, 1877-01-13
The Nicaragua saip Canal.

\ Washington >pr'ai says that the CON-
mission appointed by President Grant 10 TX
anime the three proposed routes for connect
ing he A'lantic and Pacific by means of IL
canal, have r-ppr'rd iu favor of the Near
Aguu rru.e. The con,inlsgl IN COHslS uT Grn.
\. Il Humphreys. c. T. Peterson, Of rte
coas, survey, sud Daniel Amm~n Of The navy
department; all gentlemen WI! qualIii for
rhe tn>k assigned them. The report thy
Lave made was anticipated by The general
opi:.inn Of professional engineers and nou-
prnf ssi,nal experts Who have examined tie
different rou.es. We have not the reports of
The former commissioners before us At this
moment 20 ~ to give actual estimates III de-
tail, hut these reports left lr'le doubt that
rhe Nc .ragua route womli be fiaally select-
d A. the most feasible Sill. the work j. une
of gigantic proper ions. and viii rank, with
he co;,s, ,rucri"u of the Su'z canal md he
building Of the Pacific R,ilroed, among the
graz engineering 'rtUmEhS "f III" age. The
and separates the WATERS # the MrdIrsrra-
mean from those If The Red ) a. Commerce
REQUIRED rht, this barrier of earth should he
removed h,t ships might pass from SEA to
sea, aud the work has ben done. Commerce
now requires water communication berw zen
the Atlantic and rhe Pac fiG oerans, and It Ia
onIy question ot time AS 10 when tins WORK
shall hr done The Safe of Nlcara qua does
not offer 50 narrow al obstacle between the
tao oceans Other pinrs on tn" southern
crast The width of The 5 ate varies between
l90 and 2i0 miles Lying ia the interior Of
III State, few miles from The PacItic Ocean,
Is the J. axe Nlraragun, sheet of water from
thir.y to forty mills broad, and only l2S feet
will be- utiliz in ,hr construction of q canal.
i depth varies from thirty 10 nine'y feet
The graf obstacle 10 be ov-rcaue in con-
s,rucriug The canal is volcanic range run
uIug near The western coast, and n-ins be-
tween the Pacific and he inland lake 10
height OF IL. OUU feet. Th'~ ale Is suppos-
ei to show u SEPARATION # h. great chain Uf
the Curdiiieras into two divergent ranges,
having less average height III Il the main
ridge, aud be,ug su'j-cr to partial In'egrup
ton The commission dcub'lrss find favor
adj pgS>es III Iht>r tTuhtu rsUgeS u 1Ich Ten-
der frr-,bl the nr.j,c' they have III view.
The r, p.rt e. mates The c"Sr OF b. Vu.k nj
$lU0, 900, 900. " nIeh sp,tches st~re TO
to be an error III It's Ia hr YEAR OF 1919
Contract wsS ru ,re7 mo b-rweeu III, r-pG6
lie "f Nicaragua and he a 'l,ntic and P..ulfc
ship canal company of N~~ York, by which
b. latter ptrfY unier'ook 10 20 s'ruci the
canal for 10000 GUG. The ccutraer was
u,v-y esrri,d out, uW my TO the interference
uf The British govrrYm-ur; but the terms
were cuu-Idrrd falr 10y cunp pef,nf judge
We 90 isuI know If the present commission
follow 'kr -xac' route be- Nv York canal
company d >rlecTei, bar presume that
whatever information CONCERNING the most
feasible route A. Ih-n gathered, has been al
the service OF the present c"tumI- SION. Thus,
if thy have changed the route materially
they have done - IN con--qneuc- Of the dis
covery Of better one. The otj-e ions which
the Buii,h GOVERNMENT in'ezpo-ed at that
time are now overcome by making the work
iateIn4 ,lonal in H. ch4rac,er, ty the equal
participation Of The great commercial powers
in Is construction aud subsequent manage
m ana cement. Tie United Sra'es govern
msns i now in communi,ion with the seye-
raj European Ea'ions in regard 10 be enter
prise, snd il Is expected ihat the President
will soon b. 10 pisr~Siou of documents which
will Justify him IN submitting the question
to the consideration Of Congress.