Buffalo, giving the signal to a line of cannon within hearing distance of each other, extending the entire length of the canal and the Hudson, and the news of the opening of the canal was thus transmitted from Buffalo to New York in an hour and a half, and then returned to Buffalo in the same manner. Throughout the entire journey the arrival of the fleet at every principal place occasioned the greatest rejoicings: salutes were fired, fireworks displayed, speeches made and banquets and balls tendered to the officers and Committees. Upon arrival at Albany an entire day was devoted to the festivities appropriate to the occasion. The fleet then proceeded down the Hudson in tow of steamers to New York. where there took place a most elaborate celebration of the event.
Two kegs had been prepared containing water from Lake Erie, and these kegs were carried on the journey to New York. A naval procession was formed consisting of the fleet which had made the trip and a large number of other vessels appropriately decorated, and the whole proceeded to a point off Sandy Hook, where the vessels formed a circle. The Governor then proceeded to complete the ceremony of "commingling the waters of the lake with the ocean" by pouring the contents of one of the kegs into the sea. He then delivered the following short address:
"This solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to indicate and commemorate the navigable communication which has been accomplished between our Mediterranean Seas and the Atlantic Ocean, in about eight years, to the extent of more than four hundred and twenty—five miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, and energy of the people of the State of New York; and may the God of the Heavens and of the Earth smile most propitiously on this work, and render it subservient to the best interests of the human race."
Water from many of the most notable rivers of the different divisions of the world was then poured into the sea by Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell. The flotilla then returned to the City of New York, where a grand procession had been marching and was assembled at the Battery to welcome it on its return. In the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated and a grand display of fireworks took place at the City Hall, accompanied by magnificent illumination of that building; on the following Monday a ball was given by the military companies of the city in honor of the event.
On the return to the western part of the State of those who had left their homes there to accompany the fleet to New York, a keg of water of the ocean was poured into the waters of Lake Erie with appropriate ceremonies, thus terminating the celebration.
Thus was concluded an enterprise which has proven of the greatest value to the State. For it is due to the Erie Canal that the course of commerce was diverted from the Canadian and southern routes so as to enrich this State and its citizens. And to the Erie Canal is due the extraordinary prosperity experienced not only by the State as a whole, but by the cities of Buffalo and New York in particular, for immediately upon its completion their commerce increased by leaps and bounds.
It remains for us to see how the canal was administered and improved during the years following its completion, with some discussion of the financial side of the question, until the larger policy was initiated which has resulted in the authorization of the barge canal now under construction. These administrative and economic questions, belonging, as they do, rather to the period of operation than that of construction, will be made the subject of the next paper.
Note—In preparing the foregoing pager the writer has made free use of "A Historical Review of Waterways and Canals in New York State," by Hon. Henry W. Hill; of the "History of the Canal System of the State of New York," by Noble C. Whitford, published in 1905 under authority of the State Engineer and Surveyor of the State of New York; of "Colden's Memoirs," published by direction of a committee of the Common Council of the City of New York on the occasion of the celebration of the completion of the Erie Canal; and of various other sources, and wishes to render acknowledgement of his indebtedness to them.
Editor's Note:—The next installment of Mr. Clinton's "History of the Erie Canal" will appear in the May Issue.
