The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-15
s u Z z .
THE GREAT CANAL.
Completion Of the Monster Under
taking, and Preparations
For Its Opening.
The History and Character of the
Work-Its Different Divisions and
the Prospect Of Its Success.

The completion of the Suez Canal is one Of
the grandest accomplishments OF modern times.
Despite discouragements and obstacles, its bold
protector Ferdinand de Lesseps has never fall
tered in his determination to succeed; and by his
indomitable will the difficulties of nature, of
finance, and of insidious opposition have peen
at length entirely overcome. Europe and Asia
have now become near neighbors, and the pro-
duets of the Indies are TO be exchanged for the
manufactures OF the European factories ut a
transit charge across the Egyptian peninsula of
onlny oe-fourth the former rates.
The chief interest OF Americans in this work
centres in the fact that il is another gigantic tri-
umph of human skill in advancing international
intercourse and affords additional argument
for the speedy construction of the canal across
the lsthmus of Daren. Commercially, the Suez
Canal is rival to our Pacific Railroad, and by
its advantages of time and expense will tend to
etan the bulk of the trade of Asia in the old ports
Even with the opening of the Darien route, the
rich carrying trade of the East will not necessa-
rily fall into the hands OF our own merchants.
For from
London to Canton via Suez it is. 10 900 miles.
From New York TO Canton via
Panama. .....................l1,50 800 -
From New York to Canton via Pa
cific Railroad. ...................1050 500 "
London to Canton via Pacific Rail-
ROAD. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. l0,DOO -
New York to Canton via Suez Canal. II. 800
Or, taking time as the test for the transit from
London, it will compare as follows by their
route and ours
By MdrseillsS BY NeIo York and
London to Hong Kong. 80 days. A DAYS.
London to Shanghai. =. 43 - 43 -
London to Yokohama. 4S % 3S "
The Ancient Canal.
The idea of cutting through the Isthmus of
Suez does not originally belong to VI. Ferdinand
de Lesseps Long before his day, the soyereigns
of Egypt had thought about making the isthmus
the route OF exchange between the East and
West; and 1t is even possible that this route, in
the time OF her greatness and prosperity, was
the real source of those immense riches which
enabled the pride of her kings to satisfy their
stupendous tancles. 1t would otherwise be diff
cult to explain the construction of the wonder
ful tombs which those despots raised TO shelter
their skeletons against the waste and ruin of
centuries. Herodotus informs us that the
labor spent in the erection of the Pyramid of
Cheops represented the work of one hundred
thousand men during the long period of twenty
nine years. BY calculating the daily wages of
the laborer at fifteen cents, we find that this
monument cost the fabulous amount of ninety
millions of dollars which we may regard as lost
to the country, no ulterior advantage having
ever accrued to it therefrom. The cutting
through of the isthmus the utility of which
is incontestable, viii not necessitate the
sacrifice OF so much life and treasure
All the ancient kings of EgyRt had not, how
ever, the uinous vanity of Cheops-some, hap
PLY for the people, having studied the useful
side of sovereignty. Among others, Necos was
one of the first who undertook TO establish COM
municatons between the Red Sea and the Medi-
terranean. The labor spent upon this project
exceeded the long term of one hundred wears.
and, after the lapse OF two thousand five hun
dred years. vestiges of the works are still visible
in the ueighborhood of Suez, where the geolo-
gical consistency of the soil resisted more sue
cessfully the destructive fury of the Caliph
Abassde Abou-G Giafar-el-Manzour, who destroyed
the canal about the middle of the eighth CEN
tury of our era. The canal of Necos, which
connected the Nile with the Dead Sea, and was
in active operation during fifteen hundred years,
was constructed, of course, upon a much
smaller scale than than the one about to be |
opened by NJ. Lesseps. At that remote period, |
maritime exchanges were less exacting, and in
tercourse between the nations less frequent;
their largest galleys, or triremes did not mea-
sure more than sixteen yards in length, drawing
consequently much less water than ships Of