The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-02-19

the length of the Suez canal is about
80 miles, the cost 500, 100000, the present
depth 81 feet, width at bottom 10S feet
and at the surface 420 feet. and that
the number of vessels passing through
it has grown from 4S6 in 1870 to 1,494
in 1876, 2O2s in 1880, 1889 in 1890. and
3,441 in 1900 The tolls charged are
about 81 per net registered ton
The Cronstadt and st. Petersburg
canal, which gives a passage way for
great vessels to st. Petersburg, is Is
miles long, including the deepening of
the bay channel, 201s feet in depth, and
the total cost estimated at s1O,0O0,0oO.
The Corinth canal, which connects
the Gulf of Corinth with the Gulf of
Aegina, is 4 miles in length, 26A feet
in depth, 72 feet wide at the bottom,
cost about $50O0,0OO, and reduces the
sailing distance about IT'S miles. The
average tolls charged are Is cents per
ton and 20 cents per passenger.
The Manchester ship canal, which
connects Manchester, England, with
the Mersey river and Liverpool. was
opened in 1894. Its length is s51s miles,
depth 26 feet, width at bottom 100 feet
and at the surface. IT'S feet, and cost
SIS, 100000. The commerce on the canal
shows a growth from S79, 204 tons in 1895
to 1,492,32O tons in 1900.
The Kaiser Wilhelm canal, which con-
meets the Baltic and North sea through
Germany, is 81 miles in length, 2912 feet
in depth, ~ feet wide at the bottom,
100 feet wide at the surface, and cost
about SAC, ZOO, 900. The number of yes
sells passing through it has increased
from 1850 in 1897 to 29,095 in 1900.
The great North Holland canal, which
connects Amsterdam with the sea, cut
in 1S45. but deepened at a later date,
has now depth of 20 feet, a width of
125 feet at the Surface. The Caledonian
canal, which connects the Atlantic and
North sea through the north of Scot
land, is II feet in depth, so feet in width
at the bottom, $50 miles long, cost ST.
600, 900, and is at its highest point "a feet
above sea level. The canal du Midi,
cut through France from Toulouse on
the Garonne to Cette on the Mediter-
ranean, a distance of $50 miles, is 61&
feet deep, 60 feet wide, and 600 feet
above sea level at it's highest point, and
has ia locks; total cost, SO, SOC, 900.
In America the canals connecting the
Great Lakes are the principal ship
canals and are three in number: The
Welland canal, originally constructed
in 1888 and enlarged in 1871 and 1900;
the Sault Ste. Marie, or ST. Marys
river canal, opened in 1855 and en-
larged in 1897; and the Canadian canal
at St.-Marys river, opened in 1895. The
American and Canadian canals at St
Marys Falls are practically identical
in location and dimensions, and are
used INTERCHANGEABLE by vessels en-
gagged in commerce, as convenience
may dictate. The depth of the canals
at the st. Marys river is sufficient to
accommodate vessels drawing 20 feet
of water. The American canal was
originally constructed by the state of
Michigan, but subsequently, taken
charge of by the United States and en-
larged at a cost of $2,15O,000. The cost
of the.Welland canal was about $30000,-
OoO largely due to the fact that 25 locks
are required in surrounding the rise of
327 feet in the distance of % miles. The
number of vessels passing through the
canals at st. Marys river has greatly
increased during the past few years,
while the umber passing through the
Welland canal has materially de-
creased; the number passing through
the ST. Marys canals being in 1873, p
517, and in 1901, 20,041, of which 1887
passed through the United States canal,
and 4,2O4 through the Canadian. The
number OF vessels passing through lhe
Welland canal has decreased from g.
425 in 1873 to 2 2O2 in 1899. The marked
contrast between the business of the st.
Marys Falls and Welland canals is
largely due to the fact that the freights
originating in the Lake Superior dis
trict are chiefly discharged at Lake Erie
ports, and those destined for the Lake
Superior region are chiefly produced in
the section contiguous to Lake Erie, the
Lake Superior freights being chiefly
iron copper and grain, and the Lake
Erie freights for Lake Superior, coal
and manufactures. The business of the
St. Marys Falls canals by far surpasses
in volume that of any other canal of
the world.