Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1895-05-10


BALTIC CANAL AND CONNECTED SEAS.
nois will eat up more money than the es-
Inmates call for, but the German channel,
we are assured, will be finished at an ex-
pense we'll within the original estimate
of $50, 900, 900.
1t seems certain, too, that the Baltic ca
nal will be finished by the.time set by the
engineers, and all Germany is now prepar-
ing to celebrate its opening during the
first week In juno. Hamburg, Kiel and
every town and village lying along the
line will be brilliant with flags and alive
with visitors during the festivities. Before
the formal opening Emperor William, in
his yacht, followed by O squadron OF Ger
man warships, will make tour Of official
inspection, and every nation in the world
possessed Of navy worth mentioning will
make it point to be represented by some
OF its very best ships. Just what the Unit
ed States will do in this direction has not
yet been fully decided upon, and there has
been considerable discussion as to how big
our naval display shall be-
The importance Of the new canal from
every standpoint can hardly be overesti-
mated. When 1t Is finished, German men
of-war can pass from one sea to the other
without sailing through foreign waters,
and 1t will then be possible quickly TO con-
centrate the entire German navy upon
either the north or the west coast. To the
merchant marine the new channel will be
hardly less important. The saving In time
and distance will be very considerable.
! For ships plying between the Baltic and
| points south OF Hull the new course will
be 238 miles shorter than tho old one.
Bremen ships will save 822 miles and
Hamburg ships 424, but still greater
gain will be made In respect Of safety, for
the passage between Jutland, fho northern
most part of Denmark and the Scandina-
! Wan peninsula, which is now the only
available one for vessels in the Baltic sea
trade, Is counted one of the most danger
ous in Europe, more than 200 crafts being
annually lost upon its treacherous coasts.
The new canal stretches across the Prus-
sian province Of Holstein. Along nearly
Its entire course the soil is favorable to
canal building. although In some places it
has been found difficult to make good
bed, because OF boggy and maEshy ground.
| But nowhere have the builders Of this
canal encountered any such abnormal for
nations Of land or rock or suGh rushing
torrents as confronted those Hho under
took the Panama canal or such trsacher-
GUS sand as had to beevercome BY Dc Les
seps in excavating the Siies canal At no
place Is the soil more thar so feet above
the sea level and therefore it has not been
necessary to construct locks at any point
excepting at each end.
These locks form a very important and
costly feature Of the Baltic canal Their
construction has been necessary because Of
the differences between the tide levels Of
the two connected seas. The lock at the
Baltic end will not have to be used more
than 25 or 30 times year, since the rise
and fall of the tide upon the Baltic Is very
| slight. The rise and fall Of the North sea
tide, however, is SO great that but for the
lock the depth Of water In the canal
wonld vary from 10 to 271< feet. The lock
! at Brunsbntte1 will therefore have to be
kept closed most of the time.
! The two locks are the largest in the
world, with the exception OF that at Breun-
erhaven, near the river Weser's mouth.
Each consists OF two chambers, parallel
and contiguous. Each chamber has zen
available length Of 492 feet and a width OF
SO feet Since the North German Lloydss
largest transatlantic steamers are but 40s
feet long and SO feet wide, and the largest
ironclad in the present German navy IL
$50 long and "a feet wide 1t will be seen
that the lock capacity Is amply sufficient
for the largest craft that will be called to
pass through the canal, while several
steamers and sailing ships Of ordinary
size can readily pass together.
1 1t was about 600 years ago that the
scheme for this canal was first broached,
but 1t was not until 1878 that the FIRST
definite plans were made For years after
that the project languished on account OF
| the opposition Of the military authorities
Of the empire. But in 1885 the venerable
Emperor William, Prince Bismarck and
General Won Moltke each gave adherence
to the plan, and shortly thereafter the biil
for the canals construction was passed By
| the reichstag. On June 8, 1887, the work
4 was formally inaugurated by the present
emperor's grandfather.
The people Of Hamburg have been more
enthusiastic about this canal than those Of
! any other city, since they believe that II
| will make their town the supply depot OK
! all northern Europe, as some one has said,
veritable Chicago on the Elbe, = but
there are others who think Hamburg viii
! play the part Of st. Louis, 50 to speak, 10
the Chicago Of Kiel, which win really be-
! come the distributing point, and the pee
pie Of Kiel are among those who hold this
| view