The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-13

these tunnels The canal Us G. 200 meters
long, and N 800 600 cubic meters of earth
aud rock wore taken out ~ 3d. Of this
the first company removed s 2WOOO. and
the remainder was taken out by the pres
pany. The width az the bottom rs
n meters and at the sea level - CO. The
depth Of water will be meters Tho
largest irOnclads can pass through az this
depth, which is the same as that Of the
Suel canal The canal Is not broad
enough 10 admit Of the passage of two
vessels al the same time, but 10 will take
only half or three-quartcrs Of an hour 10
make the passage. The Suez canal, on
account of the sand, was Cut N-shape, so
that il is much broader no the top than at
the bottom, and vessels of large draught
can only sail in the middle 10 was possi-
Bile, with the Coriuth canal, to make the
cut almost vertical.
Nero began this work with a pickaxe
| but eighteen hundred years have brought
| into play appliances and forces which the
| Roman emperor had hardly foresecn,
| Notwithstanding the claim Of Wendell
! Phillips in his lecture on The Lost Arts, -
! that Nero had sight and foresight enough
! TO use an opera glass when he went TO the
| play. The great steam eXCaVatOrs have
! been used and also steam dredges for the
! part below the sea. Railways have been
| employed TO carry or the earth. Two
| thousand worl1men have supplemented
| and directed the work of the machines.
| The greater part of the cut was through
a soft rock which gave no difficulty. AT
| both ends of the canal sand was encoun-
| tered, admitting "a good deal of water,
which had to be pumped out.
NOT DREAMED OF BY NERO.
The canal will be lighted by electricity,
a way which was hardly comprehended
| take through sailing vessels. Steamers
will be allowed to use their own power
! The rock of which the sides are com
posed becomes harder when exposed 10
| the air, and no fear is entertained from
the wash of the banks. A retaining wall
| has been built at the ends eleven and a
| half metres high.
The time saved by vessels coming from
the Adriatic will be about IL hours; from
| Marseilles and Messina about five and a
| half hours. The first company made OPP
| timistic estimates that a tonnage of 4, 800
600 would pass through the canal in a
| year. This estimate is no doubt much
| exaggerated. 1t is a question whether
| French and English vessels will use il
much. Five hours is not n great saving
| for merchant vessel, but steamers going
TO Patras or to the Adriatic will undoubt-
edly find it TO their interest to use the
| canal
The cost Of the canal, exclusive of the
interest on the capital, is about 10000, 0OC
| francs, or about $4,000, 600. The tolls
| have not yet been fixed, but will probably
| not be more than franc ton, and may
| be less. In the inaugural ceremonies the
| royal yacht will be the first to pass
| through. There will be an grafton, and
| OF course, n banquet.
There are many monuments in Greece
| which illustrate the greater glory of the
past The Greek must constantly take
off his hat 10 his ancestors. And Athene,
| IL she came down to look at her ruined
temples, might say, as she did Of yOre:
| Few children are as good as their pa
rents; most of them are worse. But in
| the completion of the Corinth canal the
| Greek of to-day may claim little re-
! spect from his ancestors for executing a
work which they so often dreamed of and
more than once attempted, but never re-
| allied Nero cut a good many necks, but
| failed to wholly sever this neck of land.
Many things he wrought for his own glory
have gone to decay; many of his deeds are
remembered only to his reproach but II
| is to his credit that he once held a pick.
axe in his hand, and that progressive and
| enterprising Greeks have thought it
worth while to carry through TO trium-
plant completion the work which he be-
gan.