The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-10-18
The Ocean Ship-Canal.

During 1871, by order OF the United states Gov
eminent, Captain ShufelIt Of the Navy male sur
veys for ascertaiuing if the project was practicable
Of . ship-canal between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, by way Of the Istnmus Of Tehuaniepec-
The report to the Department has recently been
issued at Washington, and We propose to collate
some facts Of interest therefrom.
The length Of the canal would be IA miles, and
sufficient water can be obtained to construc; 4 work
that would suffice for nine-tenths Of the commerce
Of the world. AMI certainly wide and deep enough
for the domestic trade Of the United States. The
construction required would have the following
dimensions Breadth al top lGZ feet, bottom co
feet, depth - feet. and the number Of locks would
be l40. There are 10 obstacles to the construction
Of such q work that cannot lie overcome by engineer
ing science AMI q liberal expenditure Of capital
To feed the canal with a constant supply Of water.
it would be necessary to construct an acqueduet or
feeder about y miles in length, from TIE upper
Coatzacoalcos to the Blaneo River, at which point
the Corte delivers l,6OS cubic feet Of water per
second and the surface Of the water, ut the dryest
season, is eco feet above the ocean, or - feet below
the summit Of the canal. Three feet above this
point, the river rises to the summit level The River
Blanco yields 12O cubic feet per second, and IS four
feet above the summit point. where its waters will be
absorbed by the feeder. 1t is proposed TO construct
q dam on the COrte, and thence conducting the wa
ter supply to the Blanco, mite the two.
The maps accompanying the report show that an
aggregate tunneling Of say three miles and some
heavy cutting will be required. This is the only
feasible route for a feeder and the only feasible point
from which the water can be obtained. The con-
s~truction Of such a work can only be deemed prac-
ticable to the extent Of its political and commercial
necessity, measured by the progress of the age.
Along the proposed route there is an abundance
Of stone of the best quality. On the Pacific q mag
nifcent port may be made at Salina Cruz with a
comparative small outlay of time and money, for an
abundant supply Of material for constructing a
breakwater is near at hand. The great difficulty
will be to find labor. The population of the Isthmus
does not exceed 10000, out of which number per
haps 5000 men might be obtained to do work as an
advance guard, as canoemen on the rivers or mule
teers in the interior.
The work will have to be accomplished by import
ed labor. Captain Shufeldt, in this connection, al
ludes to President Lincoln's suggestion, made during
the civil war, to colonize the rich river-bottoms of
the Isthmus with colOred laborers but the Captain
thinks the main reliance for its construction must be
on Cinnamon. The climate is represented as being
healthy and the lands are cheap it is therefore pos
sible that European laborers might be induced to
settle in a country which would enjoy a glorious
future by the opening of a work that would make it
the highway of nations.
a canal through Tehuantepec, observes Captain
Shufeldt, is an extension of the Mississippi River to
the Pacific Ocean, and would convert the Gulf OF
Mexico into an American lake. In time of war il
would close that gulf to all enemies Of the United
States, and render it completely comfortable by that
power. 1t would render the territory of the Union,
SO to speak, circumnavigable. 1t would bring New
} Orleans 400 nautical miles nearer to San francisco
than q canal via Darien and such is the character
of the intervening waters that it would permit 8
canal boat to load at st. Louis and discharge her
freight in California with but little more than the
\ risk of inland navigation. Such q work would be
report no estimate is given Of its probable cost. The
y canal is practicable as an engineering work, but
such is its length and the number Of its locks that
in the opinion Of Captain Shufeldt, it will require
national resources to build it.
We may arrive at q limit of cost that the con.
struction Of the Tehuantepec Canal would not ex
coed, by considering the expense of the Suez Canal
This was commenced in 1859, by q French join
] stock company, with q capital of $4,000 900. IT.
surface is $50 feet wide, 100 miles long, the bottom
is y feet wide, and &c feet under low water mark
Its cost when completed, including the two artificial
harbors at lynch and Suez, for vessels drawing q
feet of water, was S6O,OOO,OO0.
The report estimates that 10000 to $4,000 ton'
could daily pass through the canal of Tehuantepec
2 which even q lower estimate, ought to prove a profit
able undertaking to capitalists. 1t is much to b.
doubted if the national funds Of the United State
will ever be employed in the construction of thi
j great work. The only assistance that government
will be likely to afford will be to obtain from Mexic
I the right of way for n private company, under treaty
stipulations that in time of peace or war, it should
be regarded as 4 highway of commerce. We expec
, to see this canal an accomplished fact within ter
years.