The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-01-02


year tomorrow, to avoid like errors in
future. This Is the lesson OF oil anniver-
saries, and no day Is lost which brings
the lesson home. lt.5 .l.a.
The Darien Ship Canal--Something
4l5gu New. g.a.
JosEPn MEpr1L, of Chicago, has writ.
ten lengthy aud interesting letter to the
N, Y. Tribune on The subject Of a canal
across the Isthmas Of Darien. He takes
new and striking view Of the project.
All tho surveys yet made have failed to
find any break In the chain Of mountains
That forms the backbone Of the 1sthmus.
Mr.. MEDnL thinks 1t unquestlonable that
no route exists where several hundred
feet altitude will not be found to interpose
between the two oceans, requiring IN
amount Of cutting or tunnelling to get
down to the sea level, whose cost the
engineer dare hardly estimate For all
capitalists and projectors have titus far
taken for granted that the canal must be
level with the SEQ. But here Is where Mr..
MEDILL takes bis departure from previous
calculations. He does not admit that u sea
level canal is the only kind possible, but on
the contrary argues that 1t Is practicable
10 construct canal with tho necessary
dams and locks that shall carry ocean
steamers over the mountains instead Of
through or under them. Tie construc.
ton ofsach a canal, itself. Mr., ItEDILh
says engineers will concedc entirely prac-
ticable. He thinks a route with good
harbors at the termlni exists where the
elevation is not over 800 feet, The great
obstacle Is, Of course the water supply.
lie thinks tho mountain streams, with q
rainy season for two.thirds Of the yea,
would furnish large part of the lockage
water The rest he would raise from the
sea level by the same power that lifts
railway trains over mountain ranges,
steam. The chief expense of operating
IN elevated ship canal, over one supplied
by natural feeders, would be coal and
tlremcn's wages. He thinks it would re-
Quirc no more power and no more coal
to raise a thousand tuns Of water to q
+ given elevation than to raise that much
freight to the same altitude by railway.
Nlr. MEDIA enters into some elaborate
calculations as to the lifting power o.
coal, converted into steam and the cost a
to tile amount OF water that could be LIT
ed into the highest reservoirs, and as to tho
construction and operation and he csti
mates the cost Of the steam power necesr
sary to carry the largest steamer ant
cargo over the mountainat $3.50, for thu
ncxtlargcst $3.50, and $o5 and $7s for thu
medium and smaller vessels. The calcu
latiOn makes no allowance Tor water OBJ
tanned from natural feeders, while in let
ting the water from one level 10 the next
1t can be made to run pumps by means 0
turbine wheels, that will throw a part o
the water back 20 the upper level. In thi
anil other ways Mr.. BIEDILL shows tn
water could be economical.
In answer othe objections Of delay one
danger to tho vessels, Str. MEDnL answer
that neither will be ohe,forticth of tina
incurred by sail Of 1000 or 500
miles around Cape Horn, and he refer
10 tho wellaad Canal, in which lax
scnooners and propellers Of 600 tons bur
den pass the twenty.nine locks, from lax
u lake, inside Of twehty.four hours III
lockase Is $50 feet, and tho distanc
IS miles, and one rarely hears Of any. III
jury done to the hundreds Of vessel
which weekly pass through that narro'
canal during tho season. asa
The letter is too long for our column
Dur readers will, however, get the genert
Ideas of the writer, who iorlifles ther
with elaborate statements and calculr
tions that give his theories, to say til
least Of 1t, m air OF feasibility.
TIE coming election promises to DO III
Of tho liyeliest that the city has know
for many years. The indications al
,.,h.L .,..Ahn a ,.A,,.,t,r Mi. ,ihnF