Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1893-03-18
The Nicaragua Canal.

. III INV VI Ntt NNihAihN VI ~ wv
. cmt trade carried on between the At
I lan;ic and The Pacific slopes of Mort
aad South America, and Of the flat'cr
ing promises Of a greatly l~nrrra>e'
= tr tic by the construction of Il cans
= across Central Amerirs the promo
tens of the Nicaragua Csual srhcmi
ask the United States government I,
; guarantee their securities. and thu
:. father the enterprise and hasten ;h'
work 0. construction 10y giving Ia
securities financial >lsndius Both tht
great political parties oi The corH,r.
have committed themselves in tavoI
OF encouraging the building OF the ca
nal Yet, as mnch as the demands %
commerce need the completion of al
is;hmian passage, ii is a question
whether the government should com
nit itself in favor OF or against the
guarantee ssked for until more def
mite knowledge Of the perfect feast
bili;y Of NE engineering features OF
the scheme is to be had, The Panama
experience is Il lesson from which
mach can be learned. and no patriot
American would want it duplicated in
any American scheme in such hair.
Drained engineering plans.
There is little doubt but what the
Nicaragua Canal cay be constructed
on the plans already conceived. Eut
there sre greater demands on en-.
cheering skill 10 so construct thc ca
nal that il can he maintained. The
plans call for many dams of rcmarka.
be length aud unusual height. There
are to he several deep cuts, Then a
considerable watershed is crossed at
an engle. The climate at Nicaragua
is tropical and the precipitation at
times is enormous. in fact. tar greater
than the engineers OF the Panama Ca
nal >eem tn have dreamed Of. AuOth.
er feature OF much CONSEQUENCE is the
geological formation OF the country.
which needs most thorough study in
surh engineering work a. deep, mar
row cui> aud the construction OF long,
high dams. Several appropriations
have hcCn made by congress AID been
-fCni in making surveys ofthc several
proposed rouis across tie lsthmas, but
some OF these que.rlens- vital TO the
successful construction and maintcn
aucc Of the cGnai-hayc not brcu AZ
swcrcd fully 10 The satisfaction OF some
eminent engineers vino are favorable
to the carai scheme,
ThecXptri,nce Of lie government il
building the Saul SIC. Marie Canal has
shown that thought should he had not
only for present nccls bu' for the III.
lure, by recognizing the tendencies in
building, and that Il ship canal
have ample width as well as
depth. Experience proved that
lac sncz Canal did not pos.ess enough
rs originally constructed, ana
had TO b. wiicued. Yet, in .pite
If lhescaaost,y prcccdcnts, the Nicara
qua Canal, as at present planned is
surprisingly uarrow in places,
However mach the Nicaragua Canal
my be needed by commerce. ii is only
ordinary business requirement that
4 guarantee a. that Of 500, 100000
IN securities should not be made until I
here is absolute surety OF the succea.
nj communication of the project.
New York and San Francisco are now
$500 miles apart by the water route
.rgull Cape Horn. BIZ tic Nicara-
,ua route This miIcago is reduced
bout 1000, From au economic
standpoint the constitution Of the G.
lal would he beneficial, as il wonld
more nearly cqualize prices of commo-
The Pacific coast needs the
coal of the South, and the chGapi
manufactured products of the North,
the South and the North can
axe in exchange wheat, fruit, lumber
nj CHER products. Bat rather than
make a hn-ly effort TO secure these
the government can afford 10
vail a wear or t~o ii necessary until
commission has looked
thoroughly into the weak spota Of the
anal -gbrme. Il is SAFE to be thor.
.ugli in all preliminaries, 80 that when
be work j. undertaken and compile
ed il shsl! be an engineering, Il com.
l%crrial, an1 q financial success {
scientific American. F,