The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-12-05
CANAL COMMISSION FAVORS
THE NICARAGUA ROUTE.
Advantages to This Nation Considered to More
Than Offset Cheaper Panama
Waterway.

Washington. Dec. i-Thc report of the
lstnmian Canal commission submitted hy'
The President Ia Congress to-day civss ;tS
the unaEimuu; conclusion If that body that
The most practiCahle and feasible rnut"
for an iSthmian canal. under the control.
narHa rcut and ownership u: the United
States. is that known as the Nicaragua
route
The commission estimates the cost Of this
route at S2t0 5i'.co5. This estimate is much
in excess of any here tuforc made. and iS
due to increased dim nsipnS ana o:hcT fea-
lures not heretofore considered. The com
mission also estimates the cost of ii canal
hy the Panama route at Sli2 3i2.5.9 accord
ing to one route or sl5j..:I> ~ accnrdin. -
another route As between the Nicaragua
and Panama routes the commission sums uD
a number Of advantages favorable To the
former.
Ii states also that under the concessions
given 10y the Government of Colombia To-
The Panama Canal Company that GOVERN
ment is not re. to grant the necessary
rights To the United States. except upon
conditions made by the company
Description of kouirS.
a detailed description Is given OF the
trips over the several routes. Along the Nj
Cirasua route i; WAS found that N. short
section OF the partially constructed canal =
perhaps in as coed shape to-day as ii was
when The work was stopped. The buildings,
=
boats. etc. axe worthless. The commission
visited III Sdcnt Zcaya AMI utE,r i'auinS
officials cf NlcdraSua, ana found th, IA
greatly interested i'll the project.
The occupation oi their territory 10y the
United States Tor canal p-TI u-cS did not
seem to br regarded a. Il serious obstacle.
provided The sovereignty OF tnc Republic
WAS respected.
Along the Panama route the commission
found large force OF workmen engaged
upon the canal line. about 2.GD in number.
according to the Panama company. Tn"
canal had been opened to some extent at
beth ends. Immense quantities OF michi,-
cry, implements and tools Were found aloT.,
the route. Much of this property. the corr
mission Iepurts. il i'll adapted to American
methods oI work. and all of ii is now from
thirteen L. twenty years Old. "a that Il" waite
should be given to th" plant now ON the
!sthnUs. TRIPS were AIS, made along the
baTien route.
Alter gong over Tho several routes. the
commission considered i" dim -nsions of tn"
canal To be built. II vs. determined tu fIX
upon De pth 81 =, feet 1t moan low water.
and bottom Width Of 10, cy.t with some in
cIcHse OF GinI"nS.cnS at certain points.
These dimcrSlo: : are IlrEcr tnan those pro-
posed Tor any previous canal scheme. - a,l,.
they MAY serra excessive to-Gay, the conf
mission points out that the canal il not
likely TO he oge"ed within ten years, during
which time the INCREASE III maritime aimen-
sions is likely to cont!nur
a width oi l5o feet viii allow all but the
very largest ships 10 pass each oUrer in the
canal. while the locks OF a dimension to
permit even The largest ships aiiGat to be
inancuvered. The size # locks is ~ feet IN
length. 81 feet in wiath. in the clear. with
cepth Of - feet.
Across Nicaragua.
Taking up the Nicaragua route in detail.
the commission says that the route adopted
follows essentially the lines laid down by
the Nicaragua Canal Commission i'll its Te-
port of 1s91-lS99
1t tcsins near GccytOWn. on the Atlantic
side. follows the san Juan River. enters
Lake Nicaragua and terminates AT Brito. on
the Pacific side The distance from ocean
to ocean Is about Isl miles. Plans are given
for the great harbOrs required al G--ytown
and BritO-
Tn" most difficult engineering work is the
dam across th" san Juan River to reg =
late the waters of the lake. The lin"
required to build the canal hinges aims
entirely on the time required tor the con
s;ruCton Of this dam. Thc commission says
eight years would probably be a reasonable
estimate for the building.
At least two years will he consumed in
preparatory work and opening q harbor At
Greytown, 81 that If work on the dam
should BE- commenced immc ciiIteiy Th-r,-
after. the time required for completing the
entire work will he about ten years.
The commission then submits the follow
ing estimated cost of canal on the
Nicaragua route: