Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-08-15
ALONG THE BIG SUEz CANAL
AN ARTIFICIAL RIVER IN TES
MIDST OF A DRY DESERT.

|
How the Canal Was Built and the
Sand DredRed Out-The Great
Distances 1t Saves 20 ships.
1t is hfty-es5ht year since Ferdinand
de Lesseps first came to Egypt, in the
French consular service, and it is more
than generation sgo since he persuaded
the Viceroy of the country that the work
of buildisg the 5uez Canal could be
done. When he began it, writes Frank
G. Carpenter, the English laughed at
him and scientists all over the world pre-
dicted his failure. John Bull shook his
tail and said, with sneer, that France
and Egypt were burying their money in
the sands Of the desert, and it was not
until the waters of the Mediterranean |
were mixed with those of the Red Sea
that they would admit that the thing
could be done. Now more than two |
thirds of the ships which pass through |
the canal belong to Great Britain, and |
the English, in order to protect their in
terest in India, have had to put some |
thing like $17, 900, 900 into canal shares. |
II is not a bad investment, for in 1885
! the net profits of this canal were more
/ than Sc, 900, 900, and after all expenses
were paid the shareholders received a di-
vidend of II per cent.
The canal increases in importance year
after year, and that to such an extent
that it may be necessary to build a second
alongside of the first, and this plan is
now much discussed, How much is
saved by it can only be understood by
considering the steamship routes of the
past. Before it was opened ships in
going to China and India, had to go by
way of the Cape of Good Hope and it
was then more than $4,000 miles from
London to Bombay. The voyage was
one of months instead of weeks, and it
necessitated the coaling of steamers. At
present the distance by the Suez Canal is
only 1000 miles, and the saving in dis
tance from London to Hong Kong is
about 1000 miles, or 1000 miles longer
than the distance between Liverpool and
New York. In 1886 more than 5000
vessels passed through the canal, and
estimating that each of these vessels to
+ India, Australia or China made saving
Of at least five thousand miles, it will be
seen that the aggregate saving in one
J year was more than fifteen million miles,
equal to distance of six hundred times
around the world. Undoubtedly more
than one hundred and fifty thousand
passengers are taken through this canal
every year, and the charges are 80 on
each passenger: 1t makes heavy charges
upon the vessels which pass through,
estimating them according to their ton
mage, and the receipts Of the canal make
it one of the best paying institutions of
the world. D."
And still this canal is only one hundred
O. miles long; it is only one-twelfth of the
+. length of the Red Sea, into which it con-
ducts the waters of the Mediterranean,
, and these two bodies of water are Of
nearly the same level. They now flow
, into one another without locks, and the
D canal is we'll described as ditch in the
desert. This ditch is about three hun
dred feet wide at the top, and one hun
i dred and fifty feet wide at the bottom
It and the water within it is as quiet as
mill pond. 1t is of beautiful sea-green
e and the contrast of this color with thu
a bare yellow sand which line the banks o.
the canal make it wonderfully beautiful
The canal is so narrow that ships can pas:
+, only at certain points, and the manage
!, ment govern these passages just as tn,
y train dispatchers regulate the passage O.
trains on our trunk lines. There are
d from time to time, through the cana
r wider spaces where the ships must tur1
: in while others, which have the right O.
way, may pass them, and at distsnc'
d these ships seem to be walking, as it were
h in single file through the desert. The,
n are not allowed to go over five miles al
y hour, and this is largely due to the deptl
r of the canal. Its average depth is abou
IS twenty-four feet, and many of the ship
l. which pass through are more than TWEEN
ty feet deep in the water. There is 81
y little water under the bottom that ther
d can be no great speed.
The banks of this canal are of dry ant
thirsty sand. In some places they ar
kept back by pavements of stone and il
st others by network of twigs like tn
e jetties of the Mississippi. 1t cost nearl.
t 500, 900, 900 to build the canal, and il
a some places the channel had to be Gu
e through solid rocks. In others there wa
little dredging needed. The waters 0
e. the Mediterranean flowed into long
m natural lakes, and these required bu
little excavation to make them dee
~ enough for the transit of the ships. On
of the great problems in making til
as canal was fresh water for the work
t. men. The work was begun in 1858
I'd and the ruler of Egypt provided 25, 100
il. laberers. These were relieved every thre
m months; but it was necessary to fee
them. It took 1000 water-casks, whicl
yc were carried on the backs of camels, t
q supply them with drinking water, an
this was kept up for five years. At tn
nd end of that time fresh water canal wa
arranged SO that the water was carrie
from the Nile to Ismailia, and there
now pipe which runs the wholeAlengt
- of the canal, and which carries fres
81 water from one end of it to the othel
- The work of preparing harbors at POI
VS. Said and Suez was very expensive, and
an took look at the piers at Port Sale
a | .,ls.l - L 4 II