New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1893-05-31
Is CAN il in CRIMEA.
THE AGE AND HISTORY OF a WORLDS
WONDER UNKNOWN.

THE AGE AND HISTORY OF A WORLDS
WONDER UNKNOWN.
A Great Waterway Which = Russian Engi-
neer Thinks Was Built as q Means Of De-
Tense In Ancient Times-A Detailed Ac-
count of the Wonderful Structure. B..
The great Russian engineer Melni-
kof 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. It is certainly ~
centuries old, and among similar ancient
objects Of historic interest is second only
in age to the great pyramids. The hang
ing 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 Crimeaa plain
Whether it was a waterway in the olle,1
times and the pathway of ancient con-
MERGE between the Black sea and the sea
of Azov or q means Of defense for the
people living in its vicinity is question
which wise men, supposed to know all
ABOUT antiquities, cannot explain.
Aenophon, the distinguished Athenian,
who conducted the retreat Of 10000
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 i'm
pedlment to their march. Water was
often turned into these, SO that crossing
was rendered more difficult. Perhaps
tho ancient and wonderful canal served
the same purpose On very large scale.
While il vtt>c' CT grand proportions, which
at that carly Gay surpassed the engineer
ing fc::cs Of the Sue; canal canal. the for5iiica-
tons for it's protection arc no less inter-
estilS. 1T each end Ct the western side
there v;5 u lofty castle. the ruins Of
which remain to this day, the cubical
contents exceeding 10000 meters. A
part OF these stones. as we'll as those
with wllic!, the bed Of the canal was
paved its entire length. were removed
some time AGO to build s town which
adjoi..a.
During tie Crimean war some of the
oeo---o
construction OF hospitals for the wound
ed soldiers, which structures are still
standing. Along the banks of the canal
there were once at least six towers, but
what purpose they served, unless for de-
Tense, is uncertain. There was also a
high wall, which extended it's entire
length. At an equal distance from each
end there was q gigantic fortress, built
in tie form Of o square and covering a
space Of 81, 400 square meters. The ca
nal is as straight IS an arrow it's entire
length except at this point, where it
forms three sides Of a square about the
fortress. Hero there was g. smaller canal
on tho outer side. which may have pro-
vided greater security.
One of the gateways of the fortress is
still partially preserved, and through it
passes . dilapidated road. The canal
was built by Assalde of Bosporus IN
the seventh century B. G. and is 0 kilo-
meters long. Mention is made Of this in
the writings Of Pliny and Strabo, but
nothing is said about the great amount
Of TING end money expended in it's con-
struction or for what special purpose it
was done. It passes by the modern town
OF Perei1op, and is not far from the
Greek city OF Neapolis, whose name was
changed by Assandc after the building
Of tho canal to Tapharas, which is the
Greek for ditch It's width on the bot
tom was about 5 meters and it's depth
10 meters. Whether it served formerly
as c Grcat AID towering fertilization or
not, it certainly contained water enough
to sail ships Of considerable burden.
Undoubtedly before the time Of Christ
many Ships used it ;:3 q short cut across
the peninsula between tie two seas. The
bed is now dry, except for few stand
ing pools. but it is said that the oldest
inhabitants cen remember when, for sew
eral miles in tho central part, there was
sufficient water to form roadway for
the lighter craft of the senibarbarous
people. This is accounted for by the
fact that so:i.e time in the fifteenth cen
fury tho canal was repaired.
The Russian government has project
under consideration of opening up a
great waterway across the peninsula be-
tween the two seas. and his connection
neer. Melni!zof, to inquire into the his
tory Of the canal and attempt to explore
it's wonders. Melnikof writes in French
and conveys vivid description of the
ancient ruins. He has just written a
pamphlet, and this contains in Russian
a full account of all that is known and
! all that has been said about the canal in
the centuries since it's construction. It
also contains diagrams and illustrations
of the canal as it now appears.-Phila-
| delphia Telegraph:
Passing of the Snake.
Readers of newspapers must have no.
ticed that during the last five years the
breed of. newspaper snakes has greatly
! deteriorated in intelligence and general
accomplishments. Time was when Geor-
gia and Alabama snakes wriggled along
on the tips Of their tails and picked cot
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