The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1893-02-07
A TRIP THROUGH THE SUEZ
CANAL.

Dcdull6S Vi IQe mediterranean. III
traveller is apt to become bored ate
very short experience of it. But
apart from this, what is perhaps tn
greatest triumph of engineering il
the world possesses an interest pecu
liar to itself, and one cannot but b.
struck by the completeness of organ
ization by which it is worked. TIL,
trip, as now made, is very differen
thing from what it was in the ole
days. The most recent scientific de
velopments have been brought to it,
aid, and it is not too much to say
that, if the methods in use decade
ago were employed nnder the pres
ent conditions, blocks in the canal
which are now of very rare occur
renee, would be dangerously fire.
quent Within very recent years il
was the rule for vessels to go as fa1
as possible before sunset, and then
tie up for the night at one of the
stations; but that necessity no longer
exists, for the employment of cleo
trio light has made it pos
sible to travel after darkness
has set in. 1t will be apparent
from the enormous revenue of the
company that it is an expensive
matter for ship to go through the
canal. Vessels are charged according
to cubic measurement, engine space
and officers quarters being exempted,
while there is also toll on each pas
senger. a vessel of, say 5000 tons
burden, will be called upon to pay as
y much as $1,000. This includes the
services of pilot, but f10 more is
charged for the electric dynamo and
its attendants. The latter is placed
on board at Port Said or Suez, as the
case may be. 1t is worked from the
ships engines and supplies the power
for an arc light, placed in black
box in front of the bows, which
throws brilliant stream of light for
fully half a mile in the path of the
vessel. In addition to this, the
course is marked by lighted buoys at
frequent intervals, so that there
would be very little excuse for going
wrong, even if there were not an ex-
perienced pilot on the bridge from
start to finish. The vessel is not
allowed to travel more than ten knots
an hour, and rarely goes SO fast, ez-
cept perhaps, in the Bitter Lakes,
near Port Said end of the canal,
where is plenty of room. The time
is taken at each station-the stations
being five miles apart and if the
ship is ahead of her schedule, her
pilot is liable to be fined. If vessel
could steam the eighty-five miles
of a canal even at this speed. the
distance might be accomplished in
little over eight hours, but the aver
age time now taken in traversing the
canal is twenty two hours. and it
used to be a great deal longer. A
most ingenious system exists by
which the director at Port Said can
tell at a glance the exact position of
all the vessels in the canal, and thus
decide how their rsssages are to be
arranged The director has a model |
of the canal before him, the whole |
canal being worked from headquar
tiers by means of the telegraph. |
When vessel enters the canal from
either end, the intelligence is wired |
to the Office, and a figure to repre-
sent it is placed on the model. Its
are communicated from
each station it reaches; and whenever
it is necessary for vessels to pass each
other, notice is sent to the station,
which signals to the particular one
indicated to site up" for the pur-
poses. This is one of the most tedi-
GUS operations imaginable, as four
cables have to be attached to the
shore. When the vessel has been
got as close as possible to the side of
the canal, narrow passage is left
FOR other ships to pass. There is not
too much room for the purpose and
collisions frequently occur. So i'm
1ortant is it that ships should
answer the helm readily that many
IF them, on entering the canal, put
IN an extra rudder so as to give them
more steering power There are
,ther causes of delay, for it is seldom
hat the spectacle of a sunken dhow
S not met with somewhere in the
ANAL. They are allowed to sail
through, and frequently get in the
rack of vessels and are run down,
as an obstacle to naviga-
ion until a few ounces of dynamite
makes an end of them. As was said
It the beginning, there is not much
O be seen in the canal from a scenic
Joint of view. A dreary desert lies
II round, lifeless, but for few birds |
nd stray dog or two. The house {
,oat like stations partake of the
General gloom of their surroundings,
nd one can scarcely imagine more
unpleasant existence than that which 5
must be led by their custodians. o.
asionslly huge dredger is passed 6
ard at work removing the sand '
which is perpetually drifting into 2
he canal, and which would speedily I
ender it useless if it we're not con- E
family dredged. At certain parts of :
be canal an operation of somewhat
imilar nature is in progress. 1t was !
ONE time ago decided to widen the
assage, SO as to make it possible for '
hips to pass each other without