Evening star., 1898-05-21
WILL HELP CANAL SCHEME
War With Spain Shows Necessity of Route
Through Nicaragua.
Lyman Il. Cooley Explains the Adj
vantages 1t Would Offer as
Strategic Measure.

CHICAGO. May 21.-Mr. Lyman E. Cool
ey, the well-known engineer, who spent
two months of last winter en- the route of
tie proposed Nicaragua canal, in an inter-
view says:
AS bluff, II nothing more, the Mica
fagua canal in operation today would be
worth s10O OOO, 600 to this government Com
pleted, it could perpetual!y say to all na-
ticns that our fleets in a moment of neces-
sity, could command the Atlantic and Fa-
cific oceans as no other fleets in the world
would be able to do. In a race for Manila
we. starting at New York and Spain at
Cadiz, we, with the Nicaragua canal, could
reach the Philippines before any fleet lass
ing through the Suez canal
Mr.. Cooley has studied the Journey of the
battle ship Oregon around South America
with extraordinary interest, since, if the
Nicaragua canal had been completed, the
oregon might have been with Sampson
weeks ago, or in any emergency any part
of our navy could be dispatched to the Pa
CHIC coast with the saving Of thousands of
miles of journey.
> "- It's Value in War Time.
Suppose, at the least" said Mr.. Cooley,
''it costs $54OOO.OO0 to construct. this canal,
or, at the most $133, 100000, what would
that amount to in view Of the fact that a.
the present moment every city on the Pa
c!fic coast could be destroyed by hostile
fleet before any battle ship of ours could
even round Cape Horn? When we could
reach the ruins of San Francisco the enemy
would be at Hawaii, and when We were
there they would be at Manila or safely at
home. Leaving aside all questions of the
value to us of the canal as n powerful
agency for developing our commerce., look
at Its construction from q war po:nt Of
view.
1.-The Atlantic coast will always be the
&C concentration point for the cream Of cur
navy. New York city is IA 900 miles from
San Francisco without the Nicaragua
canal; that is, via the strait of Magellan
steam vessels leaving New York arc over
1900 miles from San Francisco. and sail
Ing vessels via Cape Horn 1900 miles
away. The canal would shorten one route
1887 miles and the other route 10, 753 miles.
man-of-War sailing ten knots per hour
or 240 miles per day would save in one in
stance forty-four days and in the other
thIrty-four days time. In other words, il
the Oregon is at Barbados, sixty-lwo days
were occupied by her in .ea ching that
point from San Francisco via Cape Horn
with the Nicaragua canal completed forty
four days time would have been saved
over enc existing route and thirty-four
days over the other. The journey from
San Francisco to New York could be made
in eighteen days by slow vessel ami In
nine or ten days by a swift one.
Easily Maintained.
Would not this be of value to the gov
ernment in time of war, wnen so much de-
pends on the rapidity with which our YES
sells must be moved from point to point
Possessing the Nicaragua canal, we could
prevent any navy in the world from ira
versing the Horn for the purpose of attack
ing us east or west"
Mr.. Cooley also said that the charges
through the canal would be less than the
wages paid the men on the vessel and the
coal consumed on a trip around Cape Horn
In conclusion Mr.. Cooley said:
We could create a naval station at Lake
Nicaragua second to none in the world,
and from which our vessels could pass for
the protection of either Of our coasts with
rapidity uneQualed. The Spanish war and
the journey Of the Oregon will awaken the
general public to the necessity of having
the canal as nothing else could have done.
Once built, the canal from strategic or a
commercial point of view means that our
nag and our shipping will enter every port
in the world, and we will be the maritime
power of the twentieth century,"