, when small light-draft steamers were used for the purpose.
Boatyards were established at Northumberland, Espy and Wilkes-Barre, where the boats were built and repaired. The canal company in later years operated its own boats, but any person could carry on a freight business by paving the regular tolls and complying with the rules. In winter the canal was emptied of water and all the necessary repairs were then made. Tn the spring it was necessary to mow the long grass in the canal bed before the water was let in, as it greatly interfered with rapid transit.
For some years the business done by the canal was immense. It was the main avenue to the seaboard and coal could be profitably sent through it to Philadelphia for one dollar a ton from Wilkes-Barre. The railroad rate is now nearly double that. Canalboats were on an averse eighty-five feet long and drew two feet when loaded. The average depth of the canal was five feet. The largest cargo ever shipped in one boat was a mixed one of 285 tons.
The entire canal system in this section of the State was sold in 1858 to the Sunbury & Erie Railroad Company and by them to the North Branch Canal Company. In 1869 it was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, who formed the subsidiary company which for some years operated it under the name of the Pennsylvania Canal Company. In 1880 the traffic on the canal began to decline and in ten years after that it became apparent that the canal would have to be abandoned. The unprecedented freshets of 1889 had destroyed the Juniata division, from Newton Hamilton to Rope Ferry, a distance of fifty-six miles, and the West Branch canal was also damaged, all that portion west of the Loyaisock being almost totally obliterated. Having no connection below Northumberland, the canal became almost useless and was finally abandoned in 1891. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company sold it to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, the present owners, later on.
The Pennsylvania Canal Company operated the section of the canal from Northumberland to Wilkes-Barre, a distance of sixty-five miles, but owned altogether about 338 miles of canals. Their capital stock was fixed at $5,000,000 and the officers were all Philadelphians, stockholders of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The local superintendents in this section were Hugh D. Quick of Rupert and Hudson Owen of Berwick. The chief engineer was Thomas H, Wierman of Harrisburg.
In this year of 1914 there is little evidence in sight of the past glory of the canal, although but a few years have elapsed since its abandonment. Nature has done her best to obliterate the work of the past and man has assisted her by tearing down the embankments and destroying the stone work. The authorities at Danville have almost entirely filled up the bed of the canal, but in Bloomsburg and Berwick and along most of the intervening space it remains open, filled in places with stagnant water, a menace to the health of the public. The locks at Rupert and Bloomsburg arc still visible.
