The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-05-04
THE TREAT AMERICAN CASAL.
Pretty Women and Ambitious EnEinssrs
Hent On Beating SUI . In the
NRw WNftA.
tLondon World. April 1el

1omp"ht, Which - 10 no IOE tns hbtHHb'5 ANU
Pacific what the suez canal did for the Medi-
| terranean and the Red sea. Nine. Ratazzi and
her relations, tho Napoleon Wyses, are said
to be Interested In 1t, at least MS wishGrs,
and their good Wishes ought b. bring bless
Ing TO any undertaking. The engineers are
to cut clean through the isthmus and unite
the oceans; the rest an suns dire-~it would
revolutlouize the trnde OF the world. They
have obtained concession from the local
government, and IRE only awaiting the result
Of congress. TO be held next May, at the
Typographical Society Of Paris, TO begin
preside. aud the congress viii sit In
Judgment on this and an alternative
French scheme, the piercing oil the continent.
degrees further north. This is the project III
n certain M. Blanohet, who worked under M.
Ito Lesseps mt Suez aud who has been lnatur-
lug the idea of q i,lighier work than his mas
not only of tho Dalien plan III question but Of
oil other Darien plans, and there nave beetl
many Of them. He declares that, IN spite 81
appearances on the map, the American con-
tinent eaInut be pierced at that point, On any
estimate Of outlay likely 10 come within the
means Of shareholders who expect return
on their mony. His Nicaraguan scheme, hs
maintains, IL cheaper as being more feasible
according tp the contigurattpi OF the ground.
He has found number OF influential people
ready to take him ut bis word; u Nicaraguan
com pal,y ts In course Of formation. chiefly
with French capital q Ncaraguan concession
has been obtained, and Nj. Blahehet, like the
Others only awaits the verdict OF the cOt-
grees. as to which he sesms thoroughly con-
fident to set to work.
The Napoleon Wyses are said 10 be moving
heaven and enrth tn get the congress to pro-
lonnee for their project, ana thsy afs o pow
M lea tfttfE m
some danger Of losing his freedom of judy
ment on the question through female iniiu-
ence, HIS Is peculiarly sllseeptihle to the fas-
cinntions and tlattsiries of pretty women of
the world. and there arc many such specially
retained on one side Of the case. His good
word would almost be enough to lloht the DIT
rien or any other scheme. He, however, wants
to be altogether out of II as an advocate, and
h. has called tho congress rs u Judge Hs has
had enough Of caDal-tnaking and enough
glory. With oil this II may be thought hs can
have no wehk side. but ths Darienites have
| found one-. horror Of canal LOCKS. There
are locks at Suez. II is q level passage from
sen to sea. "Why should there be
canal?' says M. lie Lesseps "Why, indeedY'
shy the Dareutes, and they accordingly pro-
pose to drive their channel for miles through
The solid rock. The "Niearaguais'' have an
| other answer "Darien Is not Suez, IL Is rock
| instead uf sand; elevated ground instead Ut
land on the sea-evel. TO cut sheer down 10
| the SEA- level through the CordilerAs would bs
a labor Of Hercules. 1t would cost u Thousand
| million Ut francs. There must be- locks, then,
even at Datieu. and since locks there must be,
| IL IL better tn make them at Nicaragua where
! the ground Ia more suitable for their fUrmH-
tion.' Granted says III. dc Lesseps, III only
good as The one for Nicaragua; but the con-
/ gross alone can settle the question: Here,
Their, is the turning point.
/ In support Of their contention that there
| Lat
fact that all the schemes hitherto PROPOSED
even for Darieu, that have borne the test Of
serious examination. have Included this ar
rangepent. At the lstbmus the two oceans
are separated by great ridge miles In
breadth. the tapsring point OF the CordiIlera
range. You must carry tho water over this
or through it; the first Is tremendously din
cult, the last nearly impossible The most
plausible Darien scheme. that OF belfridge,
tho American, provides for no fewer than
| twenty-five locks, and even with this there IL
to be- % great ship tunnel OF such immense
height aud width that the work OF Mont
Gents would bs u mere sewer tDif, all wrought
foot by f,tpt out of the rock You would never
come 10 the end Of such MI undertaking, IL Is
argued except by coming to IN end OF the
patience OF your shareholders and the guilt
! bility Of the public. M. de Gogofzt did. in
deed PROPOSE to do without the tunnel, bat it
was only by sinking u channel in the rock
deep enough to hold two towers Of Notre
Dame piled one on the Other. The very
Pbaraohs would have WINGED at such y labor.
/ No matter what your proposal of II channel
by Darie. therefore. it Is held TO be Initiated
by the nature OF the ground. Ii you carry 1t
over the rock by locks you have still the rock
to work in. II you carry It through by tun-
nels OF an open cutting you are almost over
! tasking the capacities Of man.
Now for the alternative Nicaraguan scheme
| Of nj. Banehst. The neck OF land Is thicker
there; but the cutting through 1t involves far
| less labor. for the work Is more than thrse
fh1s
map, and 1T will be seen that there is q large
! lake of Nicaragua in the middle Of It, and
that u river. the San Juan, flows from this
lake to the Atlantic Ocean. Here then, with
n slight diversion Of the mouth OF The river
so as TO bring the entry to San Juan del
Norte, Is your canal ready made. Your ship
leaves the Atlantic Ocean for the river, the
river for the lake, and crossing the lake there
Is but a mere wall Of land to separate II from
| the Pacific on the other side, which wall Is to
be pierced at Port Brito to form the canal
proper, nearly all the rest being natural route.
The route. however, will bear Improvement;
and this, says NJ. Blanchet, can easily be ef-
fected by flooding the San Juan valley
from the lake. so as practically to extend
the broad lake route still farther to-
wards the ocean. The lake Ia some thirty
two metres above the ocean level and
fourteen locks will be required to regulate
the various depths and to carry the canal
waters properly from sea to sea. The estt-
mated cost is 190OO0O7O francs, or within
1O,OOO,0OO Of the eetmated cost of the Suez.
Double it for eventualitics-and they had to
do something more than that In Egypt
we have u total OF about G150O0,0O0. These
are the main issues OF the great argument
which Is to be held IN Paris on the fifteenth OF
May and the following days, weeks or mouths
before the savants OF the world Invitations
are being sent to all countries, and some OF
the English ones are already In hand. The
geographers the engineers, the iinancers and
the friends OF humanity may all fluid their ac-
count In it; but 1t Is perhaps most taking to
outsiders In ts financial aspect. Certain draw
inR-rooms OF Paris are now perfect nests 81
stock jobbing intrigue on behalf OF one OF the
projects; which, though 1t may not result In
the union Of the two OCEANS may reasonably
be expected to yield diamonds for a g0oe
many women and snug offices for good
J many men. The idea makes q very strong
appeal to patriotic sentiment; there Is q gen
eral feeling that sit can be done, and France
ought to do 1t"
- . -
How Bismarck ACared Europe.
THurnara MnuAytIei