Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 13).djvu/62

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58
THE GREAT AMERICAN CANALS

the opening of the season of 1786 work on the improvements was being pushed with earnestness. At the annual meeting, August 7, the same officers were re-elected and the treasurer's books were examined and found in good order. The president and directors were allowed thirty shillings in Virginia currency for the time they had spent in the business of the company. It was determined that the directors should visit in person the river from Great Falls upward, to inspect the ground, choose a channel, and take such action as, in their judgment, the case demanded. This was done, the trip covering four days; and as a result the legislatures of the states were requested to extend the time limit from three years to November 17, 1790. In this the legislatures acquiesced.[1]

During the new fiscal year additional difficulties arose to unite with those of unpropitious weather and financial distress to delay and discourage. The appointment of Mr. Richardson Stewart as "principal Assistant Superintendent" resulted in the resignation of Mr. Rumsey, who

  1. Herring's Statutes at Large, vol. xii, ch. cxiv.