Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 14).djvu/149

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PLANNING, BUILDING, AND OPENING
145

Albany; Cohoes Falls, which had been the making of Schenectady, was wiped out of existence by the Erie Canal and the Schenectady of the old days was a thing of the past. The students of Union College, however, were cosmopolitan, and the "College Guards" did the honors of the rainy day; the guests took dinner at a hotel and were off at four o'clock. On the following morning, above the patroon mansion of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, the flotilla was met by the aldermen of Albany and the last lock in the long canal was entered at 10:30 A. M. Twenty-four cannon announced the flotilla's arrival. The procession that soon formed moved slowly to the capital; after a prayer and an ode, the address of the day was delivered by Philip Hone.

At nine o'clock on Thursday morning, November 3, the flotilla set sail from Albany on the broad Hudson; the canal boats were in tow of strong steamers, the "Chancellor Livingston" leading the way. Unfortunately "Noah's Ark" with its bears and Indians had not kept up with the main procession and did not arrive in time to