The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1894-06-21
ERA or ENGINEERING FsATs.
Some Ancient and 0odeea Examplee q
Bridges and Canal BulldlnR.

Some Ancient and nodeea Rcx.np,ss e
Bridges and Canal B.udinR.
The present era Is one of great en-.
cheering accomplishments. The
great Improvements made in me-
chanics, and the application OF science
as we'll Is art thereto have made
possible Of completion plans some Of
which, according u writer in the
Washington News we're conceived 40
far back a. the days OF Christ, nota-
bly, the recently completed COrinth
Canal q waterway between the CULTS
Of Lepento aud Arhina. the Adriatic
aud the Mediterranean. leriander,
tyrant. OF Corinth. in the year b. c.
625. was the first to entertain the
idea Of he canal The present canal
was begun by . French company in
1881 and the work was continued un-
til 1889. when financial difficulties
overlook them and a new concern
was formed. which finally opened the
canal for traff:c on Aug. ., 1893. The
canal, nearly four miles In leagth, is
IS feet in width, the same as the
Suez Canal. has a depth Of 70 $40
feet The canal shOrtens the voyage
from the Adriatic, Constantinoplo
and Asia Minor ports bY ls5 miles
and was completed at cost Of 49,.
$50, 900.
The Transsiberian Railroad, now
being completed by the russian gov
eminent with force OF some 800
people. is probably the greatest un-
dertaking now in progress in the
world. This road connects at st.
proceeding part Of the way along
the borders OF Northern China. The
next great important work is the
New York and New Jersey bridge
across the Hudson River. This
bridge is proposed TO be !. l:O feet
from shore to shore and with span
of cot less than 1000 feet. This
span IS the largest ever proposed to
be built in the history OF the world.
The Manchester ship canal of En-
gland. making the City Of Manches-
ter a seaport. is thirty 1--we and Il half
miles long and cost $15, OOO, 900 and
required six years to build 1t. The
Firth of Forth bridge in Scotland.
which is at present the largest bridge
in the world. cost about sl6, OOO, Our,
and was built to shorten the distance
to Edinburgh in the nelghborhOOd Of
thirty minutes The height of the
bridge Is 369 feet, and the length, in
GLIDING viaduct, s,O9S feet, aud has
two spans OF I,7lO feet each, the
longest now in existence. Two of
the most interesting bridges OF mod.
ern times are the Hawksberry bridge
in Australia, which has seven spans
OF 42O feet each. with depth for piers
of 100 feet, which are the deepest
pier foundations extant The Pough-
kecise bridge has three spans OF oo5
feet each. with depth for piers OF
$50 feet each. Another very inter-
esting structure is the Niagara canti-
lever, which was one OF the first of its
type. 1t has one span Of Ais feet
and a height OF 2iO feet 1t Is $40
feet in length and was completed in
thirty-three weeks The Canadian
and Pacific Railroad Company has
been one OF the best bridge builders
in the world. 1t has built along its
line, viii h is over Il, 600 miles long,
some of the finest ever constructed.
They are OF steel, various in style
and construction and combining all
the latest ideas and Improvements ia
the cantilever, suspension, and truss
systems.