Under another view of the case we have the following relations of horses
and steam to show that steam in 1872 is less economical than horses.
The captain of the _Vosburg_ states that he left West Troy in Oct.,
carrying over 100 tons of freight, after the _Baxter_ had left there for
Buffalo, _and with two mule teams_, alternating one with the other every
six hours, he arrived at Buffalo in advance of the _Baxter_; _through time
less than the Baxter's shortest time_. "Net time" not stated.
Publishing _net time_ of steamers instead of total or through time, is
deceptive, and creates a false impression with the community. Had not the
through time of steamers this season been suppressed, the governor of the
State would not have imagined five-day trips from Buffalo to New York, as
per his message, and our city editors would not have ventilated such
visionary pretensions. There are a multitude of horse-boat captains that
can reduce their _net canal time of movement_ below the _Baxter's_, which
has been so extensively commented upon; but their so doing would not
expedite the transfer of grain from the lakes to tide-water.
A certain horse-boat, in a former season, made two round trips from Buffalo
to and from New York in twenty days each, and on each trip lay three days
in New York. This made her through time _average_ between the cities 8-1/2
days each way. Her captain once towed in the "Line" and was only nine days
twenty hours from Buffalo to New York. This season a horse-boat made the
round trip from New York to and from Buffalo in twenty-one days.
These _round trips_ have probably never been exceeded by steam.
In the former era the prism of the canal seemed imbedded with innumerable
old and broken tow-lines, which the propeller, by its high velocity, sucked
up, and was thereby "fouled;" and now the sea-grass is a hidden enemy that
entwines itself around the propeller to foul it.
When the waters are low, forcing the engines of screw propellers lets the
stern of the boat "squat" or hug the bottom, and although these are minor
features of want of mechanical adaptation to canal duty, they illustrate
petty detentions serving to lengthen the through times of steam.
Hence, if we intermix the slow steamers with the fast ones, as we do the
slow with the fast horse-boats, for a _general average_, it is quite
probable that horse-times are fully equal to those of steam, and that the
excess of horse-cargoes makes a large and handsome advantage in their
favor.
_Therefore, under this general average, steam in 1872 is less economical
than horses._