The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-03-05
THE NlCARAGllAN CANAL.
An American syndicate Will Uuder-
take It's Building.
BIDS ARE SOON TO BE CALLED FOR.
outside Cost II tssimntcd nj S.o.-
ACCOMPLISHMENTS Finarina
Has Bcca Donr.


syndicate TO take the concessions granted
tho Maritime company by the republics OF
Nicaragua aud Costa Rica for the con-
struction OF the canal is In process OF o.
ganixation By II. +. Crasin OF this city,
who Is now In New York, negotiating the
contracts by which the new owners OF the
concessions granted by the Central Amcr-
lean republics and OF the work already ae-
compiishoa Will come into possession. l..
II. Cooivy, the engineer, who has been as
sociated With Mr.. Cragin In tile Sic@t
enterprise is also In New York gathering
the material for tho specifications Mhiei
Will DO within the next ten days presentsd
TO contractors for bids on tho dinerent
sections OF the work.
The new syndicate for the construction
of the Nicaragua canal will soon know
within q few milton dollars Just how lnuSn
ii is going 10 cost, finished and ready for
the passage OF the first ship. A rough esti-
mate tom tho data ut hand on the return
OF Mir. Cragin and MIR. Cooley IRON their
trip over the canal three weeks ago plaoed
the cost inside Of Sso,o0O,O1o. Mr.. Cooley
was OF the opinion that as further data was
collected regarding the nature OF the eA
uayation over u part of the route the cost
might be cut down To $4,000 900. This 10
far inside the estimates which have been
presented 10 congress- IN the appeals OF
the Maritime company for government aiu.
Tho preparation of the specifications for
the contractors has beon as thorough as
the data in existence permitted. Mr.. Ceoioy
secured all the material collected by the
engineers, for the Maritime company, He
then took the reports OF the commission
from the United States engineer corps and
TO those he added all the material TO b.
had during his thorough inspection of the
route of the canal and at the capitals Vi
Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Immediately upon his return from his
tour OF inspection a force of engineers was
set to work under his direction digestfng
and bringing into form this mass of ma
terial. Just prior TO his departure for New
York he minated that the specifications
were so nearly completed that in short
time they would 80 into the hands OF con-
tractors for bids. Bonds viii be required
for all bids, and when tho 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 1t
will be known somewhere near tho actual
figures just how much the work Is going
TO cost.
THE Nicaragua canal" he said, is be-
Ing treated as business proposition, Our
people want 10 know where the thing Is
going to end when they begin putting IN
their money We are going to tell them
There is no great mysterious thing IN canal
building but that it can be determined APP
proximately what a canal is going to cost
II engineers are honest enough TO estimate
properly the work before them. The con.
struction or the Illinois drainage canal has
educated the contractors who did that
work, and they know last what TO expect
on the Nicaragua canal. Their representa-
tiyes have been over the ground every
foot of 1t. they have stuffed climatical con-