The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-06-11

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mon consideration of this very important
subject, now so interesting to the commerce
of the world On the part of the United
States Rear Admiral Amen was appointed
the commissioner, and has attended the
congress assembled at Paris, and now just
adjourned.
The practicability of ship-canal to con.
meet the two oceans is not matter of doubt;
the question of ways and means is the
only problem to be solved. Numerous est1-
mates have been made by experienced
engineers connected with the
and Europeans, and their figures
have not varied very materially. Of course
the amount in any case and by either route
must be large, too large to come within the
pecuniary means of either of the States of
Nicaragua or Panama. In 1885, when this
project was under consideration in England,
the estimates then submitted amounted to
$50, 600, 600, and this was then considered
ample. Since that time more thorough sur
veys and more careful estimates have
been made, and the amount required
for the construction of the work
has been estimated at from 500. coo, 600 to
S120 600 900. And these larger sums I'M
doubtedly represent what would be the more
probable amount required The Panama
railroad across the isthmus was built at
cost of 5000 600, being about 500, 900 per
mile, and its dividends have been such as to
pletIon of our own Paci6croad has, however,
diminished the value of that stock to some
extent by Withdrawing travel and traffic
to considerable degree from the lsthmus
route. But no railroad accommodation can
ever fill entirely the purpose to be subverted
by ship canal. The cost and delay OF trans
shipment in every case, added to the greater
expense of railway transportation, must
always constitute an important factor in the
business of the carrying trade of the world.
This is shown by the example of the ship
canal across the Isthmus of Suez, directly
alongside of the railway running from
Alexandra to the Red sea.
The Congress of International delegates,
convened at Paris, have had before them the
question as to feasibility of different routes,
the estimated cost of each, and the sdvisa-
bility of constructing the work by locks, or
by tunnels, to meet the inequalities of
e ovation. As TO the routes, their conclu
sions have reduced the choice to the two,
Nicaragua or Panama. The estimates SUBJ
mitted were, for the Nicaragua route,
$50. 700; for the Panama route,
$95, 000, 600, with a margin of allowance
innate for contingencies and unexpected
difficulties. By the Panama route, the
Chagres river can be utilized by slack water
for about 16 miles from its
mouth, which is fully one-third of the
whole distance; and the elevation to be
OteICOLno Is loSS tLdu ZJO leot, as tudt Is Lie
highest point reached by the present railroad
between the two oceans. By the Nicaragua
route the San Juan river, emptying into the
Atlantic at Greytown. can be utilizsd by
slaokwater for about 40 miles from its exit
from the Nicaragua lake, and the remainder
of the distance by independent canal. The
elevation to be overcome by this route is
about AGO feet, through the Cordilleras.
But by this route new harbor on the
Atlantic side will have to be constructed at
Greytown.
Upon the question of ACCESSIBILITY as be-
tween the use of locks or tunnels, the
congress at Paris decided in favor of locks.
The examples of the great tunnels now made
and in progress, notably the Hoosac tunnel,
in which Massachusetts, sunk about $50, 000,-
600, and that wonder, Mount Gents, yet
unfinished, and which has received the aid
of three Governments, inclined the minds of
that congress to recommend thu use of locks
rather than tunnels. OF course, locks for
the accommodation of our present huge
steamships, of 5000 tons measurement, must
be something enormous both as to capacity
and strength. But they are not beyond the
engineering science and skill OF the present
tunes. Let the money required be forth
coming, and the work can be done. 1t is
considered that on the Panama route the
elevation can be overcome by II locks on
each side of the summit, besides tide locks
at the mouths On the Nicaragua route, 10
locks On the west side and seven locks on
the east side of the lake Will be required,
and tide locks at the mouth of the canal.
From present indications it would seem
that the Nicaragua route, aided as it is by
lake and river, would become the chosen
route.
At all events. it seems certain that, if wars
do not interpose, the lsthmus region that
connects the two great continents OF the
Western hemisphere is soon to become the
theater of changes important to the whole
world. The union of the two great oceans
OF the globe, so long charm as sublime
problem in engineering, must eventually be
consummated Time and money will effect
that union, and it may be soon. Only '1et
US have peace" and this grand idea, enter
tanned now for three centuries and half,
will be realized before the nineteenth centu-
ry shall be closed. Then the paths of COM
mercs will be made straight between the
275 O00, 900 of Europe's population and the
600, 600, 600 of ASIA and the islands or the
great sea, and all across the center of the
American continent. Then the day-dream
OF Columbus will be futile d, and the west
ward way be opened from Eu rope to Cathay