Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-29

large number of steam tugs, lighters, scows
and dredges Our railroad, which 10 IL
miles long and which runs along the line OF
the canal, is used in the work, and we can
bring our stuff from the hills right down
into the harbor Of Greytown.
"What kind Of harbor have you there?"
The Harbors Require Much Work.
''It was bad enough" was the reply,
when we began our work. There was q
great bar of sand that extended out in front
of it and this sand was three feet above
water. We haye constfucted an immense
breakwater and we have now fifteen feet of
water on this bar and we are making it
deeper by extending the breakwater further
out into the sea- We will have it SO that
all ships can come into the hsrbor and we
will have about $50 acres for them to float
about in. We have also very fair harbor
at Brito, on the Pacific coast, where our
canal comes out 1t will take some dredg-
ing to fit it for use, but when we are through,
our two harbors will be the finest in Gen.
tral America
"How big will the canal be and how can
you make your vessels rise to the level Of
Lake Nicaragua, which 10 100 above the
sea?"
"We do it BY means of locks" replied
Senator Miller. This De Lesseps said was
not practical, and he proposed level canal
at the Isthmus of Panama, and he sunk
several hundred millions in attempting to
make one, but his scheme was an utter fail
ure, and the canal stock is now worth
about cents on the dollar, and that only
for speculative purposes De Lesseps said
that locks would make travel through the
canal too slow to make it pay and that the
ships would be tied up and clogged half the
time
The Locks the Largest in the World.
"we have figured up the time and we
know just what we can do. We are going
to have the biggest locks that have ever
been made. There will be only six of them,
and ship can 60 through lock and be
raised from one level to mother in As minutes.
And supposing only one ship went through
at a time we could put 80 ships through in
the ships that 60 through this canal should
be of the same size as those which pass
through the Suez Cana, more than 20, ,00O, 900
tons will pass through in year. The Suez
Canal gets 50 80 a ton on every ship that
passes through the canal, and this tonnage,
should we ever reach it, would pay the
canal $50, 600, 900 year.
"We expect the canal to cost, all told, just
about $100, 900, 600, and we think that it will
pay big interest on this investment. The
Suez Canal stock is now in the neighbor-
hood of $500 per share. 1t cost about the
same as ours will cost, and it has for years
been paying q net revenue of more than
$12, 900, 900. 1t is not big enough to accom-
modate the trade and they are now widening
its locks They are talking also of building
another canal alongside the old one, and the
shipping increases right along"
Over q Day in Crossing.
Chow long will it take ship to pass
through your canal?
'It will take only four hours more than
it does for ship to pass through the Suez
Canal" said Senator Miller. IA boat can
20 through our canal from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, distance Of ITO miles, in %
hours, and it takes one 24 hours to 20
through the Suez Canal About 100, 900
passengers 60 through the Suez Canal in q
year and the canal gets big revenue from
these Of course my figures as to the tom
mage which might pass through our canal
represent an amount much greater than we
had 5000, 900 tons at the start, this would
pay big dividends, and we will eventually,
no doubt, have ten, fifteen and more mil.
lion tons per year.
GAS to the locks, that at the Sault Ste.
Marie, takes through a greater tonnage
every year than that at the Suez Canal, and
these locks are perfectly practicable things.
Our ships will 60 into the harbor at Grey
town and they will sail nine miles along the
canal to the first lock, which will lift them
up 81 feet and along this level they sail
mile and quarter, where they are raised 80