The Van Buren press., 1893-06-24
A WORLDS WONDER.
An Ancient Canal OF the Crimea, the His
tory of Which II Unknown.

The great Russian engineer, MeIni.
koff, writes from Odessa to the Smith
sonian Institution describing the ruins
OF an ancient canal discovered in the
Crimea, which he regards as one of the
wonders of the world. 1t is certainly
twenty-seven centuries old, and among
similar ancient objects of historic in
terest is second only in age to the great
pyramids. The hanging gardens Of
Babylon and the Colossus of Rhodes
are shrouded with no deeper mysteries
than the existence of this great ditch,
whose ruins can be traced for long
distance through the Crimean plain.
Whether it was a waterway in the
olden times and the pathway of ancient
commerce between the Black Sea and
the Sea of Azov, or a means of defence
for the people living in its vicinity, is a
question which wise men, supposed to
know all about antiquities, cannot ex-
plain.
Nenophon, the distinguished Athe-
nian, who conducted the retreat of TO-
900 Greeks from the up-country march,
so-called, writes of bitches which were
dug by inhabitants of hostile territory
through which they passed as an inn
pediment to their march. Water was
often turned into these, so that cross
ing was rendered more difficult. Per-
haps the ancient and wonderful canal
served the same purpose on a very
large scale. While it was of grand
proportions, which at that early day
surpassed the engineering feats of the
Suez canal, the Notifications for its
protection are no less interesting. At
each end of the western side there was
a lofty castle, the ruins of which re-
main to this day, the cubical contents
exceeding 10000 meters A part of
these stones, as well as those with
which the bed of the canal was paved
its entire length, were removed some
time ago to build a town which adj
joins.
During the Crimean war some of the
stones remaining were utilized in the
construction of hospitals for the
wounded soldiers, which structures are
still standing. Along the banks of the
canal there were once at least six tow
ers, but what purpose they served.
unless for defence, is uncertain. There
was also a high wall which extended
its entire length. At an equal distance
from each end there was gigantic
fortress, built in the form of square
and covering a space of 80, 400 square
meters. The canal is us straight as an
arrow its entire length except at this
point, where it forms three sides of
square about the fortress. Here there
was a smaller canal on the outer side,
which may have provided greater
security.
One of the gateways Of the fortress
is still partially preserved, and through
it passes dilapidated road. The
canal was built by Assande l., of Bos-
porus, in the seventh century b. c.,
and is nine kilometers long. Mention
is made of this in the writings of Pliny
and Strabo, but nothing is said about
the great amount of time and money
expended in it's construction or for
what purpose it was done. IT passes
by the modern town of Perekop, and is
not far from the Greek city OF Neapolis,
whose name was changed by Assande
after the building of the canal to Taph-
aras, which is the Greek word for ditch.
Its width on the bottom was about five
meters and it's depth ten meters.
Whether it served formerly as q great
and towering fortication or not, it
certainly contained water enough to
sail ships of considerable burden.
Undoubtedly before the time of Christ
many ships used it asa short cut across
the peninsula between the two seas.
The bed is now dry, except for few
standing pools, but II Is said that the
Oldest inhabitants can remember when,
for several miles in the central part,
there was sufficient water to form a
roadway for the lighter craft Of the
semi-barbarous people. This is ac-
counted for by the fact that some time
in the fifteenth century the canal was
repaired.
The Russian government has pro-
ject under consideration OF opening up
great waterway across the peninsula
between the two seas, and his cqnnec-
tion with this scheme is what led the
engineer, Melnikoff, to inquire into the
history of the canal and attempt to ex-
plore it's wonders. Melnikoff writes in
French, and conveys vivid description
of the ancient ruins. lie has just
written pamphlet, which is fresh
from the press, and this contains in
Russian full account of all that is
known and all that has been said about
the canal in the centuries since its con-
struction. 1t also contains diagrams
a a 49, "A
appears. philadelphia Telegram.
Perfumed Pillows.
A New York paper states that the