Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-09-04
ALONG THE BIG SUEZ CANAL.
AN ARTIFICIAL RIVER IN THE
MIDST OF A DRY DESERT.

generation ago since he persuaded the
Viceroy of the country that the work OF
building the Suez Canal could be DONE
When he began it, writes Frank G. Car
penter, the English laughed at him and
scientists all over the world predicted his
failure. John Bull shook his tail and said,
with sheer, 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 tnan
two.thirds of the ships which pass through
the canal belong to Great Britain, ana tne
English, in order to protect their interest,"
in India, have had to put something iike
ST. 900, 900 into canal shares. 1t is not
bad investment, for in 1885 the net pron aa
of this canal were more than S6, ooO,ooo'
and after all expenses were pald tne snale snare
holders received dividend 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 second
alongside of the first, and this plan is now
much discussed. How much is saved by 1t
can only be understood by considering the
steamship routes of the past. Before 1t
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 -
600 miles from London to Bombay. The
VOYAGE was one of months instead of weeks,
and If necessitated the coaling of seamers.
At present the distance by the Suez Canal
is onIv 1000 miles, and the saving in dis
tance from London to Hong Kong is about
600 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 a saving of at least five thou
sand miles, it will be seen that the aggre-
gate saving in one year was more than nj
teen million miles, equal to a distance of
six hundred times around the world. Un-
doubteGly more than one hundred and fifty
thousand passengers are taken through
this canal every year, and the charges are
So on each passenger. Il makes heavy
charges upon the vessels which pass
through, estimating them according to their
| tonnage, and the receipts of the canal
make it one OF the best paying institu lions
of the world.
Aud still this canal is only one hundred
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 sre Of nearly the
same level. They now flow into one
another without locks, and the cana, is
well described as & ditch in the DESERT
This ditch is about three hundred feet wide
at the top, aud one hundred aud fifty feet
wide at the bottom, and the water
within it is as quiet as mill pond. 1t IS
of beautiful sea green, aud the contrast OF
this color with the ba!e yellow sand which
line the banks of the canal make it wonder
! fully beautiful. The canal js SO narrow
that ships can pass only ct certain points,
and the management govern these passages
lust as the train dispatchers regulate the
passage of trains on our trunk lines. There
are. from time to time, through the canal
wider spaces where the ships must turn in
while others, which have the right of way,
may pass them, and at "a distance these
ships seem to be walking, as it were, in
single flo through the desert. They are
not allowed to 60 over five miles an hour,
aud this is largely due to the depth of the
canal. Its average depth is about twenty
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 bottom that there can be no
great speed.
The banks of this canal are of dry and
thirsty sand. In some places they are
kept back by payements of stone and in
others by network of twigs like the cities
Of the Mississippi. 1t cost nearly $780,
000,0 600 to build the canal, and in some
places the channel had to be cut through
solid rocks. In others there was little
dredging needed. The waters of the Medi-
terranean flowed into long, natural lakes,
and these required but little excavation to
make them deep enough for the transit OF
the ships. One Of the great problems in
making the canal was fresh water for the
workmen. The work was begun in 1858,
and the ruler of Egypt provided $4,000
laborers. These we're relieved every three
months; but it was necessary to feed them.
1t took 4, 000 water-casks, which were car
ried 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 fresh water canal was arranged SO
that the water was carried from the Nile to
Ismailia, and there is now a pipe which
runs the whole length of the canal and
which carries fresh water from one end of
it to the other. The work of preparing
harbors at Port Said and Suez was very ex-
pensive, and took lock at the piers at
Port Said, which arc intended to ward off
the accumulatiors of sand and mud, and
which form the navigable entrance to the
canal. These piers are made of artificial
stone, composed of desert sand and cement.
The machinery to make them was brought
here from France, and the stones were
made to throw into the sea. Each stone
weighed twenty tons, and it took %, 600 OF
these massive rocks to form the bases OF
these piers. On the top OF this foundation
the piers were built, and this artificial
stone will, I am told, last as long as the
natural article.
Immense dredges are now employed
throughout the canal. These pump up
the sand, which blows in from the desert,
and throw it out beyond the banks. There
are stations or guard houses at intervals
along the course and few small towns
have grown up here and there. Outside Of
these towns and the guard-houses you SEE
few signs of life. Here a caravan trots
along over the desert, the long. ungainly
camels, with their riders bobbipg up ano
down against the clear sky Of the horizon
There flock of long necke6 cranes spring:
from the water into the air, and now, away
across the hot sands at the side of the ship
comes into view new ship and new waters
which loom up out of the sands and which
looks as real as the green water through
which we are moving. This is the wonder
ful mirage of the Libyan desert, which 81
often decelVeS thirsty travellers when pass
ing through it on camels. 1t fades as you
approach it and becomes very castle il
the air.
The opening Of the Suez Canal took
place in 1869, and the ceremonies cost
Ismail Pasha, the father of the present
Khedive, more than twenty millions of dol
lars. Among the other notables who were
present was the Empress Eugene, and a
grand palace was fitted out for her enter.
/ tainment at Cairo.
Good intentions are at least the seeds OF
good actions; and every man ought to SOW
them, and leave it to the soil and the sea-
son whether they come up or not.
John Jackson-You look ill. my friend,
what's the matter?' Jack Johnson-I've
just returned from my pleasure excursion,