The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-13
BEGUN IN NERO'S REIGN.
Finished in an Era Of Democracy and
Electric Lights.

LANNNAAN AaArNhAAt
Interesting Sketch Of the History of
the Coripth Canal The Progress of
the World Exemplifed in the Success
Nineteenth Century Engineering,
as Against the Failure of Ancient
Methods.
The kingdom Of Continental Greece is
made up Of two peninsulas, the peninsula
of Attica and the peninsula of the Pelo-
ponuesus. They are joined together by
the narrow Isthmus of Corinth On one
side of this isthmus lies the Gulf of Cor
NTH, on the other side the Sarouic Gulf.
The natural route to Athens from the
Adriatic is through the Gulf of Corinth.
But the vessel which sails through this
gulf is stopped about 30 miles from Ath-
ems by this narrow neck of land, which
says, Thus far and no further" To get
to the other side of the isthmus means a
long voyage around the Peloponnesus.
A few weeks ago I climbed the steep
height of Acro-Corinth, 1856 feet above
the sea, from which the observer has one
of the grandest views in all Greece.
by the glory of snOw-Capped Parnassus
and the great mountain walls of Bnotia,
Phocis and LOcris. The Corinthian Gulf
lies below TO the left, bordered by fruit
full plains; the SarOnic Gulf, little to
the right, dotted with Salamis, Fgina,
and the smaller isles. Athens lies 40
miles to the east, and on clear day the
Acropolis and the kings palacemay be
distinctly seen.
Ono has Iv m f1g1sr, nv, bjc bao1 N coo
the mountains of Argohs to the south,
and the arcadian chain to the west.
Finding the highest point on the top of
the citadel rock, | pointed my camera
down so as to get the whole width of the
isthmus within it's eye. l took off the
cap, and the result is that, in a picture
four by five taken from this commanding
height, l am able to see the water on each
side of the narrow neck of land which
joined the two peninsulas. The natural
thought was why should this ligature,
which good knife could so easily sever,
have been permitted so long to separate
the waters which wash its sides My
photograph was new, but the question
il suggested was at least 1000 years old.
Three or four Roman emperors had asked
the same question, and one of them, at
least, had attempted to answer 1t with a
spade and drill.
SIX HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE CHRIST.
But Nero was not the first one who
thought of it, Some 600 years before
Christ Penander conceived this idea
Later Demetrius Poliorcetes was only
deferred from the project by the report
of his engineers, who persuaded him that
the level of the Gulf of COrinth was
higher than the Saronic gulf and that
there would be danger of inundating the
lands and adjacent country if the canal
was cut. Darius was deferred in the
same way by pseudo-scientists from cut
ting a canal from the Red Sea to the Nile
by the fear that Egypt would be inunda-
ted
The Emperor Caligula also contempla-
ted the project of Corinthian canal, but
it was Nero who actually undertook the
work which is just now completed. Nero,
l dare say, in his voyage to Greece had
seen this isthmus from the top of Aero
Corinth, and had studied it on the ground.
He was transported to the isthmus in
order to begin the work He gave the
first blow of the pick and superintendent
the work personally for some days. But
Nero was more used TO welding the
sword than the pick and the more peace
full instrument had soon to be laid down.
The revolution in Gaul obliged him to re-
turn to Rome and to abandon his work,
though he also took refuge in the pretext
that the two seas were of unequal level.
That public spirited man Herodes Atticus
afterward continued to some extent the
work Nero began.
When we consider the remarkable work
of which the anclents were capable it is
surprising that a project planned so long
ago, and so practical, should not have
been carried through. Pausanias, who
Travelled through Greece about 40 A. d, ,
tells us that he who attempted TO cut the
isthmus through was obliged to abandon
the enterprise "You can still see,n he
says, where they began to cut, but they
We're unable to advance on account of the
rock And so the isthmus remains what
it was by nature, a part of the mainland.
So difficult it is, he piously adds, "for
man to oppose the divine DEGREES" But
the French engineers who in 1862 pointed
out to the Greek government the feasible
ity of the enterprise answered the obser-
walton of Pausanias by referring to the
remarkable skill which the ancients had
| in piercing rock, of which the enormous
blocks of Pelasgian walls are a sufficient
proof and Pausanias, who visited nearly
all the great temples in Greece,
knew well enough what skill his
predecessors had in fashioning limestone,
congiomerate or marble. As easily may be
dismissed the thin excuse concerning the
different levels of the two seas. The true
reason for the suspension Of the imperial
work, as the French engineers pointed
out, was undoubtedly the resolutions
which shook the Roman Empire. After
its downfall and in the Middle ages it was
not to be expected, under the varying for
tunes of Greece, when that country was
battered about like a shuttlecock between
Franks, Oenetians, Spanards and Turks,
that any work of constructive magnitude
would be attempted.
MODERN EFFORT TO CUT IT.
The work was projected again in modern
times, under the auspices of the Greek
government, in 1869, General Tarr, a
hero of the Hungarian revolution, and a
warm patriot, secured a concession from
the government, which he made over to a
society called the International Society
for the marine canal of Corinth The So
ciety was made up mainly of French cap
italists. Work, however, was not begun
until 1882 II was continued until 1890,
when about two-thirds Of the whole canal
was cut.
The company Vas obliged TO suspend
work for lack of money.
A new company was again formed. 1t
began work in June, 1890, and the canal
is about finished.
NERo's ROUTE THE PRESENT SITE.
An interesting feature about the canal
is that it is essentially and practically the
completion of the very trench which Nero
began to dig from both sides of the 18TH
mus The modern engineers found that