The Russellville Democrat., 1880-02-05
THE IsTHMUs CANAL.
A Graphic Description of the Proposed
 Great Undertaking.
The following statement prepared !

Great Undertaking. The following statement prepared hy Admiral Ammen, explaining the inter- oceanic canal, will explain itself:
 For the purpose of giving those inter ested in the interoceanic ship canal a succinct idea of what seems likely to pro- mote, and what seems like to prevent, it's construction, at least by an American company, I mail the following state ! ment:
 For some extraordinary reason the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is agaIn pre- sented as possible line of canal con struction, and survey of it is again proposed. Yet we know that it has a summit level of 754 feet, and W Il re- quire 40 locks, or seven times the num- Der of the Nicarauguan canal. It has q line of actual excavation of IA miles, or more than double required on the Nicarauguan line, and it has proposed dredging of river subject to floods for 35 miles.
 It has also to draw it's water by a feeder 274 miles long, requiring a dam S6 feet high 10 get the necessary eleva- tion, having tour tunnels aggregating 3.6 miles, and then deficient water supply. By report of engineer Fuertes, page 26 of Tehauntepec survey under Capt. Schufeldt, 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 31.) 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 Alteration, evaporation, etc., at $50 cubic feet per second; thus making the delivery amount to ,563 feet per second, making deficiency of 55 cube feet per second.
 On page 3l he cites two. examples of feeder losses; that of St. Prive, 26,000 feet long loses three-fourths of it's water. If the loss at the same rate should occur, no water would reach through the sev enth mile. In the example or the feeder at Boulet, which is 56,000 feet long, if 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 1t would reaeh one-half of its length. He states, however, that the nature of the soil along the Corti, or pro- posed feeder from it. is well calculated to prevent Alteration, but in giving the different sections along the feeder, he mentions that some portions of the cut ting and tunneling are in "shale and drift" or 'humus and loose earth" In the fifth division there is 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" marble" and compact limestone"
 There are numerous proposed dams for interception of small streams crossing the line; an aqueduct 200 feet long, ana throughout several miles of it's course the feeder is raised above the natural surface, condition favoring large loss through Alteration.
 The cost of locks at the same estimate of the Nicaragua route would be S50, 000,C00; of actual excavation, S45, ,000, ,00U; of feeder on Panama route, none being required via. Nicaragua, $25, QUO, ,O00; then the excavation of the Coatzacoalcos river for thirty-fve miles would sum up probably S5,000,0 ,000 more, as in Nicar- agua, for harbors presenting the same Notwithstanding q total of S130, ,000,- GOO.
 The Commission appointed by the President, of which l was a member, instead of adopting the estimate of 20 per cent. of the engineer to cover contingencies of the Nicaragua route, thought it necessary to double the esti- mate, and that, too, where building ma terials of all kinds were abundant and convenient. There is still greater reason to double the estimate of the Tehaunte- pee route, making it S260,000,000, and that, too, as shown, without water supply, adequate at least during the dry season.
 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 i'll the estimate; it can not by any means change the relative disadvantages which unhapplly exist in comparison with Nicaragua. What, then, is the purpose, what the ob- ject of 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.
 The Nicaragua route has in canaliza- tion 6l f miles; the remainder is either lake or slackwater navigation in 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 107 feet, and of the divide between the oceans of l50 feet. The cost of the canal, as estimated by the civil engineer, without an allowance for contingencies was $52, 100000, and the cost named by the Commission, l00,000,000.
 The Panama route was carefully locat- ed at the request of the Commission, and line located at an elevation of 123 feet above the ocean, which will probably require an increase of four or five feet, as shown by the food of last November, cost of the last named route on 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.
 It would doubtless be interesting to the public, and advantageous to have tho two last-named routes passed over by able engineers, with the instru- mental surveys in hand to approximate the relative cost of execution, by reason of the physical conditions above named. The object could not be to hope to make a canal there, but simply to prevent its execution elsewhere.
 At this time there are in Nicaragua two European parties who are asking q concession. In March last one was agreed upon to NJ. Blanchet, and only lacked one vote in the Senate to confirm it.
 Tho proi1ler, than is shall wa ,,laca