the farms and towns lying along Lake Champlain, in Vermont and New York,
kindred in character to that above described in respect to the Erie
Canal. It brought into the market lands and produce which before had
been worthless, and was a great blessing to all concerned.

There can be no doubt that the building of the Erie Canal was the wisest
and most far-seeing enterprise of the age. It has left a permanent and
indelible mark upon the face of the republic of the United States in the
great communities it has directly assisted to build up at the West, and
in the populous metropolis it created at the mouth of the Hudson River.
None of the canals which have been built to compete with it have yet
succeeded in regaining for their States what was lost to them when the
Erie Canal went into operation. This water route is still the most
important artificial one of its class in the country, and is only
equaled by the Welland Canal in Canada, which is its closest rival. Now
that it is free, it will retain its position as the most popular water
route to the sea from the great West. The Mississippi River will divert
from it all the trade flowing to South America and Mexico; but for the
northwest it will be the chief water highway to the ocean.

* * * * *




COTTRAU'S LOCOMOTIVE FOR ASCENDING STEEP GRADES.


We borrow, from our contemporary _La Nature_, the annexed figure,
illustrating an ingenious type of locomotive designed for equally