The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-01-31
A TRIP THROUGH THE SUEZ
CANAL. II

Canal cannot boast OF any scenic
attractions. Fresh from the varied
beauties of the Mediterranean, the
traveller is apt to become bored after
a very short experience of it. But,
apart from this, what is perhaps the
greatest triumph of engineering in
the world possesses an interest pecu-
liar to itself, and one cannot but be
struck by the completeness Of organ
ization by which it is worked. The
trip, as now made, is very different
thing from what il was in the old
days. The most recent scientific de.
velopments have been brought to its
aid, and it is not too much to say
that, if the methods in use decade
ago were employed under the pres
emit conditions, blocks in the canal,
which are now of very rare occur.
renee, would be dangerously fire.
quent. Within very recent years it
was the rule for vessels to go as far
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
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 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, ex-
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 a
little over eight hours, but the aver
age time now taken IN trayersing the
canal is twenty two hours, and it
used to be 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 passages are to be
arranged. The director has model
of the canal before him, the whole
canal being worked from headquar-
: ters 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
movements 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 cite 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, a narrow passage is left
for other ships to pass. There is not
zoo much room for the purpose and
collisions frequently occur. So i'm
,ortant is it that ships should
answer the helm readily that many
of them, on entering the canal, put
on an extra rudder so as to give them
more steering power There are
other causes of delay, for it is seldom
that the spectacle of a sunken dhow
IS not met with somewhere in the
canal. They are allowed to sail
through, and frequently get in the
rack of vessels and are run down,
remaining as an obstacle to naviga
ION until few ounces of dynamite
makes an end of them. As was said
1t the beginning, there is not much
g be seen in the canal from scenic
point of view. A dreary desert lies
all round, lifeless, but for few birds
. stray dog or two. The house
1t like stations partake of the
seneral gloom of their surroundings,
and one can scarcely imagine a more
unpleasant existence than that which
must be led by their custodians. Oc-
asionally a huge dredger is passed
.lerd at work removing the sand
is T. rpetually drifting into
which would speedily
ass if it were not con-
81. ged. At certain parts of
s's operation of a somewhat
: "a re is in progress. 1t was
I ago decided to widen the
] g, so as to make it possible for
to pass each other without
up. The sand is excavated by
verful mechanical navigator and
eyed on the backs of camels to
9 ance. twill be several years be-
f = the enlargement is completed,
a not too soon, probably, for the
c. ant and rapid growth of the
traffic. The monotony and death-like
stiffness of the desert is happily