The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-15

suez and that the main body of the men en-
Working at the head of tbe canal anal which Is now @
advanced as far as Serapeum. Here IL is neces-
sary to cut through number of sand-hills to
the Bitter Lakes, which are a series OF depres-
sions in the desert, in the lowest parts of which
are marshy ponds. They are twenty-five miles
in extent and 1t is expected that when the water
is let in an area of one hundred and forty thou
sand acres will be covered. CThis has since
! been done) Then comes the Chalouf cutting
| to Suez, sixteen miles, and the seas meet.
| After leaving Kantara, for many miles
| the water oyerhowed the desert on either
| side and we passed along as through an immense
! lake. The channel was buoyed, and as an evil
dence of the shallowness of the overflow, tlamin-
| goes pelcans, and kind of large curlew waded
about, intent on fish and regardless of us while
myriads of snipe and sandpipers gaze1 at us
from the little islands which in every direction
appeared above the water. After leaving Kan
| tara we did not pass boat nor sec n human
| being until we reached Port Said. The eye
| fairly ached with reaching over the desert dis
tance-miles upon miles of sand and after we
| left the overflowed land, one long silver thread
of water Not a tree, not shrub, not even
| good-sized stone to relieve the intense mono
| tony of the landscape. SO when the captain
handed us his glass and said that he could see
| the shipping at Port Said, we were well satisfied
| that our voyage through the desert was drawing
to close.
Ferdinand de Lesseps.
"J'ai pour principe de commencer par avor la
|
| English engineer who was complimenting him
on the almost nsuperable difficulties he had
overcome in the prosecution of his great enter
| prise which is to be completed on the lst of Oc-
| tober, 1869.
"Nly principle, from the commencement, was
to have confidence" truly says NJ. de Lesseps;
| for unless he had been animated by an uncon-
| querabe enthusiasm, and belief in himself and
| his project, it would have been abandoned dur
| ing the first five weary years which intervened
between his obtaining the concession from Said
| Pacha, Viceroy of Egypt in November, 1854,
until 1859, when the company was constituted,
and the work actually commenced.
| Ferdinand de Lesseps is the son of jean Bap-
| tste Barthelem, Baron de Lesseps who was
born at Cette, French port in the Gulf of
| Lyons, in the year 1865 His father was for five
years. French vice-consu at st. Petersburg.
| In 1875 he accompanied La Perouse on his voy-
age to Kamtchatka whence he brought, by land
the papers containing description of the ex-
petition In 1888 he was consul at Kronstadt
and ST. Petersburg. From ST. Petersburg he
was called by the Emperor Napoleon |, in the
year 1912, to Moscow, and appointed intcrdant
| of the latter city. In 1914 he proceeded to Lis
bon, ard was stationed there as consul until
| 1928. He died in Paris, May 6, 1884. His son
| Ferdinand, the subject of our sketch was born
| at Versailles, in 1905, and is, consequently, in
his sixty-fourth year, though his appearance is
that of man little past middle age. In 1925 he
was attdche to the French consulate at Lisbon.
Two years subsequently found him engaged in the
commercial department of the ministry of foreign
affairs. During the latter part of 1928 he was
| dttdcie TO the Consul General at Tunis, and in
1881 was despatched by his Government as
Consul to Alexandria in Egypt. Rare work and
| rapid promotion this for our jeule Diplomat;
but the most eventful period of his long and
active career was yet before him. Seven years
subsequent to his appointment at Alexandria,
and when he was in his thirty-ffth year, he was
sent as consul to Rotterdam. From this place
he proceeded to Malaga, in 1889, to negotiate
with the Spanish Government in behalf of
French commerce. In the latter part of the
same year he was transferred to the consulate
| at Barcelona, where, during that and
the two following years, he was especially
active, and signally distinguished himself against
the reign of Espartero.
In 1854 he received a commission from the
Societe d'Etudes du Canal de Suez at Paris, to
negotiate with Said Pacha for the construction
of the canal, first projected in 1916. Accord.
ingly, towards the close of that year, we again
find him on the Isthmus, preparing for his great
work. This time he came to conquer
| Ills ullsSlOu WIS CTOWH0u WlIn success, ana the
necessary concession was made in November of
that year. palace and retinue of servants
were assigned TO his use, and he was treated as
a guest of the Viceroy with the utmost respect.
Great opposition followed, especially from Eng
land, and it was not till January, 1856 that the
second and fuller concession was granted by
Said Pacha, and the International Company
fully organized
an 1858 NJ. de Lesseps sHcceededn raising two
hundred millions of francs in France alone and
in 1859 he proceeded to Egypt, and planted in
the har Dor of the ancient Pelusium, where Port
Said now stands, the Egyptian flag Laying at
the same time, the foundaton-stone for light
house, he proudly proclaimed the work COM
menced. Fresh difficulties, chiefly of polit-
| cal nature, interposed; but the indefatigable
! Lesseps never despaired. In 1859 he had the
satisfaction of seeing his company and work
| placed upon firm footing though the final de-
cision of the French Emperor was not given till
July, 1864, and from that time to the present
hour, the canal has steadily progressed.
The personal appearance of NJ de Lcsseps is
| very striking. Though long past middle age. he
has Il fresh and even youthful appearance Both
face and figure are well preserved his
slightly curling grey hair setting off in
pleasing contrast his bronzed, yet clear COM
plexion, his bright eye and genial smile. He
! is somewhat over the medium stature, is Dos
sessed of a compact and well-knit frame, carries
his head erect, and moves about with buoyancy
and animation perfectly marvellous in one of
his years and experience. His address is that of
the well-bred and well-educated French gentle
man he is his manners are winning, his voice
| ann m pVpQIiaOf