The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1893-09-23

could not undertake to finish the
work AS one man has, more than
once. saved Greece In ancient timcs,
canal from the fate OF the fanama-
M. Syncros OF Athens, q banker, who
has the reputa ton of being the
wealthiest man in Greece, formed
new company composed entirely oil
Greek capitalists, with q capital vi
5000. coo francs All the concessions
that had been made to the French
company were turned over to the
Greek company. An agreement wa,
made between the old and the new
company by which the latter receives
per cent on 5000, 900 of capital. The
receipts OF the canal will be divided
between the two companies, the old
receiving three-fourths aud the new
one fourth thereof The new com
pany began work in 1870.
The canal Is $500 meters in len ? til.
which Is not quite four miles. Tho
minimum depth Is twenty live feet
aud it's average breadth 200 feet, and
is, therefore. of sufficient size "a
al ow two warships of the In 'gest
type to pass through it side by side
The Corinth canal differs from the
Suez canal in that its sides are almos,
vertical, a construction which wa,
made possible by reason OF its Icing
cut through rock for the most part
whereas the Sucz canal is V-shaped,
because OF the sand tnat was en- oun
tered.
A mile from the west end the
channel is spanncd by bridge, but nj
l s height OF 30 feet above the water
level will not interfere with the pass
age of the tallest masts. On the high
est point Of the lsthm an ridge, 20;
feet above the sea level, lighthouse
has been built. At the eastern en-.
trance of the channel, which is pro
tected by breakwaters, several light
houses have been erected. Through.
out its length the channel will bs
illuminated by electric light, SO that
navigation at night will be as safe a.
in daytime.
In making the cut the engineers
adopted system OF wells and tun'
nels.
This was found to be the easiest
quickest an least expensive way Of
acc omp ishing the work. Nertica
wells were sunk, tunnels driven hori
zontally, and the earth was drawn ou'
through the tunnels.
Altogether ll,50O,00O cubic metres
of earth were taken out of The cut
Three great steam excavators wer,
used in doing this work, and steam
dredges were employed for the part
below the sea. The number of tn,
workmen employed on the canal aver
aged 1000 throughout the period o.
its construction, twelve years. Thu
canal was to have been completed liz
1873, ana the cost was estimated al
10000, 900 francs. 1t took almost five
years longer and cost 20, 900. 900 francs
or Sl4, 00u, 900.
The canal is actually a completion o.
the cut begun by Nero. The modern
engineers at first intended to utilize
natural ravine which truverses the
greater part of the Isthmus, but they
abandoned this plan for the same rea
son that ii was abandoned bv the
Roman emperor. A great number oi
mountain torrents empty into thi,
ravine, and the water from them
would have seriously interfered with
the work of construction.
But, great as is the historical inter
est which attaches 10 the Corinth ship
canal, it is far outwcighed by the
question of it.; future. What is it in.
tended to do! What will il accom-,
plish?
The mainland OF Greece or, to Civ,
that country it's modern name, the
Kingdom of the HELEN, S, consists OF
two peninsulas, the peninsular of At
tica and the PENN ula of the Pelo
ponncsus Dr Morea. They are Joined
together by the narrow strip of LAND
known as the lsthmus OF Corinth. On
one SIDE of the isthmus lies the gulf o!
Corinth, and on the other side the
saronic or Aegean Gulf. The shortest
and safest route TO Athens from the
Adriatic is through the Gulf of Cor
NTH. But heretofore this pr sage hal