Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1881-04-21
'I.IT .laRnr v4nppl q 30 tLpgd .di
The, Panama Ship Canal.

't"' yN L-...H... . . ..n- Y 2.1"fi'no2 W
The PanamasS Ship Canal n.i,
2 ind .etaoIiitI ~ .-----c--- ton Ii siiT ~,
The rapidity With which the subsorip~
tions for tile constructions tho Panatiia
Ship Candl were thkehup BY tho public has
been followed by 'an almost equally sarpris-
ing cclerity ih'the commcbceHent Of tho
works, ground ahsSibg' been broken ou tho
ftrst'of Fcbruarya'last "A report BY M dc
Lcsseps, recently presented to a general
meeting of shareholders, con tained this
announcement, together with much intera
estiDg information us to the mode by which
he proposes to carry out the work that is to
separate tho continents Of South and North
America. Justiablv sapguiue as to the
triumphant termination of this great pro.
ject, NJ. de Lesseps points out that the
problem is not complicated with pumber
of the difficulties which beset the construcs
ton of tho Suez Cauul, that no ports will
have to be formed, that the materials to be
dealt with are of nature far more trao
table than tho sands of Suez, that the
difference 10 level of the TWO oceans will
present no difficulty, and that extensive
workshops and workmeu's dwellings will not
have to bo set up 10 the midst OF water
less desert. The total length Of the canal
itself will be about forty-one miles, the
rcmainder of the navigable chaupcl being
formed by widening, deepening aud
Strengthening the River Chagres. After
the Panama Canal Congress Of 1879, when
an approximate route was decided upon, an
intcl national commission was Dispatched to
Panama, and commenced dctuled exami-
nation at the beginning of last year. Tho
result Of the labors of this commission
showed that considerable reduction might
be made 10 the amount of excavation
necessary for the canal works, the originally
estio,uted quantity of nearly 100000 900
cubic yards being diminished by more than
$500, 900 yards, the total amount consisting
Of 59,39l 900 yards Of earth and soft und
broken rock, aud Of 37,933,00O yards Of
hard rock. The total estimated cost of the
whole work is G20,lS0,000, of Which
Gl7,200 600 will be absorbed in making
tho osnul, the protecting banks for it, and
Tor tha., ,Chagres and Rio Grande, and for
the transport of material to the site of the
great Chagros River dam, supplcmentray
work decided upon in cosequence of Some
exceptional floods which occurred upon tho
Chagres last year. Neuriy G3,000,0OO will
be expended in the construction of this
dam, 10 protection works, along portions of
the canal and 10 making pier in the B.y
of Colon. The Improvement of tho ports,
the formation OF docks and the establish.
mcnt Of lighthouses, etc., will absorb Gl,.
100000, The present year will be occupied
in the final location of the route and the
establishment Of preliminary works, which
will necessarily be Of an extensive and
very costly nature, but it is expected that
by the end of the season worl1men's
dwellings, repairing shops and machinery
will be erected, tho temporary railways
laid down, the system of transport orga nizel
plant on tho ground; and it is confidently
nlicipated that excavations will have seri-
ously commenced.
That NM. Herscnt anI Couvrcux have
undertaken the completion of this enormous
undertaking is d sufficient guarantee that
the highest amount Of energy, intelligence
and skill will be concentrated upon it, the
large aud somewhat similar works suc.es.
fully carried out by these contractors have
given them an experience peculiarly vaiua
oe in this undertaking. The methods thew
have slrcady employed in dealing with vas.
quantities OF carttiwork Will be substantiallv
employed ut Pansma, incudiog excava tors
siu,lur to those they used on tho Sucz
Canal, in making tho Gund and Terpcuzcn
Cuual, aad in tho improvement of the
Danube md the drcgiug plant also en-.
ployed in the latter work. AS for the rock
81, n Al
learnt how to deal with it at l3rest Cherbourg.
NJ. &c Lcsseps confidently anticipates that
the caual will be opened for traffic in 1888,
assuming that about &c 900 cubic yards Of
materials OF oil kinds cuD DO cxcavated and
dealt with during each working day of tho,
comiog six years and that forco Of
10000 men can DO kept employed continuS
nusIy. An Interesting feature Of tie norks
will be the utilization of water power from
the Ohagres, which will be required espe-
calIy for tho rock outing. 1t is proposed
to obtoio this by forming the dam, ulrcady
mentioned, aS necessary part Of the work
md actuatipg by its fall the air ompressors
required for working the rook drills. @"" Z.
2 Such is very general outline of tho
scheme for carrying out what will be, when
one Of the greatest engineering
undertakings that the world will have seen.
That it will be carried to q successful issue
thero is no room for doubt, since the physi
cnl obstacles are great only from the magni-
lude of the, materials TO be dealt with, so
that tho contractors have but to repeat
what they have dono many times before op
{. smaller scale. The problem of raising
the necessary cupita' has been solved by
The 100 900 Subscribers, aud all the politi,
cal and international difficulties s.sppcar to
y: have beer been removed by tho energy and