Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-17
Captain EAps, SHIP RAILWAY.

Captain Eads recently gave Congress
sional committee detailed description of
his project for ship railway across the
Isthmus of Panama. Lesseps was present
on the occasion, but declined to offer any
opinion on the matter, observing that he
was not interested in ship railway, but
in a canal which was to say the least a
remarkable line of argument, seeing that
the success of his canal depends entirely
upon whether it is better scheme than
any other that can be devised. OF course
if ship railway is better and cheaper than
a canal, it will be easier to procure capital
for the first than for the last, and there
fore it is incumbent upon those who advo-
cate the canal to demonstrate the su-
periority of their proposition. We are free
to admit that before reading the statement
of Captain Eads we believed his project to
be impracticable, but that his arguments
have thoroughly convinced us of its entire
feasibility, and also of its superiority to
any canal scheme. In the course of his
statement he pointed out the numerous
difficulties which must attend the working
and maintenance of canal in a tropical
region where the rainfall is so heavy as on
the Isthmrs of Panama, and where
tremendous foods and freshets have
to be taken care of constant
lv. He also showed the i'm
possibility of dispensing with tide
lock in the canal, though Lesseps when at
San Francisco attempted to make it appear
that no such arrangement would be re-
quired. The ship railway has hitherto
been objected to on the ground that in
lifting loaded vessels out of the water they
would be subjected to such strain as
must cause them to leak seriously when
relaunched Captain Eads, however, shows
that this apprehension is not justified,
since the cradle in which he proposes to
transport vessels would afford them all the
support necessary to prevent any straining,
and since the ability of well-built ships to
sustain the weight of their cargoes out OF
the water is capable of mathematical
demonstration. His plan contemplates the
| construction of basins at each emo of the
railway. Into these the ships would be
towed, and then placed Immediately above
the cradle, which would be lowered under
water, on the rails, and which would then
be drawn up, with the ship, by powerful
stationary engine. The loaded vessel would
be carefully supported as soon as it was
settled upon the cradle, and on reaching
the level or shore two large locomotive en-
gines would take hold of the cradle, and
carry it across the isthmus at the rate of
ten miles an hour There would be
twelve tracks on the railway, and the en-
gines would each cover four tracks, the
tenders being placed between them. The
cradle would cover the entire twelve
tracks, and would have very large num-
Der of wheels, so arranged that each wheel
would sustain an average weight OF SIX
tons. A special mechanical appliance has
ben invented to facilitate the removal of
broken wheels, and their replacement by
sound ones, should any accident happen,
but the weight of the ship would be so
well distributed that there would really
be no more danger of such casualties than
in an ordinary FREIGHT train