Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-07-28
rHE sUEz CANAL AND PORT SAID
The Importance OF she Great HIGH
way Belweea Europe and the East.
London Ne1rs.

The telegram from Suez apprising us that
up to yesterday morning no vessel had been
permitted to enter the canal for forty eight
hours past brings more wildly before our
minds the importance of that great highway
between Europe and the East than anything
that has happened siRce the grand ceremony
of the opening in 1869. To our commerce
THIS barrier to the progress OF vessels, both
homeward and outward bound, Is, we need
hardly say, of far more importance than to
that OF any other nation. So that, at least, It
cannot be said that Admiral Seymour's pre-
cautionary order has inflicted on our neigh
bOrs any Inconvenience which have not
been shared, and In far greater degree, by
the Euglish seafaTing and mercantile world.
The figures speak for themselves.
The great work of NJ. de Lesseps, as we
all know, was not due In its inception TO
English enterprise, nor did II, we must with
sorrow confess, receive much encouragement
from English statesmen of any party. but 1t
was vet Dredestiued TO be essentially the
greaf route for our vessels, and from the
first British commerce through the canal has
necessarily oversbadowed that OF everv
other nation. Last year no fewer than 2,72S
vessels passed through, of which all but All
were British, representing nearly 35OO,0 600
net tons, only 1900 IONS Of which were gov
eminent shipping. Thus 80 In 100 OF all
these vessels carried the British flag, repre-
senting SO per cent of the entire traffic.
The rspIdity with which the habit Of using
the canal by vessels trading between Europe
and the East has increased is still more
striking. In 1870, the year after the open
ing, there were only $50 ships, with gross
tonnage of 436, 900 tons. Five years later
the number had risen more than four-fold,
and their tonnage nearly skiold.
The temporary dsmming up of this stream
of commerce concentrates attention for the
moment on the entrances, which, In Ger
tain sense, were the browning triumphs of
the labors of the French engineers. Some
account of Port Said and SueZ, therefore,
by way OF refreshing the memory of read
ers, may here be of interest. Port Said, we
may premise, is distant by sea from Alex
andria about 140 miles. The port is purely
the recent creation of human ingenuity and
labor; and the town which has sprung up
behind It, though numbering now at least
10000 inhabitants, is not less the creation
OF the port. As Nj. lie Mason, the French
engineer, observed, it is q port "co1atre
nature" We may add, it is one that but
for mans attention and care must In the
course of no great length of time cease
to exist Perhaps these facts may 90 some
way toward palliating the mistake Of the
prophets who were wont to confront the
projectors with the difficulty OF ''the en-
frances"
Given the canal itself, what, after all, is a
canal without a way of getting into and out
OF it? This was the question which pressed
most heavily on the minds of those who
were responsible for the enterprise In the
DAYS when the great problem OF ways and
means was suggesting ingenious schemes
ard complicated transactions, while
writer In the Edinburgh Revieoe had emphsti-
cally assured the public that "any construc-
ton attempted so as to form an entrance
for the canal will be swallowed up" and
that "not single stone would be left above
water" At this Mediterranean extremity,
indeed, the prospect might well have
daunted the heart of the most courageous
of protector The problem WAS to get
depth upon a comparatively shallow sandy
coast, and this was practically attained by
commencing the work on a sand bank TWEEN
tv-six miles from the mainland. This long
bank or belt of sand, extending from the
mouth OF the Damietta branch Of the Nile
to the Cult of Potassium, is de
scrbed in Mr. Wyld's map as being
OF fine gray sand, five feet only above low
water mark, and varying from 100 to 164
Yards In width. Behind this irregular bar
rier is the shallow lake OF Menzaleh, through
which 1t was, of course, necessary to make
an artificial channel for the canal. The first
thing to be accomplished, however, was to
construct the foundations for the future
town to be named after the then Viceroy,
and then to project into the sea the two
enormous breakwaters or mOles which form
the onter port and protect # against that
constant tendency TO the accumulation of
sand which, even as II is, demands constant
dredging. The spot chosen on the sand
bank, or strip Of what is locally known as
"slob," is described as little more than
500 feet wide. The plan Of the engineers
was simple. At first a light framing
OF piles was run out on which
crane, aud trucks laden with
loose stones travelled, and in q short time
fairly substantial pier that served as land
ing stage for materials and machinery was
constructed. Here was, in fact, the great
workshop of the undertaking throughout
the ten years of its construction Encour-
aged by this success (saYs Mr.. Fitzgerald)
bo,der work was ventured on. Out in the
bay, at nearly a mile distant, huge piles
were screwed into the sands, and an oblong
island was then formed with stones, the
space between this island and the wooden
shore pier being gradually filed in. Every
day the piles settled firmly in their places,
In spite Of the storms of the bay. This tenn
porary structure was carried out to dis
lance of about 300 feet, and it was not till
three wears before the canal was completed
and ready for opening that the work was Sc
riously resumed, and the breskwater Joined
to the pier.
Two officers employed by the British Gov
eminent to examine the port describe 1t as
formed by two rough, narrow and low
break waters, inclosing an area OF some $50
acres, with an average depth of only ID or
IA feet of water, except in the ship channel
)about 300 feet wide) leading to the inner
basins, where the depth is from 25 to %
feet. The western hreakwater, which ex-
tends for 6,940 feet at right angles to the
shore, and is slightly curved to the eastward
toward it's extremity, was commenced IN
1850, and carried out about 300 feet,
beyond which point, and at short distance
from 1t, was deposited heap of stones
that was surrounded by iron piles, and
"the island" The work was then
left untouched till 1855, when the
breakwater was joined to the island, and It
was continued to its present length and
finished in 1868. From the mainland to the
island the breakwater is formed on its inner
side of a bank of rubble stones, sur
mounted by promenade, over which the
spray breaks with very moderate north
west wind, and on the outer or sea front Of
concrete blocks, but beyond the island to its
termination it is entirely constructed of
one part Of French hydraulic lime with two
parts OF sand, and some Of which were
transferred to 1t from the eastern break
water. This latter, which is also constructed
of large masses OF concrete, is of more re-
cent construction, extending to about 5000
feet, and convergtng toward the western
harbor.
such is the harbor of Port Said, It can
not. according to these authorities, be con-
sidered as a harbor either in respect of ex-
tent or depth for vessels of large tonnage
aud great draught; but, slightly improved
and we'll maintained, it has, as we have
seen, nobly served its purpose. Near the
commencement of the West Mole is the
lighthouse, the tower OF which, composed
OF solid mass of concrete, is 100 feet high,
lighted by an electric light flashing every 20
seconds, and visible at distance of 20
miles. Three other lighthouses Of the same
height. though differing in construction,
have been erected along the coast between
the fort and Alexandria. 1t is interesting
to know that the solid blocks of concrete
or artificial stone so extensively used have,
at least below water, become hrmer and
more trustworthy by reason of the growth
of seaweed upon them.
Port Said is described in the latest edition
of Mr.. Murray's invaluable Handbook Of
Lower and Upper Egypt" as now regularly
laid out In streets and squares, with docks,
quays, churches, hospitals, mosques and
hotels, and all the adjunets OF seaport,
and with the most easily approached and
safest hsrbor along the coast. Fresh water
is supplied to 1t from lsmailia, that now
famous halfway house OF the canal voyage.
The town, we are told, no longer presents the
same busy appearance which 1t did when 1t
I, of