Thick ice on canal, February 1865

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.-

It has been hoped that there would be a speedy reopening of the navigation to Cumberland, and some of the dealers have expected to receive supplies of coal by the 1st of March: but this is considered by the superintendents of the canal as an impossibility. The ice on the western levels is very thick and bank high. A sudden freshet is dreaded, and not without reason, for such a freshet, bringing down the ice, would be very dangerous to the lower sections, and might so damage the canal as to delay navigation for a considerable length of time. It is ordered by the Canal Commissioners that the water shall be drawn off at this terminus on the 22d instant, and the workmen will proceed at once to repair damages, which will probably require ten days to complete the work. After which the route will be opened as soon as able, and the coal and produce trade will be resumed. The quantity of supplies at the western depots will requires large number of boats for transportation.-

Washington Star