Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-07-29
An Interview with Its Chief Engineer.
Gen. StOne-The Field Werk and
Coast Survey Finished.
The Great Benefits that viii be Con.
ferred Upon Commerce by
the Enterprise.

4OA OhoAhCt-s l.
at il uuderstoo~, general, that this il not n
Tour first experience of q great canal project
you are familiar with all the details
# the construction and operation OF the
suez canal. Is that so?" II
st is true to this extent: / was not con- !;
necied with the Suez project in either an Of :
icial or professional character, bat having :
resided In Egypt for thirteen years on the :
staff OF the Khedive, l watched the canal :
very attentively, aud know, probably, allths, :
is known regarding il. Being an engineer, !,
ay interest ia IL, of course, was all the ,
greater" y,
Had your attention ever been directed to
the project of a ship canal across the penin-
sula of Florida prior to this survey upon
which you are now engagedf'
"Not particularly. L was, OF course, aware
that a number of surveys had been made
with q view TO such a canal, and knew in a
general way the conclusions that had been
based upon them; but l had not studied them
closely enough 10 form any definite opinion
of my own until L was appointed by the
Ship Canal Company to make the SURVEY
thsI has Just been completed. Since then /
have examined carefully all the data gathered
by previous observers and subjected them to
a critical comparison with one another"
"Dd 1 understand you to- say that your
survey was completely"
"Yes. The field work is finished and no
il The coas, survey. Ny assistant, Mr.. A. +.
Hill, has had four corps of engineers at work
for nearly q month past, and has Gone his
xor ( in a very satisfactory manner. A great
deal OF desk work, as We call il lcommunica- |
tions and the like, remains TO be done; but l
found on NV arrival that Mr.. Hill was pre-
pared to submit 10 me conclusive daia upon .
the main points which our survey was in
tended to settle"
"Are you willing to state what those points
are?"
They are two in number. In the fret
| place, az preliminary to everything else, We
were TO settle the question whether IL is feasi-
bic, as an eoginee. ing enterprise, to construct
a canal across the Florida Peninsula at all.
Ia the second place, we were TO determine
| whether, ia case il could be buitI at all, ii
| could be built at a reasonable c-st."
And both these points have been settled?"
"Tney have been, and have b co settled af-
1 frmatively. 10 regard to the hIs point l
| may say h at it wss swallowed up IN the sec
ond. Nothing is impossible TO modern er-
cheering. You see what De LIE .seps is TO-
ing in Pansma-tunnetIug mouutains and
coangipg the course of rivers. L. lie all a
cues ion OF money, and / felt that the essen-
tiaI question We mad to decide Tor the Snip
Canal Company was whether u Underwater
ship cansl can be built scross your peninsula
from the Atlantic 10 The Gulf at "a cost which
would make capitalists regard it as a good
in estment."
@And that question has been decided in
the affirmative"
II believe that it bas. OF course, / havp
nothiug 10 do with the financial part of the
enterprise, aud l am not sure that any limit as
10 cost has been fixed upon BY the company.
But it is a question OF investment, aud the
slim ated cost will seem moderate 10 COM
~pari-ou with the volume OF business that
awaits The canal and the commercial benefits
to b. derived from IT."
you have no doubt, then, that an exten-
sive would avail itself OF the
cansl9" ..
"Not the slightest. The canal would save
from three to seven DAYS time for sill the
steamers and sailing vessels going into and
out of the Gulf of Mexico. That fact alone
is NOR siguiica ant than you are probably
aware of. The salary and running expense
account of the large ocean steamer averages
$4,000 a month. Tbree DAYS of this is $500.
The cost Of coal is from $500 TO 1000 a day.
There, you see, lie some $500 of expense
saved in the mere matter of time. But
The navigation through The Florida
straits is the most dangerous known,
and the annual losses from wreckase
are rmo On this account the canal
would save one to one and a half per cent.
on insurance, in itself sufficient to pay a
handsome revenue TO the canal. Then the
Increased safety and the lower cost would
vastly increase the traffic which now makes
use OF the Gulf. Within a very short time
after the completion OF the canal, you will
fnd that a very large proportion of the grain
and cotton of the West and Northwest, that
now goes east by rail, would come down the
Mississippi aud through the canal, and the
sbsurdiiy of driving cattle from Texas away
up to Kansas and Arkansas, to be thence
shipped by rail to E.stern markets, would
also cease. There is no enterprise now con-
lemplsted or in progress that would confer
II greater benefits upon the OF the
world than the Florida ship canal, or that
could depend opoa a larger business"
SAIL this, as you So, bears upon the ques-
ton of profit upon III. cost; can you stale, ss
! vet, what that cost will be?"
aNot precisely. That cannot be done un-
til all our computations are completed. Bot
we have reached a point where We are en-
sbled to say thai lis cost will not exceed a
certain figure, snd that on the other hand il
will not fall below a certain other figure.
What those figures are will be stated in my
: report to the company. My opinion is that
the company will not be disappointed in
I them"
at has always been understood that the
: high elevation of the watershed was the priD-
cipie obstacle in the construction OF a ship
: canal, and The popular impression has been
that Ids oUkiacle i. lneuptrdoe. Vuhi uhNc
|, You TO FAY, general, as To this"
r b at the impression is a mistaken one. j
. WA myself mislsd rs to this, and am graft
fed to fud that we can cross the water -shed
, a, a lover elev alton than l had hoped. 1t ia
sufficient 10 say that We shall cross at an ele-
. walton considerably lower than tbs highest
on the Suez canal. Another important point
. is tha the backbone of your peninsula Is
{ like a camel's hump, rising and descending
= IL the npffrno thnnoh
. deep. will be short. De Leeseps would laugh
E at the idea that the hight Of your water
e shed prevented the construction OF a trans
[ peninsular canal"
. "The o'her great obstacle of which l have
t heard is the absence Of a port on either the
: Atlantic or the Gulf side. Have you alec
solved that difficulty"
o "Undoubtedly, or our mission would be
e failure. Rsady-msde harbors we did not ex
: pect or look for. Available entrances from
deep wafer are what is necessary, and o
these We have found several to choose from
These secured, we can make our barbore
q and he making OF harbors will form part o
cur es,imates."
And wnen will these estimates be ready?
'Tney will be incorporated 10 az oficia
report, which 1 expect TO have ready Tor sue
!. mission TO the Bosrd OF Directors early Ii
= August. In that report all the points upol
which 1 have merely touched in this conver
sation will be treated in detail; and, o
d course, it would not be judicious for me TO b
too explicit before that report is submitted
q "How long will it be, general, before tn
actual work of construction Ia begunf'
\ "Tna. lie a matter that rests with the Boar
: of Directors, and Mr.. Jones, the editor Q
o YOUR paper, who is a member of the BOARD
q can tell you more about it than 1 can. Tn
Directors have asked me for a report on tn
engineering features OF the scheme. l shai
be ready 10 submit that report IN Lees han
fortnight. The matter is then 10 their hand
If they order me TO begin, L shall have dreoe
e, al work in six weeks IRON the recep ion o
the order. 10 sil such matters / bei'eye i