The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-08
THE NIoARAGUA CANAL.


 In this August number of that excel lent monthly Home Study Magazine" published at Scranton, Pa, Mrs. Fred erick R. Honey of this city, who is q regular contributor to this publication, having a department entitled Current Ioples," under her charge, writes con- cerning "The Nicaragua Canal" and The Spanish American War;" The de- partment, Current Topics" is one of the many strikingly interesting and valuable features of this magazine. Mrs, Honey, in speaking of the most practicable and feasible route for the proposed canal, that which utilizes Ni- caragua lake and the river San Juan, says:
 If the time ever comes when the vessel can cross the isthmus by this proposed route it will enter the harbor Of Greytown, pass westward through 8 cut nine or ten miles, to the three locks, which will raise it to the level of the distant lake; thence through the Deseado basin-the great three-mile cutting through the Eastern divide the San Francisco and the Maohado basins-past the colossal Ochoa dam into the San Guan river, and onwards into the lake itself, the main source of supply of the water on which ships | will float from tp l passing through the lake the vessel will enter the western division of the canal, | which extends from the lake to the Pa i cirlc, and is only seventeen miles in l length. An elevation known as the | Western divide lies between the lake and the ocean. 1t is lower than the | ridge on the eastern coast and the maximum depth of the canal which must be excavated through it is less | than half that of the other. The cut will, however, be five miles in length. | About four miles from the sea it is | proposed that another great dam shall be erected, converting the Tola valley | into basin or lake, and that three l locks of the size of those at the eastern l end shall lower vessels again to the l level of the ocean. At Brito, the Pacific 1 terminus of the proposed canal, an ar- | tificial harbor must be constructed by means of dredging, and by the building of breakwaters and piers. The time required for the passage of a. vessel l from one ocean to the other will be about twenty-eight hours.
 It is impossible in this slight sketdh 1 to do more than indicate the colossal l character of the work to be done if the Nicaragua canal is to become an es- tablished fact. The whole waterway will be ITO miles in length, with depth 1 of thirty feet, and a minimum width at the bottom of 100 feet, widening to- wards the top. For twenty seven miles 1 the canal must be entirely artificial, and in the parts in which there is to be free navigation" through lake and l river and basin, there is much to be 1 done in the way of excavating, dredg l ing and embanking. At the eastern l end harbor must be restored; at the western end one must be created; to say nothing of two other harbors on the | shores of the lake itself, neither of which yet exists; two great dams must l be built embankments of varying height, aggregating seven miles in l length, must be constructed to retain the waters within the valleys or basins which form part of the waterway; and no less perhaps) than $100,O00,0Oo will be spent during the six years which, at the lowest computation, will be requir- 1 ed for the completion of the work.
 But the advantages to be gained by I the construction of the canal are at 1 least commensurate with this vast ex- l penditure of time and money From a. commercial point of view they can hardly be overestimated The Atlantic and Pacific shores of our country would be practically united, promoting and increasing the coasting trade on either side. The voyage from our east ern ports to San Francisco would be shortened by 10000 miles; China and Japan would become accessible to all our eastern centers of production; the impetus to trade would be felt through out the whole country, for it is an ax-
 om that facilities for the transaction of commerce always induce it's develop ment and growth.
 "All indications point to a conver- gence of European interests in the Chi no sea, and now Admiral Dewey has won for the United States a seat in the council which must control the des- tinies of this region. To each and all the Nicaragua canal will be of great importance, but to the United States such a link between the two oceans will be invaluable. Recently the bat tleship Oregon spent eight weeks steaming from San Francisco to Flor ida. Had the canal existed 10000 of these 14,OoO miles would have been saved"