Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-07-18
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FRANCE WILL ACT WITH ENGLAND.
PARIS, July 1.-THE cabinet council re-
solved to accept the invitation to protect the
Suez canal jointly with England.
THE SUEZ CANAL.
IT'S HISTORY AND IMPORTANCE AS THE HIGH
WAY TO INDIA-sTEAMERs THAT PASSED
THROUGH IT IN 1881 AND 1882.
The present state of things in Egypt has
been brought about by matters relating to
finance and the participation OF foreigners
in the government administration. Those
matters might, possibly, have been snoothed
over by diplomacy, but in the meantime the
Suez canal lay open to be damaged by
krabis adherents should any hitch in nego-
tiations arouse their ferociiy or provoke
desire OF revenge. The safety of that canal,
by which England has access to her vast
possessions in the East Indies, was too i'm
portapt to that nation to allow its integrity
to be risked, and the position of England in
this respect is fully recognized by the various
European powers; she therefore takes the
character of principal in all the measures
that are adopted to restore quiet and order
in Egypt. AS the canal occupies the very
front rank in the causes that have
led to the bombardment of Alexandria,
it will not be unacceptable to most readers
if we add some interesting details 10 the gen.
eral statements the APPEAL has already laid
before its readers. Going back as lar as his
tory can stammer its earliest stories we find
Egypt pre-eminent in civilization, learning
and power. The annual overflow of the Nile
has always made it, as it does to-day, one OF
the most fertile lands in the world. 1t has
also always been, as it still remains, the bridge
along which traffic passes between civilized
lands and the barbarian OF the desert, and the
mysterious solitudes of the Soudan and the
recesses of central Africa. Commerce and
travel sought it and enriched it at time of
which history has no glimpse. This made
Egypt rich and memorable, and has associ-
ated with it names venerable in our religion,
famous in their historical associations, and
surrounded with the halo OF classic dignity.
Moses, Alexander, Cesar, Cleopatrs, SaIadin,
Boanparte and many another illustrious
name encircles It's past, while Its pyramids,
its sphinx and its hieroglyphics still rivet
our attention 10 the mystic recollections this
wondrous land summonses up from the dark,
iupenetrable past. If the reader will now
take up a map OF Egypt he will see extend
ing beyoud the Tight-hand branch of the
Nile a narrow NECK of land which divides
the extremity of the Mediterranean from
the Red sea, across which sea the Hebrews,
under Moses, pursued their celebrated flight.
This neck is the Isthmus of Suez, and but for
it vessels could pass from the Mediterranean
to the Persian Gull and 10 the rich shores of
India. The desirableness of opening water
communication between these important seas
was obvious at very early period, and 3000
wears ago the great Sesostris desired the
construction of canal across the Isthmus;
600 years later Necho carried out the
idea, and canal nine feet deep,
was. constructed, the extreme points
of which were distant from each other
Gfty-eight miles. An immense commerce
| grew up, but intestine wars and inv aston
| from Persia damaged commerce, and sand
was allowed to fill up the canal until Darius
| restored the great work. In construct
| ing the present canal traces of Darius's
construction could be seen for ten miles, and
| stones with inscriptions were found record
| ing the name and restorative labors of
| Darius Alexander the Great started COM
merce between Greece and India, and found
| ed the city called after him Alexandria.
Ptolemy extended the trade of Egypt, and
his son widened and deepened the canal,
| greatly adding to its utility and consequently
70 its traffic. Trsjsn and Adrian after him
repaired the canai, but vast accumulations
| of sand at the Red Sea terminus prevented
| its full restoration. Wheu in course OF time
| the Mohammedans took possession of Egypt
the canal was partially restored, but In 767
| Caliph Abasside, to aid in reducing the city
of Medina by famine, destroyed the great
work, and the country around being deprived
of irrigation sank back into desert unfre-
| quented but by the passing OF wandering
| Arab tribes. Forsaken and forgotten, the
| isthmus remained desolate until Bouaparte's
army engineer Investigated the desolate
| scene, after which he proposed plan
for reconstructing the canal, but The French
| had to evacuate Egypt, and nothing WAS
| done. From time TO time travellers and en-
gineers explored the itthusns, and among
/ them, in 1856, M. de Lesseps. To him
| the viceroy of Egypt conceded the right TO
| construct ship canal, and he struck out an
entirely new plan, SO as to have the canal go
| as nearly as possible direct from sea to sea,
/ through and not around the Bitter lakes,
which lay on the way. He received the right
| of Way for ninety-nine years, the Egy ptian
| government to receive fifteen per cent. OF the
| tolls collected The canal starts from Port
Said pronounced Sah-id) on the Mediter-
ranean and runs to Suez on the Red Sea.
| Beside these two towns another has risen up
| about the center of the canal, called 1smailia
| after the Khedive Ismail. Before this inn
mense work could be done, however, it was
necessary to bring fresh water into the desert,
or no collection of men could subsist there.
| Accordingly preliminary canal was con-
structed from the Nile at Zagazig to
Sutz This partly ran along the line OF the
ancient canal. 1t has locks, which the main
canal has not, and it is navigable and has Its
use in traffic. The water is made to supply
| Port Said and Ismailia. The total length OF
the passage by the Suez canal is about 100
miles, the general width is 325 feet at the
| surface and seveniy-two feet at the bottom,
| the depth twenty-six feet. At Port Said 1t
| was necessary 10 construct ba.in and jetties
| for the protection of shipping; for these
works the stone required had TO be manufac-
| tured on the spot, which was done by max
| ing a conglomerate of hydraulic lime from
| France and of the supera5undant ssnd on
the spot. A basin and breakwater were also
constructed al the Red Sea terminus at Suez.
The English engineers had stupidity and in
| defiance of history declared the conplish-
ment of the WORK impossible, bat De
| Lesseps taught them more than they knew,
and on November IL, 1869 the
| Suez canal was opened from sea TO sea The
idea of 5000 years before was for the first
time fully realized, and the name of De
| Lesseps will be associated with that Of
| Sesostris, and OF the conquerors and msnarcne
| that had labored with the isthmus before
him as long as history endures. Year by
year traffic by this canal has kept on ncreas-
| ing. 1t ia the great highway from Egypt 10
the East and ito the antipodes, to Indis,
Persia, China, Japan, New Zealand and
Australia. Besides crowds of travellers from
all civilized nations, thousands of Moslem
pilgrims every year avail themselves of lis
privileges During theye 1881 no lea than
272S steamers passed Suez, going through
the canal, registeriHg 3,149,683 tons- For
the first six months Of 1882 the numter had
! grown proportionately to 1901, of 2,93,767