Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-01-04
THE NICARAGUA CANAL PLANS.
SOME VALUABLE FACTS ABOUT THE
GREAT UNDERTAKING.

For the first time in a number of years
Nicaragua canal measure may pass con
gress and the work of constructing the
great interoceanic waterway be prompt
ly begun. Whether or not Senator Nor
gan is successful in his effort to secure
government aid to this great undertake
ing, to the end that 1t shall finally be
operated under government control, the
project will probably receive full dis
cusssion by the lawmakers at Washing
ton and the public press, which may
prove of advantage at some future time,
should the bill fail to carry in this ses-
sion.
Under these circumstances the subject
of the canal, its proposed route, method
of construction, the probable tonnage,
the effect on the commerce of the world,
special benefits to this coast, and other
topics of similar order are likely to
possess unusual interest for the public
at the present time.
This paper will deal chiefly with the
proposed route and the method of con-
structiOn
1t would seem that nature had intend
ell that the two oceans should be joined
at this point, so near has the work been
done to mans hand. While the total
distance across the continent is about
1GS miles, existing waterways cover all
of this but y miles, and most of the lat
ter is supplied with natural channels and
basins as If intended for the construction
of canal. In 1919 Commodore Wander
bit. the greatest commerce developer of
his time, put on a line of steamboats, be
tween the Atlantic ocean and Lake Nj
caragua through the San Juan river, car
rying freight and passengers to the west
ern shore of the lake, whence they could
descend to the Pacific at Brito by Il short
wagon route. Many of the argOnauts
came to this coast this way. \ three
hours walk on land, and the continent
is crossed; this comes so near being a
complete waterway, that it seems a
small task to do the rest. Only eight
years ago an iron steamer was built in
Delaware which managed to make its
way through the Atlantic to the mouth
of the san Juan and up that river into
Lake Nicaragua. where it now plies be-
tween the lake ports, approaching the
Pacific so closely that man may stand
on the masthead and look down upon the
western waves.
But while the Nicaragua route may be
considered the natural one for the con-
slructon of an intcroccanc canal, il
must not be supposed that the under
taking is either simple or easy.
If the work is attempted and success.
fully carried out, it will be one of the
most striking and brilliant achievements
of the present era. While it involves nc
] genuine int ovations in the engineering
! field, it calls for the application of estab
lished principles on much larger scale
than eyer before attempted and under
new and peculiar conditions.
Thus, for example, nearly all canals
have locks, but none have ever been con.
structed of such size as will be required
in the Nicaragua undertaking, nor has
any dam ever been constructed of sucl
a character as that which is to be bull
at Ochoa to raise the waters of the San
Juan to the level of the lake, but the best
engineers of the country have declared
its construction possible. Indeed, it i:
solely because of the overwhelming mag
nitude OF the work and It's great cost
that the commercial world has hesitatet
at the brink of this great undertaking
and has called upon the government
which is to be in the highest sense the
beneficiary of the project, to help supply
the necessary capital to carry 1t out.
The great canal will begin on the Pa
chic side with the harbor at Brito. 1t il
expected to construct breakwater anC
wharves at this point, making small
harbor at cost of SLIGO, 900. The Pa
ciic at this point is almost entirely free
from storms and no great amount o
harbor room is required.
Almost on the shore of the Pacific
comes the first of the six locks of tn,
canal which serve to lift vessels passing
through from ocean level to the summit
level of Lake Nicaragua, "A height of l5'
feet, and lower them again on the othe
side. Three of these locks are to thu
east and three to the west of the lake
The one near Brlto, No. 6, IS the small
est of the lot, lifting vessels from p t
% feet, according to the state of the tide
whether high or low. After passing thi
lock the canal runs for mile and quar-
ter through fairly level country. 1t
surface width here will be ISL feet, whicl
will admit of the largest ocean vessel
passing one another.
At place called La Flor we come II
locks No. 4 and ,, which are built so tina
vessels pass directly from one to tn