CANAL-PEOPLE-L Archives

Archiver > CANAL-PEOPLE > 2003-03 > 1047598226


From: "Jo" <>
Subject: Re: [CANAL-PEOPLE] Hope you like it
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 23:30:26 -0000
References: <1d9.4d2e19a.2b9f8f10@aol.com> <001401c2e9a3$8945f6c0$6701a8c0@ri.cox.net>


Thank you, yes... I'm not sure 'like' is the word, but thanks for
sending it in.

Yours
Jo
xxxxx


> A Canal Secret
>
> The New England heart,
> >From Barnet, Vermont,
> To Saybrook and Lyme on the Sound;
> Could thrive on the trade,
> If a route could be made,
> And a path to prosperity found.
>
> The Connecticut River,
> The goods, could deliver,
> A route on which all could depend;
> But sailing sloops stalled,
> At the base of the falls,
> By Enfield, where rapids descend.
>
> The Great Erie proved,
> That Earth could be moved,
> And a way around trouble be built;
> While a steamer could ease,
> Independent of breeze,
> Through rough current and keel-catching silt.
>
> But the Erie's designed
> For a mule, pulling line,
> Not a steamship - the banks would sure break;
> So the engineers planned,
> A bank to withstand,
> The wash from a fast steamer's wake.
>
> Bring Irish along!
> They'll work for a song,
> Wield a pick and a shovel all day;
> So came Erin's poor,
> Four hundred, or more,
> Fitzpatrick, McNiel, and O'Shea.
>
> They dug as a team,
> The work, brutal, and mean,
> Blasting rock, often mired in clay;
> Wet and malnourished,
> Dread disease quickly flourished,
> They died where they worked every day.
>
> When work was complete,
> Merchants toasted the feat,
> And the Connecticut Valley gave thanks;
> But the secret be told,
> The canal levee did hold,
> For the Irish are buried in its banks.
>
>
> Chris Kervick
>
>
>
>
>
> ==== CANAL-PEOPLE Mailing List ====
> Have you used Tree Tops?
> The Free FAMILY TREE & WE'LL MEET AGAIN SERVICE
> http://freespace.virgin.net/tree.tops
>
> ==============================
> To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy
records, go to:
> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237
>


This thread: