Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-07-17
THE SUEZ CANAL---M KING 4
SEAPORT.

In Mr.. Collins book, "Our New
Way Round the World" Just issued
by Messrs. Fields, Osgood x Co., there
Is an interesting account OF the pre-
lection and prosecution of the great
canal across the Isthmus OF Suez,
ana the marvellous manner III VI hich
| seaport, Port Said has been ac-
tually created by the hand of man,
to receive and safely hold the YES
sells going in and out Of the canal ON
the Mediterranean side. We make
| few extracts:
The line selected by Lesseps is just
one hundred miles in length. The
canal, when complete, will have the
following dimensions
Width at Observation-Disclosures. .3as feet
W ldth at bottom. m.....-..............24 .246 ''
Depth .-.----..-..-..-.......... 2G %
There are no locks nor impediments
OF any kind nor is there any differ
ence of level between the two seas,
except what may be occasioned by
the tides.
Having taken this preliminary
outlook, we are prepared To see what
has been accomplished.
We are in the Bay of Pelusium, on,
one OF the steamers of the Messass~-
ries 1mperiales Company, with a
sailor at the masthead on the look
| out for Port Said. No nigh hills
| greet the sight, but only lone sand
beach, forest of masts, a city, and
| two breahwaters extending into the
sea. The wind is fresh, and the
waves are dashing furiously against
! the newly constructed wall, which
| extends from the beach straight ont
| To the sea eight thousand one hun
dred and seventy-cight feet. Pass
| ing the end of the wall we are shell
tered by 1t and though the breakers
are laundering within 4 few feet Of
| us, SO near that the spray falls upon
our deck, we are in calm water.
1t IS not solid masonry, laid up
with nicely fitting joints, but com
posed of blocks of stone weighing
twenty-five tons each, which were
| manufactured on the beach, brought
| out on lighters, and tumbled into po-
sition. They consist of hydraulic
lime, brought from Thiel in France,
| and sand shoveied up on the shore,
the proportions being one of lime and
three of sand. The composition is
| mOistened with salt water, mixed
and moulded by machinery, and al
lowed to dry three months before be-
| ing used. The eastern wall will be
about five thousand feet in length,
not parallel to the western, but CON
vergIng toward it Seaward, giving
an area of about five hundred acres.
Before US are thousands of the huge
| stones, manufactured by this process
| drying III the sun, as il this were a
| hrickyard, and Sampson and Goliath,
| and their brothers the strong men,
had been striking them of.
| The harbor ana canal are eXcavat-
| ell DE steam. The pXpIVHtprS are
of enormous size. Imagination may
picture Il machine as tail as Il church
| steeple, HOnderOus iron wheels twen-
| ty feet IN diameter, buckets as big as
| hogsheads, on an endless chain; an
iron conductor, two hundred and
| twenty feet III length, that serves TO
| carry the sand over the bank of the
canal, when brought up by the buck
cts. There are seventy-two of them,
each costing from eighty to one hun
aMFefhk M6fkeH thSgIard J& h9llarS s ThsY iu ere q.
their way with great rapidity
| through the desert. Those who
/, have seen the dredges in use in the
harbors of our great cities will be
| able to form some idea of the nla@ni-
| tude of these machines.
Standing upon the bank of the ca
nal, and behOlding the chain of buck
cts coming out OF the water, dis
charging their contents into one end
of the long conductor, and a stream
of water and sand pouring from the
other; remembering that every
wheel, pinion, bolt, rivet, and nut
had been brought from France. and
put up here that all the coal used
for the operation Of the eXcavatOrs
has been mined a thousand feet un-
derground in England, and shipped
to this place, we can but admire Tia e
genius, energy, ana perseverance OF
the man who began this great enter
prise, who has carried it on to tho
present time, and who will have il
completed ia October, 1869.
The quaint : of earth which will
have been excavated when the canal
is finished will be not far from nine
ty-seven million cubic yards. \ con-
ception of the amount may be ob-
tanned by thinking of line of earth
one yard high and one i'll width,
reaching fifty-five thousand miles,
or more than twice around the
globe,
The full capacity of the dredging
machines employed is about two
million seven hundred thousand GU
, bic yards per month one machine
has taken out one hundred and six
thousand per month. The cost o.
the machinery is about twelve mil
: lion dollars.