The morning call., 1891-06-12
MR. MILLER'S PLANS.
The Nicaragua Canal as a Near
Probability.
E Description Of the Great Undertaking by
the President of the Company Having
Charge of the Work


TO hear Hon. Warner Miller speak on the
great question Of the construction of the
Nicaraguan canal. Very few ladies were
in attendance, but all present were plainly
interested in the great undertaking Of which
the distinguished speaker is the chief pro-
moter.
Mayor SandersOn presided, and in a few
remarks introduced Mr.. Miller. who said in
substance: Il am proud to stand tonight
before such an audience as this. For fifteen
years / have been a public man and as such
have been called upon to address the people
upon many issues, but none have been SO
important as this upon which Ishall attempt
to speak tonight"
He then traced the various attempts Of
the early explorers to discover a short pas
sage to the Pacific Coast and from this
drew the inference that even they. at that
remote period Of time, realized the vast adj
vantages that must necess arily accrue
therefrom. Close upon this he sketched
rapidly the physical features Of the canal,
AS it will appear when completed, and the
country through which it will extend.
MOST FAVORABLE PROGRESS.
Now concerning the work that has been
done there" he continued. Il have only to
say that 1 have Just returned from there and
lug most fayGrably. We have already eX-
pended between 100000 and Sj,000,000
and there can be no doubt that more econ
omicdl work was never done. We have a
hospital, barracks, a machlne-Shop aud the
largest dredging plant in the world. The
latter was obtained from the promoters Of
tie Panama scheme, which, as you know,
can never be carried to asucceSstul termina-
tian.
"Of those great dredgeTs we have seven
i'm all, and three Of them are now in success
1ul operation. Ia addition 10 TINS we nave
undertaken the construction Of a railroad
as q necessary preliminary TO the main I'M
ueTJ8kug and of 1t twelve miles have been
completed. Twenty more have yet to lie
constructed, and when that Is done It viii
extend 90 the point where the canal merges
into the san Juan River, whose course it
follows into Lake Nicaragua.
1T has now been nearly year since |
assumed control Of the construction COM
pauy, and since then we have made a bar
Dor at GTtYtONn. When We went there the
harb0r bad been closed for twenty-five years.
and what is known as the bar was then dry
land At that time we drove a cart across
It. loaded with supplies, and all cargOes
coming into the town were lighteTed from
the vessels.
SOME THINGS ACCOMPLISHED.
Following the plans of our Chief Engi-
ueeT Mr.. MpnOcaL We set 20 work, and the
result was that TWO weeks ago a cOal-laden
steamer passed in over the bar and was dis
charged al cur wharf. Further than this,
We have already eXCavated half a mile Of
the canal to a depth OF seventeen feet and
207 feet wide. The next cut will carry
u down to the required depth OF thirty feet.
The total length Of the canal IS 10
miles. OF this only twenty-Seven miles are
excavations. The remainder IS free naviga-
lion IA the San Juan River and Lake Mica
TaEGa. The former 1 found 10 be large
stream and it Is now navigable by steam
boats. IT averages from 800 to 1000 feet in
Wldth and ~ many places IS fifty feet in
depth Two rapids which impede nayiga-
ton must he removed Across the lake IS
distance Of about 6fty-six miles.
" From the western shore of the Lake 10
The Pacific Ocean is q distance Of but sixteen
miles, of which eleven miles are cuttings
and the balance the channel of the Rio
Graude River. As the latter IS very small
We viii simply turn il out and use il as an
auxiliary. The amount Of cutting in dis
lance Is less than at Panama. aud IN the
amount IF the cubic feet of earth and stone
it is but about One-half. Compared to the
great SueL Canal the cutting to be made is
only about One-quaTter in length, end large
portion OF that was accomplished by means
of thu most primitive methods. 1t is a mat
ter If history that shOYelS and wheelbarr0ws
were used by De Lesseps for quite time,
oruutil some inventive genius got his brain
e. work and turned out the great dTedserS,
after which ours are modelled.
GREAT POINT II FAVOR.
The great point in our faVnr is tie enOr-
nous lake at the summit level This is
about 100 miles long and sixty miles wide,
roughly estimated, and drains over 5000
square miles Of territory. The San Juan
RIVER Is the outlet of the lake. The cutting
from GTeytOWn toward the divide Is ten
miles, practically all level, a lagoon like.
This can be exCavated entirely by the
dredgeS without any manual labor, the
drtdges floating in as they eXcaVate.
AT the end of these ten miles we come
TO the first locks. In 4 space Of three and
a half miles We will have three locks which
viii raise the canal 10 the lake level Then
we viii have free navigation to within three
miles Of the Pacific Ocean, and there we will
have three locks down to the ocean level.
just after the third lock on the east side we
come to three miles Of rOck-cUttng This
Is what is called the divide
There are no new engineering problems
10 encounter. By that | mean that there
are no uncertainties IN an engineers way.
On the other hand, it is absolutely certain
the plans are practicable in every respect.
All the conditions, also, are favorable for
energetic pushing of the work. The first
consideration Is the climate and whether it
Will permit of the uninterrupted laboTs of 4
large body of wOrkmen. Our whole party
was delighted with the climate. twenty
men from New York, all accustomed to
Office work, spent one month along the canal
line. We went through the densest tropical
jungle, camping out nights, and no one was
sick at all
HEALTH OF THE MEN.
''The health of the men working on the
canal is remarkable. There were 700 men
at work when we landed, ana only four
were in the hospital. OF these, three were
there as the result Of accidents, aud only
one could properly be called sick. All the
skilled labor and engineers come from the
United States. These engineers and skilled
labor have been down there two years, and
not one has died from disease contracted
there. One committed suicide anu one died
from disease contracted IN the States before
he visited GreytOwn, and these have been
the only deaths among this class Of men.
The labOTeTs are of two classes, the
native Indians and negroes from Jamaica.
They are all accimated. The company has
provided houses and a corps of physicians
for them. The trade winds blow almost
continuously the entire year. This diSsi-
pates malaria and 50 prevents the sickness
which proved to be such a serious obstacle
at Panama. The Thermometer seldom re-
cords above 90 and has never been known
to 20 below go at any season.
When [ was there the temper ture was
never higher than so nor lower than 10
The conditions are-such that a great body of
Men can work together without fear of
epidemic diseases. This is large element
in the cost of the canal The labor avail
able Is fully as good as the Italian labor
which Is now So extensively used in con-
structiOn works in the Eastern States"
THE PEOPLES SUPPORT ASKED.
In conclusion Mr.. Miller referred to the
great benefits which must Of necessity fol-
low the completion Of this great work so
far as the Pacific Coast is concerned. He
predicted that property would at once
double in value, and that the output Of the
entire Coast wOu d Increase a. a rate that
would surprise the world.
lie was not here, be added, to ask for any
great sum Of money, but he aid count on the
moral support of the people. He realized
that the men who had money TO invest are
not looking so far into the future, but small
amounts would be an encouragement to the