The Washington times., 1895-04-14

80 ii!eIce OF the world, has been a pet pro-
Jecs Tor The past 500 years. Toward the
$40 OF the fourteenth century the CITY or
LuDeck' then rich and independent town.
TIL cahaI from the Trave to the Elhe
4 MS was an inadesuats affair. and in tina
eeEinDlnS or the sixteenth century HarnbrIro.
S s shorter connection from the East
sea, put the faulty engineering ortbose times
~iioWed 1t TO become soon filled with sand.
rendering it useless
Inc great WaIlenstein sonne time later
conceived a project when appointed Imperial
Admiral like that which is soon 10 Ia
eSaslinin2ted, but he was unable to carry
out ms schemes Toward the end OF the
last century King Christian VII built the
famous Elder Canal, but it hardly served the
purpose OF advancing commerce
Not until Prussia took possession OF the
the coast territory in 1866 was the project
gwen serious thought. For many years
the idea was bitterly opposed by the great
Cen Won aoitke, whs ignored the CONNER
clSl advantages OF this canal. and only re-
gaIueu IL nom military point of view.
HIS diSsentlon was mainly that il would
take vast army OF soldiers TO guard the
canal alone, in event OF war He thought
the cost of the canal would be better ex-
pended II it were put into the army and
navy.
BISMARCK TO THE RESCUE.
Bismarck was appealed to by friends
of the canal, and hiI alert mind speedily
perceived its advantages he had q short
talk with on Moltks and soonwonhimover.
In 1885 the Prussian Government voted
the necessary sum for it's construction
about S3s O,OoO-Snd on June 8, 1887,
! the old Kaiser Wilhelm laid the cornerstone
| of the work Of which his grandson will
/ De the leading spirit in its completion.
| The construction OF the canal was her
4 culean task from an engineering stand
/ point. A greater part OF the time force
/ OF 10000 men have been at work on it;
/ the total excavation being SO 900 ,OOG cubic
/ yards, while in the Manchester canal only
! 62,oOO,OO0 cubic y2rdsvsre removed. The
| Manchester canal cost $40 600 600 and i'm
| poyeriShed many OF its projectors, while
/ the Baltic canals cost has been close to
/ the original estimate. In fact, the German
/ canal has been the only one of similar en-
| terprise5 which has been pushed TO a sue
cessful ISSUE The Panama canal swal-
lowed thousands of fortunes. and the Near
aqua affair promises to do the same.
| The level country between KEEL and
the Elbe was OF a great assistance in the
| work, and did away with the necessity or
/ building numberleSs locks. During but
/ three weeks in the year are there any
| changes in the level at kiel harbOr, and
| in that period the lock at the Baltic end
may be utilized. These locks are each
| DOO leel long, 90 IeeJ Wtuc anu % IeeH
deep on the sin. At the EIbe end of the
canal. where the tide runs with con-
siderable strength, the gates viii be closed
| and opened every day.
The canal averages 217 feet in width,
and at the shallowest portion is thirty
feet in depth. This viii allow the pas
sage OF the largest merchantmen and of the
the heaviest men-of-war in the German
navy. Ordinary vessels VIII be allowed
to move only at the rate OF five and q
half miles and hour, and the toll vii be
1S cents per net register ton. This means
that the receipts viii probably be in the
neighborhood OF 81 400 900 year.
The festivities of the canal opening
viii last many days. The celebration
will begin ON June II, at the Hamburg
City Hall and will be continued the fol-
lowing day at Kiel. On June 10 there
Will be great land and sea festivities,
and on the goth yacht race and naval
and military paTades. On this day the
emperor will also hold a grand recep-
ton. From this on to the 27th of the
month there viii be yacht regattas and
numberless festivities for the entertain
ment of all classes.