The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-08-24
Through the ;Snen Canal.


smoothest sea and beneath tho bInost
sky IL ever was my happy portion To
SEQ. II was about O'clock ono morn
ing when we first saw the lighthouse NJ
Port Said, and about s wo entered be.
tween the two piers which guard tho
entrance to tho canal and stretch far
out into the Mediterranean. Pnneinp n
Turkish frigato and French ram We
slowly steamed close TO tho left hand
shore and mado fast 10 buoy. No
sooner were wo fast tbnn the Arabs
swarmod on board. and soon coal was
coming over tho Bido and into the
bunkers nt n rapid rate from barge
alongside. On tho left hand for n long
distance stretched conlaheds, for tbis
IL tho great coallDg port Of steamers
bound eastward, thero being quite n
difference in tho price hoio and at the
other end OF tho canal. On tho ripbt
vas the town Of Port Said, while H.
front, lost far in tho desert, appeared
the canal, the grandest engineering feat
of the age. just fancy tho amour,
Of labor, when it was necessary to
carry the sand mile off into the
desert, and at the same time prevent
the surrounding sand from drifting and
rolling into its place. just take a
handful of sand out from a pile and
see how quickly the hollow is filled up
and you can then form some idea of the
under aking. l was told out there that
the English abandoned the wort
through inability to obtain laborers at
my price, and that the French only
succeeded by convict labor that the
soldiers stood guard and a refusal 10
work was instantly followed by shot,
and that every foot of the canal is o
monument to some poor devil, sent in
short order to the Arabian paradise
However this was, the canal was fin
ished and is to-day the only route for
steamers to the East. About l O'Clock
the pilot came on board and in a few
minutes we left our moorings and
steamed into the canal The channel
has about twenty six feet of water in
it aad which is only kept a5 that depth
by constant work at the dredges and b,
strep sthening the sides by sinking rock
and wallipg up the sides where they are
the most threatening. On both sides
the embankments rise up to a height of
cen or fifteen feet aud are composed of
he dull brown sands which stretch
away on both sides as far as the eve can
see, the horizon sbrouded in the blind
ing glare OF the heated air rising from
the burning sands till the eyes
ache and tho heart sickens at the
dismal scene. With what relief we tura
to the canal stretching ike blue
sparkling ribbon and feast our eyes at
the sight of station looming up half
mile ahead with its little cottage, it's
shrubbery and trees planted right in the
midst of desert and drawing life from
soil which has been brought hun
dred miles to make life endurable to the
station MASTER banished away out here,
hundreds of miles from his own fair
France, for who else but Frenchman
would ever think of bringing his garden
with him, with its flowers and trees,
out here in this wilderness OF sands ?
We tied up for few seconds to let one
OF the large P. aud O. steamers pass us !;
for every vessel must sive way to the
Royal MAIL" except men-of. war, which
have the right of way everywhere. The
canal" is not wide enough for vessels
to pass each other, so every quarter Of
mile or 30 there is wider place for
tying up, and the vessel reaching there
first makes fast to the bank and allows
the other one to pass, except in the case
of vessel carrying the mail or a man.
of-war, both OF which go right on
through without stopping, except
during the night.
On The right-hand side runs track,
ard was startled by the familiar sound
of the engine whistle, and the next
minute a train swept on by at the rate
of forty miles an honr, while overhead
Like strings of ghosts
The telegraph posts
Came quickly trooping by"
noticed on the other bank a VERT.
able caravan, such as one reads about
and sees so much in pictures of the
great desert-horses and camels and
the old man all wrapped up in his
white clothes, with the same long rifle,
with its crooked stock, which have
cen duplicated on canvas till I felt an
inclination to extend an hand and say: :
How are you, old boyY" for OLD
acquaintance sake. And then 1 thought,
what q difference between the two
banks. Here the railroad, the tele
graph-and there the old Arab travel.
ing as his father end his grandfath
and his great-grandfathe did a hun
dred years ago; century separated by
this narrow stream.
At dusk we tied up, having made
about thirty miles, as We were only
allowed to go SLOW" through the canal
for fear of injuring the banks. The
next morning found us on our way, and
coon we were threading the crooked
channel through the lake with the town
of Ismailia broad off the port beam.
After two hours steaming at full speed
we again slowed down and entered the
other part of the canal and again
passed through bet tween the same brown
banks with disgust and only enlivened
by the stations, with their few feet of
surrounding verdure, and occasional
steamers bound to the westward, too
few and far between, which we passed
or which passed lis, until we finally
steamed into the Gulf OF Suez about 5
in the afternoon.
Off On our lett cleaned the houses of
Suez, and here We left our French pilot
and took up native Red Sea pilot,
black as coal, and mute as one OF the
Sphynxes which adorn his native des-
erts.-St. Louis Republican.
The Story Of an Umbrella.
During the shower Yesterday a citizen