Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-16

greater ratio since this immigration commenced
than before, and experts believe tia: our pop
ulation would have been as large and homo
geneous with ut immigration. Formerly We
had large foreign commerce.; our merchants
were the first to establish direct trade with
China and West Indies: tue stars and stripes
were seen floating every and flying In
every harbor. and Cor years We were the second
maritime nation.
The commerce of the world passed from
wooden sailing ships to side-wheel steamers. to
iron and then 10 steel propelors. England wss
worker IN iron and machinery OF every kind;
We were not. The civil war only hastcuei the
day which was sure to come. Our shipping
faded away faster than ii had arisen, while that
OF Great Britain increased rapidly ours
decreased. This was not owing to any decrease
III our foreign trade, for during the last twenty
years our exports have increased moro than
three times rs rapidly as those Of Great
Britain. Eishty-seven per cent of our exports
are carried in British ships, consigned TO
English houses, which are found ia every large
port in the world.
''Our flag las never disappeared from our
inland waters and coasting trade for foreigners
are excluded from this trade, even where the
ports are 1900 miles apart by wa.e-. We have
large inland and coasting trade.
The substitution of steel for sailing ships
and wooden propellers, which took place so long
ago on ocean, is now going on upon our lakes
In 1856 there were but six steel propellers; now
there are sixty-eiSht. There are 22J vessels
| on the lakes, 1, los steamers s02 sailing ves-
sells.
I'VE have within eight years established
private ship yards for the construction of large
| ships of war and are making strong and
heavy machinery and Gs large and fast vessels
, AS England. Our ship builders claim that they
can construct ships equal in carrying capacity,
| speed and strength with those of Great Britain,
and at no greater cost, though they canno. 10
run as cheapiy, because our sailors are better
housed, fed and paid than those of other
tions. The day VIII surely come when COM
merce will make her last movement west, when
America, between Europe and Asia, with her
boundless mineral and agricultural resources.
her manufacturing facilities her extended sea
coasts. will be the foremost nation and New
York the commercial capital Of the world.
THE NICARAGUA CANAL
"The success of the Suez canal induced NJ.
| De Lesseps to undertake the construction of
the Panama canal. believing and rightIully.
that the tonnage passing through it would
equal that of the Suez canal. This work was
unsuccessful; the canal remains unfinished,
with no prospects of its completion
! several hundred miles north of Panama is
/ the lowest continental divide. l4S feet above
! tidewater; near this divide is Lake Nicaragua,
onthe Pacific slope, connected by the river
| San Juan with the Atlantic; up this river and
through this lake. some thirty years was one
/ of the regular means of intercommunicatiou,
both for freight and passengers, between New
| York and California.
The Maritime Canal Company and the Canal
| Construction Company have been organized
by Americans; they have obtained valuable
| concessions from Nicaragua and have made
| surveys for a canal slack water and lake uavi-
| cation from Greytown, on the Atlantic. through
| Lake Nicaragua to Brito, on the Pacific, dis
| lance Of 40 miles. A Larbor has been opened
at Greytown and considerable work performed
| on the canal The Panama route had the great
| advantage OF an open channel from ocean to
| ocean whereas the Nlcarapna rpouiraa
several locks to cross the divide, but Brito 10
! some 600 or 700 miles nearer California than
Panama, saving in distance that more than
| compensates for the delay in locking. The
opening of this canal will be the greatest ben
eiit that could be conferred to our shipping.
| "Frcights by water between New York and
! California (San Francisco) as new SO high that
/ n large portion goes by railroad. The wonder
| fuI effect that this canal must produce will be
evident if we consider the great difference be-
tween land and water carriage. Hail rates between
| New York and Chicago are trife over SIX mills
per ton per mile. while the ocean rates on grain
TO Liverpool in 1883 were about one-half a mill
per ton per mile, and one mill per ton per mile
| is a very large rate.
| The opening of this canal will therefore.
| reduce the freight on goods between the east
| and west at least one half and probably con-
| siderably more. twill give us o free easy and
cheap communication between the eastern and
| western states. Our commerce viii be built up
and the wealth and the population OF the states
/ on the Pacific coast increased in wonderful
| manner.
There will be demand for large steamships.
and when we have such steamers large ship
yards and machine shops viii spring up, and
| these alone are wanted to enable US 10 build
and run ships in competition with Great
Britain on the Atlantic ocean. Then the pre-
| diction Of Mr.. Cramp viii be fulfilled, that
| Englishmen will be asking one another, Can
VIC build ships as economically as they do in
the United States?'"
| DIFFERENT NODES OF CONVEYANCE.
Tie different modes Of conveyance we're de-
scribed by the speaker, beginning with the
carries: known to history, which was the trans
portation OF merchandise by caravans, down to
the present time, when steam 10 the servant Of
| mankind.
| In conclusion he said
Inventions are increasing in q geometric
rather than al arithmeticd progression We
| have not yet reached the limits of steam,
for when Q high temperature in the steam
boiler has been reached the addition of few
4 pounds Of coal increases tho power OF the steam
80 greatly that We are not able to control or
| use it.
Electricity has Just begun to offer new op-
portunities to commerce. We are no longer
compelled to carry our factories 10 the water
power, for, BY the electric WIRE the power is
brought to the house of the operative, and We
, may again see the private workman supsrssde
new agency, but its future growth must be
more rapid and more wonderful than that Of
steam.
The secretary Of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton, Mr.. Langley, tails Us that before the In
coming Of the twentieth century aerial naviss-
ton will be an established fact
1.-The deeper the insight We obtain into the
mysterious workings Of natures forces.' ssys
Siemens, the more we are convinced that We
are still standing IN the vestibule Of science;
that IN UNEMPLOYED world still lies before ~,
and We know not whether mankind v1ll ever
arrive ct full knowledge of nature