, 1882-08-19
The Suez Canal.

1859. III presence or tle EmpresS EaSenie
and ;Le repr, srntatives Of other sovereign
mowers. Tie idea Of the canal was not
,,aw one. Sysostris Pharaoh Necho, the
D,mans. and the Arabians always enter
tanned it. Their plan, however, was
simnlv 10 unite the Me and the Red
ga the Mediterranean route beng un-
,h.psh. Of. In 1893 the line across the
i.,hmus Was Surveyed by Napoleon l.,
but the engineer Ga Perez having report
81 = difference III the lever between the
rwo seas, the project fell through, and
vas no. revived til II. Ferdinand de
Lesseps tcuk it up. and rndacnted by all
adverse criticisms, obtained permit from
Sad Pasha 20 begin operations A COM
,.,ny-La Comraguie ULiverselle-was
formed In 1859 with a cspito! OF to,oeO'
C,y0-o00, 900, 900 francs-ultlmately IN
~. asrd to SIS. .000, ,G9J i50, ,00o, ,0O0francs-
The Mediterranean debouchment was a.
Port Said. then a miserable Arab village,
br II in a dreary, and waste. The term
mat on Of the 4nalis a, Saezonthe Redsea,
taen,y years ago I most miserable place.
hat nov prusI erous and popnlous Sea
mort town with more than 5,Ooo Inhaoi-
tants. The length of the canal Is 80 miles;
,ts breadth At the top from about 2OO To
800 feet. at the bottom - feet, and lis
depth % feet the banks sloping upward
in the proportion Of from feet to fo"''
nm +, within > feet Of the surface. and
thence as . TO l, the latter slope allowing
the waves Of passing vessels as they are
towed, or as they steam along AZ the rale
of about six miles All hour, to break ON
the banks rs smoothly as on sea beach
The engineering d fficulties encountered
we're not lew. The excavations on the
canal amounted to 10O,OO0,OO0 cubic
wards. These were chiefly made by the
AID OF steam dredges OF peculiar eonstruc-
;ior. soare Of which are 70 horse power,
10 feet in lergth, and f20, ,0G) each.
For the greater part Of the distance the
dredpines were through treacherous,
dry, sandy plan in some sections, as at
Ell Guisr, about one quarter OF the dis
tance eastxard, the cuttings were over
eighty feet through rock Of peculiarly
hard texture. The solid embankments
arc from ) 10 90 feet in thickness. Al
Port Said haze been Constructed two
enormous iet,iea, which extend 6,9iO feet
and 6.G20 feet into the Mediterranean,
aud iuclrse harbnr Of about 40 acres III
area. with a depth III the ship channel
Of from. - 10 2S feet. In the cons'ruc-
tion Of these j7tties huge blocks OF CON
CT. l. WsIe used. weighing - tons each.
The distance saved 6y the canal in the
tourney to India is nearly half that by
the Cape Of Good Hope-that Is (" say,
while from the English cliannrl TO Poini
lie Gale, in Cevlon, by the latter route
vas II, go miles, iy the Su,z cdnai It Is
G,5l6 miles, the only addition to the pas
sqnger fares being S.. Il a head, and the
s.me aauunt per ton tor freight
The tratic through the canal since the
apering. IN 1860, on which occasion l3O
vessels passed through free "f t"!l, has
yasly increase. In 1870, up 20 July. p,
i63 ships lad made use Of II, Of which
only l. were sailing vessels, and by the
end of the first year 496 ships had ira
versed It's course, with gross tonnage OF
4SG 600 tons in 1869 the number of ves-
sels vas I,477, with 1886, coo tons in
1850 the number was 2,727 vessels and
5.79i, 600 tons, 76 per cent Of which flew
the British flag.
Ensland's stake in the carai, b, sides its
iupUrtancs to her as a rJute to India and
AustralaTia, Is no small one, when it is
remembered that in November, 1865,
Mr. Disraeli, On the part Of the govern
mrnr, acquired ny purchase shares to the
amunnt Of g 600, coo. Now, though the
dividend on the total receipts Of &, 49,.
04S (after deiucting working expenses,
interest redemption of obligations, pro-
vidiug per cent. on the statutory re-
serve, leaving net profit Of e9S7 ,l3D is
) per cent per STARE. England receives
noting from the earnings up to 1894 but
she receives from the khedire per Cent
on the purchase money of her shares.
She has nominated three competent men
cf the directorate, and has a thoroughly
controlling interest. OF these members
TWO watch all financial matters and at
tend the monthly meetings of the board !;
the third is resident director and n
membr of the managing committee
These gentlemen report constantly to her
majes,ys government all matters affect
ing either the financial or the general in
terests of England. They have great
weight upon the b4ard, and are treated
with uniform consideration by the other
directors. They report that the trafc
en- ard viii be doubled, ard toward
bEir gIrg his about the board requests
iron The shareholders the necessary DOW
ers - ersrle them 10 relize al more fire.
gu,a; intervals successive issues Of obi
cations 70 extend over perIod of twenty
seven Years. To show the Importance
which others attached TO England's inter
est IN the canal may be quoted dispatch
cf VI Barthelemy S.; Hilalre, who said
that England furnished nearly all the
custom, and that the canal vas the ind;s-
Pensable route which placed her III COM
mUaic-t.oh with that Incompatible colo
~ oi 259, ,00J, 900 subjects which she pos
sessed IA India.
The Jeannette Tragedy.
Tho Cor,a,ssT-tny's Wasb:rr.np sraci.1