The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-04-14

The Ers"ch In Sacsrag~>-The Proposed
Belly canai-cosonszing the Country.
The advices from Central America, received
last night by the Star of the West apprise US Of
the arrival there of the second party Of M.
Belly's canal and colonization expedition, with
additions to his retinue Of princely secretaries
and martial engineers, and detachment Of
Iaundresses, whose names we are happy to find
are given in FL for the benefit of history. We
are little g prised to observe that they are
simple mesda ares. Judging from the composition
Of the masculine contingent, we looked for
nothing less than Warehouses;.
But badinage aside. Belly has undoubtedly
arrived out, and Notwithstanding the fantastic
prsofncyc of his expedition, and the bombastic
style in which its movements are announced, it
has nevertheless reached the dignity o. a fact,
and ii may now be worth while to inquire ii it
has been organized with sincere purpose Of ex-
ecuting q great work Of public utility, or only
Of creating complications in the interests Of
French ambition, and pretexts for French inter-
vention. We have said that if it should clearly
appear that the proposed canal, although posi-
bly, feasible in an engineering sense, is utterly
beyond the range of rational enterprise, that
then the public mind would DO apt to regard this
expedition as designed for sinister purposes,
offensive to the dignity and dangerous to tho
interests of tho United States. Leaving this
alternative probability for future consideration,
we copfine ourselves now to the question of the
feasibility Of the proposed work, not physically
alone, but financially, and with reference to the
most important of all questions: Will it pay?
The project Of a canal in Nicaragua began to
be entertained almost Immediately after the con-
quest of the country by the Spaniards- It was
made the subject Of memorials to the Grown Of
Spain as early as 1927. But it never advanced
beyond the sphere Of mere speculation until
nnce to its feasibility by Don Manuel Galisteo,
under the orders of the Spanish Crown. This
vas followed by another imperfect survey in
1888 by Mr.. John Baily, an Englishman, under
tie authority of the federal government Of Cen
tal America. 1t was not, however, until 1851
TINT survey was made at all conforming to mo-
dom engineering requirements. This was effect
ed by Col. o. W. Childs, formerly Engineer-in-
Chef of the State of New York, on behalf of the
atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company"
Until this survey was made it had always been
assumed that the river San Juan, as well as Lake
Nicaragua, could easily be made navigable for
ships, and that the only obs acle to be overcome
was the narrow belt of land between the lake
andthe Pacific. But Col Childs found that the
rea]dificulties in the way of the execution of the
wort were the emit inadequacy of the river
SanJuan for ship navigation, and The shallow
nessof that portion Of the lake from which the
river debouches, rendering necessary stipend
GUS ystem of damming and submarine excava-
ton as well as large extents of lateral canaling
He bund it entirely impracticable to construct
cana of the dimensions required by the charter
of III. company for which he was acting, and
whichstipulated that it should be of dimensions
sufficient to admit and pass vessels of all sizes,
withspeed and safety. He accordingly drew up
HE pans and estimates for canal seventeen
feet deep, fifty feet wide at bottom, and 118 feet
wide at top-a capacity, as we shall see further
on wholly inadequate for the only class Of YES
sell and the only kind of commerce which would
be likely to use the work when completed. Some
idea Of the difficulties to be encountered in con-
struetiDg canal, of even this limited capacity,
may reformed from the fact that to obtain a
depth Of seventeen feet it would be ne
cesar, to effect an average under
water excavation in Lake Nicaragua of
eight fet for five and half miles, and to con
struct dams across the river to secure slack
water nd depth, varying from eight to sixteen
feet in heighth The enormous increase in the
extent Of this under water excavation, and in
the heigt and cost of the proposed works on the
river, il case the canal was made of greater
depth, en- scarcely be estimated. A greater
depth wald further involve immense excava-
lions in he bed of the San JUAN often in rock, or
in quickands more difficult of management than
rock itsei
The cst of the work on the reduced plan pro-
posed b Col Childs was estimated by him at
an aggregate of s3l $4,000. After the conclu-
sion Of be survey his plans and estimates were
laid, blythe company for which he acted, before
committee of English engineers, who, while
commenting VIC aSCutaCy oAiu CobpicteucSS VI
his surwy, expressed their belief that the esti-
mates wee too low, and that the aggregate cost
would nG fall below S35,OO0,OO0. AT the same
time the, expressed themselves decidedly against
the dimeisions of the work as proposed, on the
ground # inadequacy to meet the requirements
Of commerce. On the whole, the opinion of the
British gngineers was regarded as favorable to
the enterprise, ard the plans, &c, were next laid
before committee of English capitalists, of
which M Bates, of the house of Barring Brothers,
was chairman, with view to their cooperation
By this committee the whole enterprise, in it's
material and financial aspects, was subjected TO
a rigid Investigation. 1t was found that the pro-
posed Dimensions neither met the stipulations of
the chatter nor the requirements Of commerce.
The largg merchant ships, such as are generally
employed in the Eastern trade, draw from
eighteen to twenty-five feet of water, and would