The Florence tribune., 1899-04-22

AO SOlOoSdl Cndrdcb6F OI tIc RTodb dam will be apparent when it is stated that the flood discharge of a river a mile wide aud 30 feet deep, flowing at high velocity, must pass through the dams sluices at the rate of 15,000 tons of water per second, 100000 tons a minute-more than 50,00O,000 tons of water an houri
 The Nile at Assouan by no means fnlhlls the popular conception of cat araet. The river is broken up by innu- merable islands. some of them of eon- siderable acreage, but the great major fly naere rocks, which are submerged in Goodtime-into myriad shallow water courses.
 At one or two points the wat CT runs .deep and fast between the stands, but for the greater part of the width of the river the channels between the islands carry only trickle of water during the dry seas son.
 It is upon this foundation of small islands that the dam will be built. So far as strength and economy of founda- tion are concerned the site leaves noth- ing to be desired. The rock through out is hard, compact syenite or quartz diorite, and the section of the river is so wide and shallow that the founda- tions of the larger part of the dam can be put in dry.
 The undersluices will be built upon reefs projecting over the water surface both in summer and winter, so that the foundations will be open to an- nual inspection-a most important ad- vantage, when so many interests depend upon the stability and endur- ance of the work. It will be a splendid thing to look at-stretehing a mile and quarter from shore to shore, of compact granite, huge mass 70 feet high at it's lowest point and its crest 320 feet above the lowest water level of the river below the cataract.
 ca the western bank of the Nile will stretch chain of locks leading from the upper to the lower river. The locks will be 150 feet long, each capable therefore of taking good ialzea steamer, anl will be of an ayera- ! ge height of D feat
 ! Tie archipelago of islands viii disap- ! pear, the tops Of the hills iu the larger islands will just appear above it's sur face, and the temples of Phila will rise out of wide placid lake instead of appearing as now, when tourists visit it at low Nile, insignificant and in hollow.
 To the Egyptian admi nistrator the chief concern is in the money value of the new dam to the country, and in this respect it makes most favorable showing. In a land which, in Sir Gardner Wilkinson's phrase, positive ly screams for watsr,'' its worth can scarcely be overestimated.
 The monetary advantages of the scheme may be expressed by saying that the direct annual return to the state will be $4,25O ,O00; that the in- creased value of land in Egypt will be $330, ,990, ,000; that the increase to annual produce will be sS3, ,060, 900 and to annual rent $26, 6,95O,OO0. These estimates leave out of account the in- creased value of land and crops owing to increased facilities of navigation.
 Sir Benjamin Bakers view is ex- pressed in the words, "The profit re- sultant from the works it is difficult to overestimate, as the value of the crops will be increased about $30 per acre per annum over. the whole area af- ] fected."
 This is part of the "white mans burden" which the English have taken 1 on their shoulders in Egypt. No matter what the political motive which prompts it, the descendants oi Pharaoh will reap rich reward. As for ovrselyes, we may watch with profit l the development of this great work.