The Osceola times., 1880-01-31
THE iSTHMuS CANAL.
Graphic Description of the Proposed
Great Undertaking.

company. i mail the following state
mcnt:
For some extraordinary reason tn,
lsthmus of Tehuantepec is again pre-
sented az a possible line of canal con
struction, and survey of it is agair
proposed, Yet We know that it has {
:. summit level of 754 feet, and W II re
quire l40 locks, or seven times the mum
Der of the Nicarauguan canal. 1t has s
line of actual excavation of l44 miles
or more than double required on the
Nicarauguan line, and it has a proposed
dredging of a river subject TO floods fol
35 miles.
1t has also to draw its water by q
feeder y miles long, requiring dan
Sc feet high 10 get the necessary eleva-
ton, having tour tunnels apgregating 81
miles, and then deficient water supply
By report OF engineer fuertes, page
26 Of Tehauntepec survey under Capt
Schuieidt, the River Corti at point A,
map No. ., is given at ,6lS cubic feet per
second-exactly the quantity required
for the alimentation Of the canal as
given. Page 81. All of the available
streams were found TO yield 2,l13 cubic
feet per second, or 495 feet more than
required. He estimates the loss in the
feeder through liberation, evaporation,
etc, at $50 cubic feet per second; thus
making the delivery amount to ,563 feet
per second, making deficiency of 90
cubic feet per second.
On page 81 he cites two examples OF
feeder losses; that of st. Prive, 26,000
feet long loses three-feurths of its water.
If the loss at the same rate should occur,
no water would reach through the sew
enth mile. In the example oil the feeder
| at Boulet, which is $4,000 feet long, il
| loss at the same rate should occur, the
water would not reach through the four
| teenth mile. In the first case the water
would reach one-iourth the length OF
the proposed feeder, ond in the second
case il would reach one-half of its
length. lie states, however, that the
nature of the soil along the Corti, or pro-
| posed feeder from it. is well calculated
| to prevent liberation, but in giving the
| different sections along the feeder, he
mentions that some portions OF the cut
/ ting and tunnehng are in "shale and
/ DRIFT" or "humus and loose earth In
| the fifth division there is a tunnel two
miles long which he says "can be easily
excavated, the ground being very soft.
On some portions Of the feeder he states
/ the formation to be "clay, sandstone,
1 marble" and compact limestone
There are numerous proposed dams for
/ interception of small streams crossing
| the line; an aqueduCt loo feet long, and
| throughout several miles of its course
| the feeder is raised above the natural
surface,,a a condition fayoring large loss
| through liberation.
| The cost of locks at the same estimate
of tie Nicaragua route would be $780,
900, COO: of actual excavation, Si5,OO0,0OO;
Of feeder on Panama route, none being
required via. Nicaragua, S2j 100000; then
the excavation of the CoatzacoalcoS
river for thirty-tiye miles would sum up
probably $4,000 600 more, as in Nlcar-
aqua, 1or harbors presenting the same
| difficulties s-making total oS-sl3O,O ,Oo0,-
900
The Commission appointed by the
President, OF which j was a member,
instead of adopting ue estimate of
% per cent. of the engineer To cover
contingencies Of the Nicaragua route,
thought it necessary to double the estl-
mate, and that, too, where building ma
terials of all kinds were abundant and
convenient. There is still greater fHEson
10 double the estimate of the TehauIue-
pee route, making it $3.50, 900 900, and
that, too, as shown, without water
supply, adequate at least during the
dry season. b u ~ VI -
Another survey cannot materially
change the summit level already deter
mined; it cannot change the length of
the canal; it cannot add TO the water sup
ply without an increase in the estimate;
it can not by any means change the
relative disadvantages which unhappily
exist in comparison with Nicaragua.
What, then, is the purpose, what the OBJ
iect of a survey? Certainly there is not
the faintest hope of those who, are in
formed that the conditions will be found
materially different from the above
statement, whatever the assertion may
be. rFsr...-qe .........s tan
The Nicaragua route has in canaliza-
ton 81 miles; the remainder, Is either
lake or slackwrrter navigation in a river
not subject to floods; the water supply
is twenty times more than could be used
in lockage, the summit level OF the ca
nal lO7 feet, and of the divide between
the oceans of $50 feet. The cost of the
canal, as estimated by the civil engineer,
without an allowance for contingencies
was S52 100000, and the cost named by
the Commission, S100, 100000. I'D
The Panama route was carefully locat-
ed at the request of the Commission and
line located at aneleyation of l23 feet
above the ocean, which will probably
require an increase of ioar or five feet,
as shown by the food Of last November,
cost of the last named route on a com
mon basis for labor and materials with
Nicaragua, was more than fifty per cent.
greater. and will, in fact, cost more than
double to execute the work.
1t would doubtless be Interesting to
the public, and advantageoussto have
the two Last-aamed routes. passed
over by able engineers, with the instru-
! mental surveys in hand to approximate
the relative cost a execution, by reason
of the physical conditions above named.
The object could not be to hope TO make
n canal there, but simply to prevent its
execution elscwl,erc.- ' ~ = q az
At this time there are in Nicaragua
| two European parties who are asking 4
CONCESSION. In March last one was
agreed upon to NJ. Blanchet, and only
lacked one vote in the Senate to,rohiirm
! IT,. gI -. ......, s,.,, .t.-st-
The problem then is Shall we place
no obstacle in the way of an American
company, and thus probably enable it to
secure agrant Niirthe idea Of only per-
mitting tolls that would be literally re-
muaerative, or shall we place these OBJ
staclcs in the way, and certainly tA1w
| The concessions into the hands ol Eu-
,opeans, and allow them TO impose their
proposed tolls upon us2