Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-06-23
Orand Canal n Chln.

q puEt VI tue dEuuu (8n6k OF (n100.
connecting the Hoang-ho and tho Yang.
tse-kiang rivers. was made as early az
the seventh century. Subsequently
the highway was extended up to Chin
kiang, and the great Emperor Kublai
Khan, in the thirteenth century, had
the work carried from Picking to the
Yellow River and the connections made
with rivers and lakes, completing the
great Transit River" MS the Chinese
call it, a. it is now known. This canal
extends from Picking in o southeasterly
direction. forming with the rivers which
it connects q broad waterway from
Peking to Hangchow, a distance of $50
miles. Part Of it has been for some
time disused, a. the inflow from the
Yellow River has become, by deposit
from this turbid stream, completely
choked up. Before this occurred there
Was by aid of several smaller canals and
the numerous rivers that traverse the
CREST plains of China, an uninterrupted
water communication from Picking to
Canton, over !, 100 miles. The Grand
Canal traverses tho fiat country south
ward from Picking to the northern
branch Of the Pci-ho River. This branch
forms the channel to Tientsin, and
thence to Lintsing, 800 miles, it fol.
lows the southern branch of the Pei-ho.
From Lintsing to Tsining it is an arti-
fetal waterway; thence to the Yang-tse-
Kiang it follows the lake system, and
from this river to Hang Chow is again
nm artificial excavation. The Oldest
portion OF the canal, that between the
two great rivers, il about ninety miles
in length, and for the greater part OF
this distance it is carried upon O raised
work of earth, in many places twenty
feet and more above the surrounding
country, the stream being confined be-
tween walls of stone. The sheet of
water there is about two hundred feet
wide, and has q current of about three
miles an hour. Several large cities lie
the sides of the canal there,
whose safety, as they are below the
level OF the waterway, depends wholly
on the care taken of it's banks. South
Of this its level decends until it is sew
eral feet below the country on its sides.
Through its whole extent the Grand
Canal was connected by smaller ways
with every lake or stream that could
possibly he led into it. s. Wells Viii
in his very complete work on
China entitled, "The Middle Kingdom"
says Of this construction: "As q work
Of art, compared with canals now exist
ing in Western countries, the Transit
River does not rank high; but even at
this day there is no work of the kind in
Asia to compare with it, and there was
none in the world equal to it when first
lsnt into operation. 1t passes through
Alluvial soil in every part of its course,
and the chief labor was expended in
embankments, and not in
q deep channel. The junction
Of the Yun-ho about lat. 80 N. was
probably taken as the summit level.
From this point northward the trench
dug through Lintsing to join the
and the entertainments thrown
up from the same place southwark to
the Yellow River, the whole being q
line Of 200 miles. In some places the
the bed is cut down thirty, forty, and
Y Q seventy feet. but it encountered
no material obstacle. The sluiccs which
keep the necessary level are of rude
construction, and thick planks sliding
IN grooves hewn in stone buttresses
form the only locks. Still the objects
Intended are all fully gained, and the
simplicity Of the means certainly does
not derogate from the merit and execu-
lion OF the plan.-Ifater- Ocean,"