Catoctin clarion., 1900-03-01
No 4 I
RUSSlA'S GREAT CANAL.
A Long Ditch To Connect the Baltic
And Black Seas.


European papers and scientific mag
azines are occupying themselves pref.
ty generally at the present moment
with criticisms concerning the great
ship canal which is destined to con.
meet the Baltic with the Black Sea.
work on which was begun last year by
the Russian Government. and is be.
ing pushed forward with the greatest
zeal, and at the same time with a
quietness amounting almost to Sec
recy. When finished the work, on ac
count Of it's immensity and the almost
insuperable difficulty to be overcome.
will be worthy of place beside such
modern wonders as the st. Gotthard
tunnel, the Suez Canal, the tunnels of
Frejus and the Simplon.
The projects offered for the con-
struction of this really herculean Ia
Dor were many and various, but the
choice finally rested between two
schemes-one, a proposition to unite
the river Dnieper, which flows into the
Black Sea, with the Dwina, which
empties it's waters into the Baltic at
Riga; the other plan to connect the
Dniester, west of Odessa, with the
river Vistula, which has it's mouth at
Danzica on the Baltic.
The first Of these projects met with
the special favor of Alexander ILL.,,
and is the one which has been adopted
for the carrying out of the great work
of uniting the two seas. The route
starts at Riga. following the course of
the Duna River as far as Duneberg,
where it Is united to the Beresina by
means of an immense course cut right
through the country. The Beresina
and the Dnieper are then used to COM
plete the connection. The total length
of the line is 600 kilometers, or about
1000 English miles, 200 kilometers of
the entire distance being artif1cially
cut through the land. The work Is to
be finished in five years If all goes
well and sufficient number Of men
are kept at work during that period.
The canal is &C meters, or about 3O7
feet wide, and about 80 feet deep, thus
allowing the largest vessels means OF
passing from one sea to the other.
Seventeen large ports, or artificial
bays, are to be constructed along the
line as we'll, each capable of contain~
ing a large number of ships, so that a
Russian vessel, however large it may
be, may make the entire transit in
six days, without hindrance of any
kind.
The cost of the work, at the lowest
estimate, and taking into considera-
tion the means at the disposal of the
Russian Government as to the adop-
ton of unpaid labor, will amount to
about $1200Oo,00o.
The principal of the reasons for the
adoption of the above mentioned plan
in preference to the .Vistula
project is that the whole passage is
kept within the limits of the Russian
Empire, thus allowing Russia absolute
sovereignty over the entire course.
Putting aside the great political ad-
vantages given to Russia by the new
enterprise, the gain commercially and
economically will be an incalculable
one, and beneficial in many more ways
than one. With her great power and
resources the great semi-Orientaf
kingdom is in position to carry out
with ease works that, in their im-
mensity, recall the wonders of ancient
history and before the undertaking OF
which lesser power would retire dis
uraged.-Rome Correspondent New
York Times.