The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1882-07-27
THE sUEz CANAL.

| For many years the lslnmuS OF Fucz
has attracted tne attention OF civilized
nations. The fact that canal connect
ing the two seas would greatly shorter
The distance to India and China, was q
sufficient inducement TO cause numerous
attempts to be made To overcome all the
difficulties in the way OF the compile
ton OF such work. There are numerous
traces at this point of canals constructed
by the ancients. built at various times,
all of them, however, falling into disuse,
| probably because the sand filed them
up too quickly. The following facts
connected with the construction of The
present canal are Of interest:
The first man 10 give attention to this
project in modern times was BOnaparte.
He caused his engineers 10 survey the
Isthmus. They concluded that the level
OF the Mediterranean was thirteen feet
below that of the Red sea. This CON-
clusion, however, was false. In 1S47
England, France and Austria sent out q
commission 20 ascertain the respective
levels of the two seas. The commissioners
arrived at The conclusion that the levels
of the Mediterranean and Red sea, were
the same. There WAS n difference of
five feet in the tides. The English com
missioner was opposed ~ the building
OF canal, but planned u railway across
the IstLmus, which was built. The
French repr, sentative believed that a
canal could be cut through by connect
ing Alexandria, the Nile and Suez.
In 1856 NJ. DE Lossrps, who was then
a member of the French diplomatic
corps in Egypt, secured fr,m the pasha
permit and exclusive right Ia construct
q canal from lynch a. Sutz. n. De
Lesseps' plan differed from all the pre-
vious plans which had been carried out,
or only intended, in this respect, that lie
proposed tn cut straight through from
lynch To Suez, and not CONNECT with the
Me river.
The minimum width of NJ. De Les
seps' canal at the surface was 10 be 2G2
feet at the bGiiom IA lcel; the depth
251& feet. AT each end there was to be
sluice lock $50 feet long and 20 feet
wide The most difficult feature of NJ.
De Lrsseps' plan was the obstruction of
the harbir which lac intended l." make
at each cad of the canal The Mediter
ranean end was very shallow. So an
ariIhcIal channel had u l,s .lrriged.
The intention Was 1" carry OuI The har-
l.. a.. a.. 1. -. n
permanent depth for ships drawing %
feet of water
The construction al harbor WAS
made necessary by the large amount of
sand which the Nile discharged yearly.
The quantity OF stone required TO COM
plete the harbDr has been calculated at
about four million cubic yards, aud
there were no quarries except at great
distance. This difficulty was overcome
by manufacturing stone of two parts of
sand and one of hydraulic lime, ground
into a paste. This composition was
put into wooden moulds and lett in the
open airto harden for about four months.
Each stone contained ten cubic meters
and weighed about twcnty-One tons
That at Suez was to extend three miles
into the sea.
The English opposed NJ. De Lesscps's
scheme, and it was dropped for the time. |
In 1855 the question was again taken up |
and a company. formed with a stock of |
eS, 900, 900, and the work was begun. In |
December, 1864, the excavation was |
nearly completed. BY taking advantage |
Of depressions of land and bodies of |
water, only One-ihird OF the distance had |
to be excavated. The length of the |
canal is about eighty five miles.
When the canal was finally completed |
piers were run into the sen for distance |
of six thousand feet At the shore u Q |
piers were forty hundred feet apart; at
tho other end twenly-three hundred feet
Within this harbor IS another which |
is kept at depth of thirty feet by con
slant dredging. There Is lighthouse
with electric light at this harbor.
The cost of the canal finally reached
ell 100000. On November 10, 1860, the
canal was formally opened in the pres
ence of several of the crowned heads of
Europe. Some days later the Brazilian,
a steamship $50 feet long, 80 feet wide.
and drawing about 20 feet, Tent through
the canal.
From London TO Bombay by way of
the cape is IL 200 miles, but by way of
the canal is 6,3O0; so that the voyage
is shortened "a days by going through
the canal.
In 1874 the canal Was made use of by
twelve hundred and sixty four vessels,
aggregating in weight two and One-half
millions of tons. Steamers are allowed
TO go through the canal at the rate of
five or six knots an hour. Ten francs |
per ton is charged for vessels and ten
francs per head for passengers.