The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-12-12

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fate as Arsinoe 1000 years before, rs Clysmon lSO
years before Suez would In another nall century
have been completely isolated by the desert; fo1
lance OF three miles. The other difficulty 'lnsur
mountaole" was the port as Peiusium. No human
engineering could ever proven. the aggomearatitSs
establishment OF deep harD0r. Since no engineer
nor mathematician was able 70 controvert these the
cries OF Lepere the direct ocean canal given up
and time fate did not permit Napoleon TO proceed
with the reconstruction OF Nech0s canal. In Abou
kir hay Napoleon's aims and DESIRES hopes aud am
billions IN the Orient were annihtiated by ADer
crombie,
Let your readers glance at the map OF the Eastern
Hemisphere and Tx their eyes upon the neck OF land
Africa together. Let them conceive that that neck
OF land Is but ninety miles OF sand, shifted int
ocean tides. Only ninety miles OF sand Does II
hot seem superiority TO recaptulate the advan.
tages tnat might be derived from cutting through
while looking at the map OF the Eastern world
while our eyes look upon England ana India, France
Inc Islands, Portugal and Goa, Holland and Bata-
via and Japan Europe and the Indies Asatic Tur.
key and Arabia, Europe and Eastern Africa
brought into direct and short communica.
non with those or the ricn, golden Orient,
with the whole Of Eastern Africa. with such
Bile benefits depending upon the excavation T., o
canal through this sand, was II p0ssipo that ihe
vent and ARRIVAL with the proclamation OF the most
startling ideas with the CESSATION and birth OF
mighty projects, with the universal publication OF
greatest Idea 10 sleep TO rest while the whole world
cried "IrOgresSr-whIe the American Continent
was about TO be banded with iron-whlle the oceans
were troubled with the might, splash and plOug CHING
OF thousands OF steamers, ana the deep about
be vexed by the electric cables! No l impossible |!
said mems minds. With the mighty march OF pro-
eress IN all parts OF the world TINS barrier Of
SAND must be removed Africa must be separated
nom Asia; the Red Sea must be connected with the
hA6i 70 And. hnN N naI hon fhfS
barrier was removed, how the Ery threan waters
commlnged for the purposes Of commerce | am
about to relate
Mehemet All was a genius. This man was the
Egyptian Naroeon Wnile ne lived success al
tended him Ia almost every war he undertook; but
England proved loo strong for MIN. as she had
proved TO Napoleon. Mehemet Ali died OF q sere
aga having Advocated his right Napoleon died at st.
Helena Among the many vast designs Mehemet
All cherished was the construction OF u ship canal
rom the Me TO the sea- the reopening OF BuDastis
and Bitter Lake Canal, thence to the sea. Mehemet
All was the very man to carry such q project to Its
end. Had really sensible scheme been proposed
TO hlm there Is not tue least d0ubs that he would
have eXerted all his brilliant sense and autocratc
command to have II carried out. But the numerous
schemes proposed to him were all In connection
with the Me and the Red Sea- and his STERLING prac-
teal sense rejected them. This alone shows that
thousand I'VE hundred years OF experience were not
lost upon him. Egyptian history told MIN how
often the Pharaohs, the ptoiemies, the Romans and
the Callphs had devoted their energies to construct
Ing and reconstructin2 that canal and demonstrated
" aim the xutlesslesS OF continuing 1T.
Soon after the peace OF 1888. by which Mehemet
All was confirmed in tue hereditary possession of
tgy pit BY paying merely an annual tribute To the
Sublime Porte. party Of Engiisnmen explored the
stnmuS, among whom was MAJOR General Chesney
who before Q commission asserted. alter q casual
Inspection Of the localities that the Idea Of diner
,nce between the level Of the two seas was COM
,leely erroneous. In 1S40 also another survey was
made by the English with o view OF opening canal,
md Chesney's opinion was confirmed by scientific
inquiries.
Ia Eehruarv 1sA1 Tfpaut Pav Cbioy Ep0iroar ~
iehenet ALI In CON junction win Messrs. An1eron
OF tue Psninsuar and oriental Company, Joun and
ieorse Giiddon formed company TO constructa
nip canal from Potassium to Suez. Inquiries and
aoorlous surveys had demonstrated Its complete
easlbty. There was no longer doubt, 1t was
lot chlmera 10 those men VINO had studied the
sthmus aud Its characteristics; 1t became q fact
could the moving power OF ali works
money enough-be Obtained. This company broke
p, however, without accomplishing anything.
In 1876 Linaut BeyiS scheme Of canal was taken
p by new company OF which the great Stephen
7ere members. The organization OF this company
ias manly OWING TO inc Efforts OF ID. Enlantin.
ne Sociese dEtttles du Canal de Suez had for Its
urpose the making OF une S0fIe de BOSpitOie ddIS
oese,t de .Saez. from the series OF reports which
7erc drawn up by European and Egyptian engineers
eatiye TO the respective seas, the features of The
sthmus, the nature OF the soil and the pros and
said Tor and against the feasibility OF consLruc
ION and advantages Of the canal. a member Oh the
company drew up an elaborate review to be submit
ed TO the association, ana ISewise sketcned plan
II canal which would run from Suez TO Cairo. iol
Alexandria. But as this project was tor most In.
lirecr QUITE 1t needless TO say that men awakened
o the necessity OF direct sup canal overruled and
,uaShed IT instantly.
Though these later surveys had followed one
lpon the OGner quickly, yet eminent Europeans,
nough accepting Tue truth OF the general theories
ii vauced, were found no sill remained In DOUBT,
because the commission OF 1879, under General
sonaparte. had formed such widely different lucas.
10 satisfy the doubts OF those whose Interests would
% promoted by the Suel Canal another survey was
made, likewise under I.iDaut Boy, ana tue results
,erlhed the previous investigations. fne level Of
accepted by all as true naturally
.ested attention and drew all schemes to 1t for
OASIS
For seven years the Stephenson company had
lone nothing, except measuring, analyzlng, CON-
pairing and surmislng. in 1888 we hear OF new
nan appearing on the scene. In the person Of Mon
sieur Ferdinand de Lesseps. This gentleman was
born at Versailles, November 10, 1865, and
ISIS he was appointed Consul at Lisbon, aud
IN 1872 was made Consul at barcelona. In 1885,
when on o visit to Mohammed said Pacha,
DO proposed to hun the plan OF CONSTRUCTING mari
time canal across the lsthmus which should run
from sea to Said listened to him kindly and
asked hun to draw up statement upon Its prlnct-
pa features with all the advantages that would be
obtained from It. The early part OF 1864 his cee-
brated memorial upon the Suez Canal Was drawn up
aud delivered to the VlcerOy under the title, PIERCE
ment de Plsthme de ouex Expose ct Documents OH
ciels" From the character OF Egyptian fachas,
which was once proyerbial, the world would nos
have been in the least surprised had the vlceroy
himself with simply poke ing the docu-
menL and returning Tor answer To LcsSeps an invita-
ton 50 slhoke pipe and take cup OF coffee. But
Mona,ntned SAID Pacha, VINO succeeded AbDas, his
was an enlightened Prince and had the
tact OF gathering celebrated men around him.
koeRig Bey Secretary oi said Pacna, was a German;
Lnaut Bey and Mouge Bey, Chief Engineers OF PuD-
lie Works, were Frencnmen; Calico Boy, who con-
structed the Aexandrian fortihcations, and Moaet
Bey, Captain or Engineers, were also Frencamen
Monanmed said had been educated Al Paris. lie
was we'll acquainted with Monsieur Lesseps, and IL
was with all entire confidence that SAID PacAa en-
trusted him with tue noo.e task OF opening ocean
to the world. Inc deed OF Concession for tue
construction OF the Suez maritime Cana WAS signed
the end OF November 1854, by Monamned Said Pacna
and handed over to Ferdinand de Lesaepa. complete
specification OF the grant was drawn up and appeared
Cairo March 20, 1890. The two engineers, Linaut
aud Aodgel Bey, were the authors OF the document
Now, the grand question 10 DO solved definitely
before commencing tie gigantic task was, "Was IL
possible 10 make ARTIFICIAL Bosphorus BET yeen the
two seasf' was IL possible 10 establish "a smooth
communication between the two seas without locks I
Monsieur Lesseps, under tue authority vi the vice.
roy gran appealed to toe best engineers OF Europe
for their decision. Ts was another OF DO Le5sep'5
great iueas-thls appeal to a scientific assembly OF
pan m n.t