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Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 930, 22 February 1872, Page 2

We call the attention of our readers to the following account of the " Use of Steam on Canals." It is taken from a late New York paper, and may be suggestive of a better mode of communication between this port and the rich reefs abounding in the neighbourhood of our fine river :

" The Chairman of the Special Committee, appointed by the Chamber of Commerce of New York to attend at Albany with the Canal Board of the State to personally see the experiment of the practical working on the Erie Canal of the system of steam towage by means of a submerged cable, worked by steam pulleys, as practised on the rivers of Prance and Belgium, reported that, in pursuance of this appointment, and the invitation in behalf of the Canal Board, herewith furnished, he attended at Albany on the 17th of November, and was present at the experiment made on the canal level between Albany and Troy ; that the details of the experiment, and the machinery employed and its performance, have been fully published, to which reference is made. He deemed it sufficient for the present to report the very important fact that, in the experiment made at Albany, it was visibly demonstrated that the steam tug was readily able to draw, and did actual draw, through the canal without injury to the banks or any perceptible disturbance of its waters, three heavily loaded canal boats, stated to contain cargoes in the aggregate of six hundred tons, at the rate of three miles to the hour. " The Canal Commissioners and the Committee appointed to witness the working of steam on the canals, certify that they consider it superior to any plan heretofore employed or brought to their knowledge, and confidently believe the introduction of this system of towage upon the canals of this" State would lessen the time and cost of transportation thereon, and increase their capacity and usefulness."