From the basin at Dayton to low water in the Ohio river at Cincinnati, a distance of 66 miles, the canal descends about 300 feet, through 32 locks. Water for feeding the various levels south of Dayton is introduced at that city, Mamesburg, and Middletown. The manufacturing along this section is extensive, the paper and flouring industries being especially prominent. For the former of these, as now developed, however, the power furnished from the canal alone is not sufficiently reliable, and the mills are generally filled with steam engines for use when the water supply runs short.
From the upper plane of the city of Cincinnati the canal descended formerly to the Ohio by means of ten locks, with a fall of 111 feet, measured to low water in the river. This terminal portion, though abandoned for navigation, is nevertheless utilised for power. Much of the way, it is covered from view, and in part of its course the water is divided between two separate channels. Water is used successively from one level to another, and is finally discharged into the Eggleston Avenue sewer.
_The Morris Canal_, New Jersey, of which a profile is given at p. 206, is one of the most important in the United States. It was built originally to connect the Delaware River, with Newall. It was commenced in 1825 and opened to Jersey City in 1836. The summit level is 51 miles from tide water at Newall, and 39 miles from the Delaware River, being 914 feet above the former, and 760 feet above the latter. This elevation is overcome by 23 inclined planes, and 23 lift-locks. In 1841 the dimensions of the lift-locks were enlarged to 98 feet by 12 feet.
_The Union Canal_, Pa., of which a section is shown on the next page, was commenced in 1811, and completed, after a long stoppage caused by the war of 1812, in 1832. The canal was intended to connect the Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers. There is a lockage of 501 feet, with 88 lift-locks 3 guard-locks, and 2 weigh-locks, making 93 locks in all. The tonnage, which was 207,500 tons in 1858, fell to 29,800 tons in 1880. There were in the latter year 73 boats on the canal, averaging 100 tons.
_The Schuylkill Navigation_ (see profile, p. 206) Pa., was incorporated in 1815, for the purpose of connecting the coal region of Mount Carbon with the city of Philadelphia. The canal was completed in 1826, when the depth of water was three feet, and the carrying capacity of the boats employed was 25 tons. By 1847 the minimum depth of water was made 6 feet, and the boats employed averaged 170 tons. In 1850, a flood, which devastated the Schuylkill valley, swept away dams, locks, tow-paths, and banks, so that hardly a trace of the canal existed for many miles, but this damage was subsequently repaired. The locks on the canal are 110 feet by 18 feet. The lockage on the main line of the canal is 618½ feet. There are 47 waterways, two overflows, with 3300 feet in both, 121 bridges, 22 culverts, 31 dams, and 12 aqueducts. The company has had a chequered career, and the canal was, in 1870, leased to the Pa. and Reading Railroad Co., for 999 years, at a yearly rental of 655,000 dollars.