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Dear Everyone--

Did you ever sing the song "I've got a mule and her
name is Sal--Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal" --well, I MET Sal
herself, and here's a picture. She's looking across the street to a
very unusual building. It's called the Weighlock Building, and the
Erie Canal used to run right through it.

The Erie Canal was very important in the development of New York
State. It was built in 1825 and provided a water route from "Albany
to Buffalo"--which meant that cargo could go all the way from New
York City to the Great Lakes of the Midwest.

Canal boats were charged a toll to travel through the canal. The
amount they had to pay was based on the weight of their boats and
cargo. How do you weigh a boat?

Look at this model of the building. The canal boats floated behind
the pillars, where there was a "lock" to hold back the water. (I'll
tell you how locks work in the next message.) All the water was
pumped out of that little piece of the canal, leaving the boat
suspended on a special scale.

Here I am with the weighmaster. He's showing me how to figure out
what to charge a canal boat. Let's go out and look at what's in the
weighlock right now.

I'm sitting up on top of the back of the boat. Can you see the kid
fishing behind me? There wasn't a lot to do while people travelled on
the canal.

Here's a guy just staring out the window.

It's probably because he didn't want to take a nap in this very
narrow and uncomfortable swinging bunk bed!

The boat's kitchen looks like this. Behind me is the toilet area; the
curtain is pulled back so you can see it.

And here's the cookstove,
but there wasn't any fire burning in it today.

The museum also has loads of exhibits about things that were invented
in Syracuse. When you buy new shoes, does the clerk measure your feet
with a tool like this? It's called a Brannock Device and was invented
right here!

On the way home we got ice cream. Guess what kind I got!!!

In the next message, I'll send photos of my visit to a real lock!!!

Love, Monty