The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1869-10-13

The Suex ship Canal.
Amer years Of digging and dredging. the ca
nal between the Red Sea and the Mediterrane-
an is completed the dream Of engineers for
ages has become accomplished fact This
important event is thus briefly communicated
in a telegram from the city Of the PharsOhs,
which appeared in yesterdays TiRes.
Cairo. Sept. 1.-The Suer Canal is complete.
The opening. with eight metres Of water. is ex-
peeted to occur on the lIth Of December.
1t WAS in 1854 that NJ. DE LEssEPs, having
secured the friendly aid Of the YicerOy Of Egypt
MoHAMNED SAID, began his first survey for the
present canal. Four years latter company
was formed to undertake its construction; on
the 25th day Of April 1859 the first spade-full
Of earth was turned at Port Said.
To appreciate the nature of the obstacles en-
eouutered in pushing this stupendOus enterprise
to success, we must recall precisely what has
been done in these ten t0ilsome years. The
ports connected by the canal are Said and Sue1.
Suez the southerly outlet, is At the head Of the
Gulf of SueI, arm Of the Red Sea; Port Said,
the northerly outlet. is on the Mediterranean,
l25 miles east of Alexandria; the distance be-
tween these two points is ninety miles. Along
the route however. are several lakes and chains
Of lakes; aud the Company's task was to con-
meet these by a canal. and to deepen the chan
mel through them. The difficulties Of this task
were increased by the great sand storms" from
the desert, which threatened constantly to fill
the canal. Robert Stephenson, the well known
engineer in lS5S-the year before NJ. De Les
seps began his work-publicly declared that
the 'SueI Canal would prove to be an dborfire
scheme. ruinOus to its contractors" Hewrote.
also. 10 the AHstriaR Gazette, Il know that such
channel is impraetieable; that nothing can be
effected, even by the most Unlimited expendi.
ture of time. and life, and money. beyond the
formation of a stagnant ditch, between two al
most tideless seas, unapproaehable by large
ships under any circumstances. This opinion
be had formed from n close examination Of the
region in lS47.
But the work really presented no new engi-
neering problem-it only required great pa
tienee, industry and energy, anda long purse.
The contractors, NM. BOrel and Levailey by
employing novel machinery Of prodigi6us pow
er, were able, running it day and night. to
dredge and tip no less than two and a halfmi-
lion cubic yards per MONTH By the aid of a
steam pump, water was mixed with the earth
brought up by the dredge. and the mud so form
ed was spouted out upon both banks Of the ca
nal to such distance and in such quantities
as to form high, compact ramparts against sand
showers blowing in from the desert. Ninety.
six millions cubic yards Of earth have thus
been taken out; and there is left to-day a canal
ninety miles long. 32S feet wide atthe surface,
and seventy-four feet wide at the bottom, and
twenty-six feet deep throughout.
The harbors and basins built at Said and Su-
ez are maryels Of engineering industry and en-
ergy. To guard against the filing up of the
canal at the former point by the deposits ofthe
Nile, great blocks Of aeompOsite stone, formed
out Of hydraulic lime ground to dust by pow
erful mills and mixed with sand. weighing twen-
ty tons each, are sunk and piled in the harbor
Of Port Said, and broad and handsome piers
are constructed thereon. Three hundred thou
sand tons of these have been used at Port Said
alone.
The entire cost Of this great work has been
about Ssl 900 900. But to include improve
ments. which will be applied as experience
may suggest, We may safely set the total sum
at SIS, 900 600. Whether it will ever prove a
great financial success, is problem which
English papers are now earnestly discussing
but one thing is pretty sure. it will not prove
''an abOrtive scheme, ruinous to its cOntrac-
tors" The Company have already advanta-
geously sold its various buildings on the line
Of the canal, and still has valuable lands on
its banks. and especially at its two harbors.
1t Is estimated by some authorities that the an
nual business Of the canal will amount to 10,
00O, ,000 tons, and that its gross receipts will be
100 ,OOO 900 francs. The low toll of traffic
but ten francs per ton-across Egypt will at
tract an enormous trade, and already English
and French merchants are building vessels ex-
| pressly for canal navigation. Its present rate
Of movement is about 900 900 tons per an
NUN, and when it is fully opened, it is easy to
understand that this rate may be increased
hundred fold. Nearly or quite all the steam
marine in the Asiatie trade will probably at
once adopt this route.
If we, in this country, regard the S1ez Ca
nal with favor, and hail its opening as an
advance step in science and civilization, our
enthusiasm Is at least Of a very unselfsh sort.
/ The Suez Canal will prove a formidable enemy
to US, in the coming struggle Of the great
/ Powers for commercial supremacy in Asia.
/ Commerce seeks short cuts and, accordingly,
the impulse 70 cut through all isthnuses. be they
/ Dutch Gaps or Dariens, is irresistible to the
engineering and commercial world, If shorter
shiP-route may be thereby gained. The SueE
Canal furnishes such a route 20 the English
and French marine that now traffic ID Asiaiic
products 1t is to Europe what a new Pacific
Railroad or a new Pacific line Of steamers is
to the United States. II is even more, since
it brings the ports Of China, Japan and India,
and the Asiatic markets. in general, very many
days nearer by purely marine route, and
without breaking bulk In that sharp strug-
gle for trade, where every minute Of time tells,
a new conduit like the SueE Canal is inestima-
bic. The discovery Of shorter passage to
/ the Indies around the Cape Of Good Hope, de-
stTOyed the chief commerce Of the Mediterra-
mean and the Adriatie. and made a ruin Of
some Of the most magnificent cities Of Europe.
Will the restoration Of the shorter direct route
70 the East, through the Mediterranesn, bring
back the commerce, the wealth, the luxury,
and power which were scattered by the dis
e0veFy Of Vaseo de Ganal-E. y. Times.