The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1898-03-11
BUILD THE CANAL,
Object of a Newly Formed Syndicate of
Eastern Capitalists.


Chicago, March The Tribune
says: A syndicate to take the conces-
sions granted the Maritime Company
by the republics of Nicaragua and
Costa Rica for the construction of the
canal is in process of organization by
E. +. Cramin, of this city, who is now
in New York negotiating the contracts
by which the new owners of the conces-
sions granted by the Central American
republics and for the work already ac-
complished will come into his posses
sion. I. E. Cooley, who has been as
sociated with Mr.. Cramin in the enter
prise, is also in New York, gathering
material for the specifications, which
will be within the next 10 days present.
ed to contractors for bids on the differ
ent sections of the work.
The new syndicate for the construc-
tlon OF the Nicaragua canal will soon
know within few million dollars
just how much it is going to cost, fin
ished and ready for the passage of the
first ship. A rough estimate from the
data at hand on the return of Mr..
Cramin and Mr.. Cooley from their trip
over the canal a few weeks ago, placed
the cost within $75, 100000. Mr..
Cooley was of the opinion that as fur
ther data was collected regarding the
nature of the excavation over part of
the route, the cost might be cut down
to $65, 100000. This is far inside the
estimates which have been presented
to congress in the appeals of the Mari
time Company for government aid.
The preparation of the specifications
of the contractors has been as thor
ough as the data in existence permitted.
Mr.. Cooley secured all the material COL
lected by the engineers for the Mari
time Company. He then took the re-
ports of the commission from the
United States engineer corps and to
these he added all the material to be
had during his thorough inspection of
the canal at the capitals of Nicaragua
and Costa Rica. Immediately upon
his return from his trip of inspection a
force of engineers was set to work un-
der his direction. bringing into form
this mass of material. Just prior to
his departure from New York, he init
hAoo eAAC W0Io 80
nearly completed that in short time
they would go into the hands of the
contractors for bids. Bonds will be re-
gu ed with all bids, and when the
figures have been added, for the first
time in all the years that men have
been trying to join the Atlantic and
Pacific by ship canals it will be known
somewhere near the actual figures Just
how much the work is going to cost.
1.-The Nicaragua canal" he said. sis
being treated as business proposition.
Our people want to know where the
thing is going when they begin putting
in their money. We are going to tell
them. There is no great mystery in
canal-building that it should not be
determined approximately what canal
is going to cost, if engineers are honest
enough to estimate properly the work
before them. The construction of the
Illinois drainage canal has educated the
who did that work, and they
know just what to expect on the Mica
ragua canal. Their representatives
have been over the ground, they have
studied climatic conditions, learned |
what their labor would cost, can esti-
mate closely the cost of transportation
to the canal of their machinery and |
material. With the specifications IN
their hands they can bid as intelli-
gently as If the work was in an Ameri-
can state"
The terms by which the control OF
the property and concessions of the
Maritime Company has come into the
hands of the new syndicate are not
given out. Their arrangement was the
work of several months before the trip
% Nicaragua was made.
Who are back of the syndicate is not
given out by the promoters, but it is
claimed that the contractors have been
Iatisfied of its financial stability. How
much government aid and in what
hape will be asked are also matters
which neither Mr.. Cramin nor Mr..
Cooley gives out for publication at the
present juncture. Mr.. Cramin and Mr..
Cooley are expected to remain in New
York about week longer in the settle
nent of the transfer of the canal from
he Maritime Company to the new
indicate.
Al ASKA RIlI DACCEn