The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-06-10
THE BARATARuA ROUTE.
Prof. Forsbey's Repert-The smez Canal
anu Rarataria.


anu Rarataria.
Last week we published an interesting extract
from the lengthy report OF Prof. Forshey on the
proposed Barataria route to the sea. The re-
port further contains the following comparison
of the proposed canal with the Suek Canal:
This extraordinary man, Ferdinand de Lessepp,
had the dEculties OF thirty centuries before hiDa.
The sand drifts Of the desert from thirty TO one
hundred feet In height, and the lake to dredge
and wall up against these sand drifts; and sta
he had what seemed tnsurm ouutable dtfi ,ulties
TO overcome. The colossal features OF the whole
plan consisted OF Artificial harbers to he con-
stsucted at both enda Of the canal; whereas the
Baratsris canal has the mississippi, OF 400 feet
deep, ut one end, Mt the other the Gulf and
bay, which form the finest land-oeked harbor
on the whole Gulf or ,Auanuc coast. tfSee the
Gateway 20 the seal
In order to reach 2S feet OF water ct Port Said
the guard walls had to be si0e feet out 10 sea, to
avoid the enormous quantity of sand and mud -,
O00Go0 cutie yards) brought dewn snnnslly by the
Nile, which the prevalent winds drove along the
coast towards Palestine. The dimensions OF the
wslls az constructed are rs follows: they are Is
feet wide OF the base IS at the crown and SO feet
high. They ooatain two to three million cubic
yards OF stone, which was manufactured out OF
the sands Of the desert on the spot, and the
cement brought thither for the,purpoee The
distance across the respective endsef the walls
was 1899 feet, thus forming an artificial basin OF
Ave acres tor harbor PURPOSES. These stipend
ous difficulties are chiefly avoided in the Bara-
taria project.
enterprise amounts to but 10 s5A. geo cubic yards
Tor 24teet OF depth In the canal; most of this is
beneath the waters surface, and without stone.
clay or ether obstacle In the way OF the dredge,
except roota, small portion OF che distance, and
when cnce dredged we shall never have to resume
the operation. The scour Of the tides will keep
our canal free, in oil time to come.
The Huez Canal, OF nearly double the length Of
IL. t.A1 IL. n n
cubic yards, partly in stone, chiefly above the
water line, at a distance from sapplies, in des.
ert country, without fresh water even for drink,
without hsrbors at either end Of the rock exca-
walton. and with the endless dredging which the
sand drifted by the desert winds rendered neces-
sary. These were formidable difficult ties, indeed
The Sueg Canal cost the enormous srm Of
&60.0000e0 and ten years VI struggle for Its COM
pletion, aud the stupendous work was accom-
plished by the single Efforts Of one enthusiastic
man. Il marks an epoch in modern civilization.
IL links the 0ccident withlthe Orient, tanks cen.
tinent, and abridges 1z,000 miles of navigation
and eixty-hve days OF time into $3.50 miles and
twelve days Of transit. We expect not such .
revolution In the saving OF Distance travelled nor
in the tissse Of a'GasG.
But we do expect. for the sum OF less than
one-tenth the amount expended on the Sueg
Canal, in three years Of time, or one-third the
time consumed In that work, to cut the pent-up
barrier that boards and rots the corn Of an en-
pire Of fertility, and to disgorge IL upon the
starving mlillOub OI Tue eAEIn.
We expect TO render needless for the purposes
OF traffic the cutting across the continent,
through mountains OF rock aud ice. for railroads
from West TO East; and then the drift OF CON-
merce (which 10 but the exchange of productions
for tseeds) In the direction which the God of Ma
ture designed when He made the greatest water
course on earth to flow across the ATTITUDES.
We expect to people this garden of the world.
In the next fifty years. with 600 of popu
lation.t We shall furnish breadstuffs for one
half the earth, and shalt reeiprocate the cona-
merce We shall beget and set in motion, through
an easy outlet to the sea, aud by depth for
every draft OF vessel. Ia short we expect to at
tract the traffic OF all civiliZ alton. 4
This il what the Suez canal never will do, 1
what never has been done by man and because |
there never vet has been opened to man such an 4
area for population such ala area for fiiless pro-
,Guction. !
The way we believe is before us for such an |
era and the route for its mplishment is |
through the Mississippi river, the Barataria Ship
Canal and through the Gulf Of Mexico.
We have before said that "New Orleans would /
prove TO be the Byzantun, the Gulf OF Mexico |
,Barataria Canal IL now to become the Bosphorus !
and Hellespont to link the new civilization Of the
Western Hemisphere with the South Seas, across |
the tropics and with the Oriental world.
*Sesotris designed the Suez Canal 1900 years |
before the Christian era. Pharoah Necho con-
structed the fret canal 900 years before the birth
of Ohriet. lrszan, the Roman Emperor 200 |
years after Christ built the second canal and the
Calf Omar, in the ghth century of the Christian |
era, opened IL again to the commerce of the
world.
I We shall then be only half az dense as Msssa-
chueetts.