Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-08-25
THE BIG CANAL.
Row Ships 20 Through sucz-The Signal
Systen.

stands absolutely alone as the example
OF certain type of construction. Will
II is magnificent piece of engineering
work, it seems almost an error to cal
1t canal, since 1t has no locks, gate
reservoirs or pumping engincs-in shor
1t has nothing in common with othe
lcanals except that 1t affords short Gu
for vessels passing from one body of wat
Ter to another. IT is an artificial strait con
meeting the Mediterranean and Red seas
land because these two seas are on nearl,
the same level the particular kind o
lconstruction of the Suez canal becam,
possible.
The entire length of the canal is eighty
leight geographical. or about one hundred
Istatute miles. OF these eighty eight geo
graphical miles, sixty-six are actual cana
having been formed by cuttings: four
teen miles consist Of dredging through
the various lakes which lay in the path o.
the work, and eight miles required ne
labor at all, since the natural depth wns
equal to that of the canal. This depth
at first twenty-six feet, but the canal was
widened and deepcned about ten year,
ago, so that now vessels of twenty-si,
feet draught can pass through it easily
with something to spare. The surface
width is 325 feet for most Of the way. but II
the deeper cuttings this width decreases
to 1876 feet. The lakes which the cana
ltraverses-Lake Menzaleh, next to the
way across, and tho great Bitter lakes
near the Rcd sca-were merely dry de.
Ipressicns before the cutting Of the canal
but the inflow OF water at once converted
them into large inland lakes.
ALONG THE CANAL
The ground in the sthmus along the
canal is generally very low, and the only
rock encountered was soft gypsum. In
the lakes channel of sufficient depth
and breath to admit traffic has been
dredged out. and surface of tho water cx-
tends on each side beyond this to natural
edges of the lake. The channel is marked
by iron bcacons $50 feet apart. At every
! five or six miles along the canal there is
a siding, or passing place, so that large
vessels may moor for the night or stop
to allow others to pass.
| Everything along the entire length OF
the canal Is controlled from the main Of
nee, in a place locally known as Terrep-
! lein. a part of the old town of SueZ. No
such name as Terrcplcin appears on most
maps Of the canal, but to those who live
! in Suez the made land, the fllled-up
marshes and the chains of islands which
project into the gulf nearly two miles
| from the main part Of the city are known
not by their official names, as Port Tew-
! fix or Port Ibrahim, but as Terreplein.
A long, narrow embankment connects Ter
replein with Suez, and from the train
which runs between tho two places
beautiful views are obtained of the lofty
range of Attaka on the right; and on the
left, across the signal posts of the canal,
the sharp and jagged ridge Of the Gabel el
Raha.
TIE SIGNAL SYSTEM.
In the large Office at Terreplein there is
almost perfect silence, though the en-
ployees are working steadily, each at mis-
special task. Sometimes there are us
many as forty ships in the canal at one
time. and the slightest mistake in signal
ling between the stations might lead to
serious consequences. All these vessels
whether they are in the narrowest cut
ting, whether they are moving along at
full steam through the twenty-three
miles of deep water in the Great Bitter
lakes. or whether they are leaving tho
canal at Port Said, are under the direc-
ton of the man who sits at his desk in
the Office at Terrcplein
The method Of working the canal is in
Senious, yet comparatively simple At one
side of the room against the wall Is a mar
row shelf, along which runs a groove
At intervals this groove has deep recess
ses, which in two places are much larger
than they are elsewhere. Tho groove
represents the canal and the rccesseS the
sidngs, the two large ones being the
Great Bitter lakes and Lake Tlmsah.
When a vessel has been signalled and Is
about to enter the canal-at tho Suez end
for example Il toy boat or model about
four inches long is chosen to represent
her. A group of these little models stands
ready near the model canal, and each one
is furnished with flag to denote it's ma
tionality The English flag naturally
the predominating ensign, though all
countries are provided for As the real
steamer approaches and her name be-
comes known 1t is written on slip Of
paper and placed on the toy boat. The
number of ships actually in the canal
can thus be seen at glance, and also
the exact positions In which they are
situated, for as the telegraphic signals
give notice of each vessels progress, her
toy representative is moved along, plac-
cd in siding, or shown crossing one of
the lakes.
KEEPING TRACK OF SHIPS.
Signals are sent from this office to the
various "garcs," or stations, naming the
siding at which each ship must stop and
wait to let another pass 1t. The Official
on duty moves the models according to
his DISPATCHES, and when two vessels go
ing in opposite directions are both near
ing the same siding he warns their pilots
by means of the signal balls and flags at
each station. which he controls from the
Office, and indicates which OF the two is
to give way to the other.
The arrangement except in the case of
occasional accidents, works perfectly. The
clerk can tell In moment the name, ma
tionality, tonnage, draught and precise
position of every ship In tho canal; he
knows who her pilot is how fast she is
moving, her breadth of beam, and various
other details, and he has absolute con-
troll Of her every movement. Most Of the
Suez pilots are of Greek origin, though
Englishmen and men of other nationali-
ties are occasionally met. The pilots
chief duty is to prescribe the rate of
speed. as the officers of a vessel would
have really no difficulty in taking her
through the canal without guidance. In
the narrow cuts the speed Is limited to six
miles an hour, but vessels may proceed
much faster in the lake sections. Two
pilots are always employed, for ono goes
of and a second comes on at Ismailia,
on Lake Timsah
CANAL TOLLS.
Tho average time of transit for the 800
ships which passed through the canal In
the year ending June, 1897, was 10 hours
and SO minutes. About two-thirds of
these ships were English. the remainder
being divided among the other European
nations The canal tolls at this time were
Q francs to ton for laden passenger or
cargo vessels and for ships of war; 6
francs 30 confines ton for ships in ball
last and without passengers; 10 francs
for each adult passenger and 5 francs
for each child. Mail steamers and war;
ships are generally able to secure some
reduction from these rates. BY a con-
vention signed on October 20, 1885, the
Suez canal was exempted from blockade.
IL was agreed that 1t should be neutral at
all times. and that no part Of It should be
fortified vessels OF all nations, whether