Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 February 1919 — BILL BY SENATOR MEEKER PROPOSES NEW WATERWAY [ARTICLE]

BILL BY SENATOR MEEKER PROPOSES NEW WATERWAY

A canal from Indiana Harbor to the Wabash river near Battle Ground will be constructed if a proposed bill in the state legislature becomes a law. Senator C. D. Meeker, of Monticello, the author of the measure;has pointed out that such a waterway would tap the coal fields of southern Indiana and provide cheaper transportation for fuel between them and Gary and Chicago. The senator said that such a route would be 250 miles shorter than any other feasible route that could be suggested. All transcontinental railroads, he said, would j ass such a waterway The main object behind the plan would be a waterway connecting the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico Senator Meeker announced that his bill will provide that the governor appoint a commission of three members to investigate the most feasible route or routes connecting Lake Michigan with the Wabash river by canal. It would be called the Michigan and Ohio waterway commission and the finding would be reported to the governor before the next session of the legislature.