The new North-west., 1880-10-29
EA3s. BIC scHEnE.
HI. Projected R.,r~.y 70, ships.

HIS Proiscssd Raiiway soi ships.
Captain Eads, Of Mississipppi river jetties
fame and protector Of the prospective ship
railway across the Isthmus Of Tehuantepec,
Is at the Continental. In talk with him
last night he spoke OF his scheme and Of his
present movements. His next objective
point Is Mexico. He sails for there from New
Orleans on the 4th OF November. His mis-
sion Is In connection with the ship railway.
With him will be party of six or eight en-
gineers, who will make an examination Of
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in order to YER
ify Captain Eads' ideas as TO its adaptability.
They will make survey Of the whole route,
examine the harbors on both sides, ascertain
the best location for the railway and discov-
what grades will be encountered. A num-
ber Of surveys have already been made across
the isthmus, but none for the purpose Of 10
eating railway. Captain Eads says he ID
satisfied no grades will be found greater than
one foot to the 100 feet, and he believes, ,from
the statements of engineers who have already
surveyed the isthmus, that still more favora-
BILE grades will be found. As to the advan-
tages of his route over the Panama and Mic
araguan Canal schemes, the main one he
cites is proximity to the ports Of New York
and San Francisco. It is 1900 miles nearer
either Of these places than the Panama route
and TOO miles nearer than that Of Nicaragua.
This fact, he holds, Is more than enoughsto
- ~ clo ~ <ha
of the other routes in the matter Of the short
ness of distance between the two oceans. The
width Of the Tehuantepec Isthmus Ii 145
miles; of the Nicaragua, 1875 miles, and Of
the Panama, 45 miles. While the grades Of
all are about the same, there are other rea-
sons besides saving Of distance which the
protector Of the ship canal considers Is being
in favor Of his route.
NO YEAR FROM CANAL scHEMRs.
In answer to question as to what progress
was being made by Count de Lesseps in his
Panama enterprise, Captain Eads said he did
not know. ssI have not the slightest fear" !"
said he, ssof any canal schemes whatever.
Capitalists will not invest In q canal until
they become satisfied that the ship railway is
impracticable. When they are assured, as
they have been, that the ship railway can be
built so much cheaper and quicker and oper-
ated so much cheaper, and transport ships so
much quicker than Is possible with canal,
they will be satisfied. Before any canal
scheme can hope for success its projectors
must show the public that the ship railway
is not practicable. None Of them have at
tempted to do so. They are confronted with
the declarations of eminent ship-builders and
engineers in England and America that the
railway is entirely feasible. This being the
case the only thing that remains for the canal
projectors is to get the ship railway out Of the
way. They attempt to show that 1t will cost
more to construct the ship railway than the
canal, and that when completed 1t cannot be
operated as cheaply. This is not so. The
railway would not cost one-fourth a. much At
Panama as the tide-level canal proposed by
de Lesseps; nor would 1t cost one-third as
much as one Of equal capacity at Nicaragua.
The Panama Canal, II completed Is designed
by Count de Lesseps' engineers, would re-
quire an immense annual outlay for It's
maintenance, especially for removing the
sediment which the enormous rains Of Pan
anna would wash into it. This outlay alone
would exceed the cost Of working the ship
railway. Similarly expensive would sbe
the canal If built on the other route. A can
al at Nicaragua would require heavy annual
outlay to keep up and operate its numerous
locks. These are matters which no intelli-
gent capitalist will fail to inform himself up
on before investing his money, and the more
he investigates the more surely will he fall
into the views expressed by experts-views
which are the result Of close study Of the
subject"
- HIS VISIT TO MEXICO. .. If
The object of Captain Esds' visit to Mexi-
leo is two-fold. He wants to get the sanction
of the government for his proposed survey
and to ascertain from the Mexican Congress
what they are willing to do II he decides to
locate the railway on the Jsthmus Of Tehuan-
tepec. The railway, il built, will be equal
TO six frst-class tracks side by side one hum
dred miles long. The odd forty-ive miles,
it Is expected, will be obviated by the i'm
provement Of the Coatzacoleos river, provid-
ed that is found practicable. Part Of Cap
tain Eads' object Is to look into this and dis
cover whether the river can be improved suf-
ficiently to float the ships.-Phitadetphid
gr..-