St. Paul daily globe., 1891-05-08
NICARAGUA CANAL.
Warner Miller Tells of the Prog
ress of the Work Upon 1t.

ICSS vi CLO w va ~ ~ pun ~.
WASHINGTON May 7.-Hon. Warner
Miller, president of the Nicaragua
Canal company, reached Washington
this afternoon on his return from
Nicaragua, where he went TO
ascertain by personal inspection
of the work already done
en- the canal and its future prospects.
Mr.. Miller says: Commencing ait
Greytown the line of the canal has been
entirely cleared of the dense growth of
tropical vegetation, which covered it
for distance of ten miles. The trees
have been all felled and burned.
The actual exploration of the
canal was begun about the first of
January of the present year. The COM
pany has six large and powerful dredgeS.
Two of them are now at work, and three
These dredges are the most powerful
ever constructed, being capable of eX
cavating canal to depth of thirty
five feet. They raise material out
of the cut and deposit it at
distance from the bank of the canal, SO
that the material does not have TO be
removed a second time. The two
dredges now at work have already eX-
cayated the canal for distance of seven
teen feet. Two other dredges will
follow these and complete the eXcava-
walton to a depth of thirty feet,
which is to be the depth of the com
pleted canal. The company's railroad
along the line is now completed dis
tance of ten miles, and two miles more
are graded and nearly ready for track
laying. This railroad will extend
to point on the San Juan
river called Ochoa, where the river IS to
be damned. This dam will rise the
water of the San Juan river up to the
level of Lake Nicaragua, and from that
point TO Lake Nicaragua. a distance of
siXty-ive miles, the San Juan river
itself becomes part of the canal. After
inspecting the work of Greytown and
on the railroad, the party made march
through the wilderness near the line of
the canal to 0choa. This was a work
of great difficulty, because the entire
distance was through an almost impene-
trable tropical forest. The only paths
through this forest were those made by
the engineers and surveyors. The dist
Rnce was some thrty-five or forty
miles. which the party succeeded i'll
covering in three days, thus exam
lining the actual line of the pro-
posed canal enabling all the engineers
TO judge the character of the work that
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terial-rock and earth-that had to be
moved. They were entirely satisfied
with the examination. At Ochoa the
party took a steamer on the San
Juan river and went up the
river to Lake Nicaragua. There
they were transferred to steamer
which is employed on the lake and
went to Rivas, near which city the
canal leaves the lake for the Pacific
ocean. The distance from the lake to
the Pacific on this, the western side, is
about sixteen miles. The coun-
try there is generally cleared,
settled, and cultivated. On this
Occount the party were enabled
line on horse back. Three days were
spent here in examining the line of the
canal, from which the forest has almost
all been cleared. The point where the
canal leaves the lake for the
Pacific is the lowest point of
land in Nicaragua and presents the
fewest obstacles to- the cutting of
the canal. The highest point is only
fOrty-One feet above the water Of the
lake. No difficulties of any kind pre-
sent themselves on this side, it is sim
ply matter Of removing a certain
amout Of earth, and three locks, which
down to the level of the Pacific ocean.
All of the engineers expressed
themselves as entirely salts
fed of the feasibility of the
route. and of the perfection of the plans
of the engineers of the canal. The
company has established machine shops
and store houses, built docks and
wharves for unloading vessels. and con-
structed fifty buildings, including ware
houses, Offices for engineers, quarters
for the men and railroad terminals, in
Guiding locomotive houses and other
structures necessary to carry on the
work of the railroad.