The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-01-28

Lengths and Summit Levels of the Twv
Canal Routes.


Lengths and summit Levels or the TVS
Canal Houtea.
The Isthmus Of Panama runs almost
east and west at she point where It IS
proposed TO pierce it with a canal aud
IS thirty-fve miles wide the narrow
est place. The canal would run nearly
north and south. therefore Still. the
Pacific end would nearly be twenty
miles further east than the Atlantic
terminus The plan outlined by the
United State Commission calls for
work along route nearly forty-fvr
miles IN length. Over two miles ana
a half would be excavated in or neae
Colon Harbor. at the Atlantic end.
and over three and a half miles az
Panama. on the Pacific Hence the
distance from end to end Of the canal
proper would be only about thirty-nine
miles. and twelve and a half miles
Of this would extend across Lake Bo-
hio. The heavy work. therefore.
would be confined to about twenty
seven miles But some Of this would
be exceedingly costly.
The old French company which pro-
posed to construct this canal dreamed
Of carving right down TO tide level. ali
the way across. But the new corpora
tion. which performed the greater part
Of the work actually done, decided to
use locks. These would have brought
the level up about ninety feet A
modified plan made the summit only
sixty-seven feet above sea level. but
If this were followed the expense
would be materially increased The
United States Commission estimates
the cost Of completing the canal on
the ninety-foot basis at upward Of
S142. 600 900. and on the sixty-seven-
foot basis at ever S156000OO0.
The Nicaragua route utilizes a lake
ia the interior. and this is about 10f
feet above sea level Hence locks
would be necessary on this line also.
Engineers have proposed raising the
level Of the lake by means Of dams to
either los feet or 10 feet The cut
from Brit0. on the Pacific Coast. 10 the
shores Of Lake Nicaragua would be
over sixteen miles long The lake
would contribute flfty-six and a half
miles to the route, and the San Juan
River the outlet of Lake Nicaragua. is
los miles or 10 miles long This
stream. with some excavation. would
serve as a canal good part Of thu
way Hence. although the distance
from ocean to ocean is much greater
here than at Panama. the character Of
the work to be done makes It less
expensive, The preliminary estimates
put the cost Of the Nicaragua Canal
at s125,00O.OO0
An important consideration In choos-
ing between the two routes is the dis.
tance saved to shipping bound from
Atlantic or Gulf ports to the Pacific.
A steamer bound from New York
would save 37T miles. from Liverpool
3s9 miles and from New Orleans 570
miles in going to San francisco To
Yokohama by way Of Honolulu the
saving would be from New York 225
miles. from Liverpool 264 miles aud
from New Orleans 457 miles The
owners Of steamships would gain ii
two ways by this improvement. They
would save on coal bills, and they
would be able to start their vessels on
the return trip sooner. thus increasing
their earning capacity. The risks Of
navigation. too. would be correspond
ingly diminished by the abbreviation
Of the voyage. New York Tribune. =