The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1889-09-27
me suEz CANAL.
4 Ditch In the Desert About Q Hundre.
Miles Tong.

This canal Is only 100 miles long.
gay, q letter from Egypt to the New
York World. It is only one-twelfth the
length OF the Red sea, into which it
conducts the. waters OF the Mediter.
ranean, aud these ITO bodies of water
are nsarly Of the same level. Thov
now tow into n another without
locks, and the canal Is we'll described
as n ditch in the desert, This ditch is
about 800 feet wide at the top and $50
feet wido at the bottom. and the wator
within 1t is as quiet rs 4 hiiil-pond. i,
is OF beautiful sea-grcen and the con.
trast Of this color with the bare yellow
sands which line the banks ofthc canal
makos it wonderfully beautiful. The
canal is 80 narrow that ships San pass
only at certain points, and the man.
agemon. govern these passages just as
the train dispatchers regulate the pass
age OF trains upon our trunk lines.
There are, from time to time. through
the canal Wider spaces where the ships
must turn In willie others, which have
the right OF way, may pass them and
at a distance these ships. seem to be
walking, as it we're; in single file
through the desert. They arc NOT
allowed to go over five miles an hour.
and this !. largely due to lie deptl, of
the canal. Its average depth is about
lwenty-four feet, and many of the
ships which pass through are more
than twenty feet deep in the water.
There is so little water under the bot
toms that there can be no great speed.
/ Tho banks OF this canal nre of dry
and thirsty sand. In some places they
are kept bnet by p%nvemcnts of stone
and Others by a network OF twlgs like
tile %jetiies OF tho Mississippi. 1t cost
nearly 800, 900 to build tile canal, and
in some places the cllirnel had to be
ent through. solid rocks. In others
there was little dredging needed. The
WCtcrs of the Mediterranean flowed in
to long, natural lakes, and these re.
CURED but little excavation to make
them deep enough for the transit of
ships. One of to great problems in
making the canal was fresh water for
the workmcu. The work was begun
in 1858. and the ruler of Egypt provid-
cd 1900 laborcrs. They were re-
l;cved every three months. but it was
necessary to fced them. 1t took 1000
water casks, which were carried on
the backs of camels, to supply them
with drinking water, and this was kept
up for five years. AT the end of that
time IL fresh-watcr canal was arranged
81 that water was carried from the
Nile to lsnaillia, and there is now u
l'ipo which runs the whole length Of
tie canal and which carries fresh water
from one end of il TO tic othct. The
work of preparing liarbors at Port
Said and Sucz was very expensive and
] took Il look AT the piers Mt Port Said,
which are intended to ward OF the nc.
foundations of sand and mud and
which form the navigablc entrance TO
the canal. These piers are made of
artificial stone composed of desert sand
aud cement. Tho machinery to make
Them was brought here from France
and Tie stones We're made to throw
iuto the sen. Each stone weighed
twenty tons and it took , 5000 Of these
massive rocks TO form tho bases of
these piers. Gu the top of this founda-
ton tic piers we're built and the arti-
licial stone will, 1 am told, last as long
As tho natural article.