The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-08-10

came together. planned this ship canal and
raised the money to build u. They got the
city corporation Of Nfanct ester to back
them to the extent OF SIS eln. eco: thew pnt
their hands in their own pockets and gave
, mllIlons more, and within a Short time they
mad an army OF laborers at work larger
than that which Xenophon led on his march
10 the sea. When in full swing their army
consisted or 1900 men divided into eight
companies. differed by picked experts, each
digging at a section about four miles in
length. h army had its camp in each
section Its tents were wooden houses
made from lumber brought from the United
states and as many of the workmen had
their wives and families there WAS O busy
town along the whole line CT the ANAL.
NO one can appreciate tie extent Of the
work without going over the canal. It is
thirty-fve and a half miles long. twenty
six feet deep and at the bottom 80 feet
wide. If you can imagine a cellar so deep
that you can drop a two-story house
, within it and have the roof below the sur
face SO wide that the average city lot could
be laid out crosswise across the bottom. and
so long that it would take a railroad train
at n good speed an hour to run from enc
end of it to the other. you may have some
idea OF this enormous ditch which the Man
chester people have dug from their city 10
the sea- \ part of the canal was along the
course OF the little river Irwell, but much
OF 1t had to be dug out of the solid rcck.
The excavation necessary was half as great
rs that required for the SIez Canal and
most of it much more d~ificuls. EiSht
miles OF embankment and ga walls had TO
be erected along the foresliore Of the Mcr-
sey. and upon the whole canal 100000
bricks and 220.000.0o0 cubic ycrds OF ma
sorry were constructed.
Five sets of locks were rut in. each hig
enough to admit an Atlantic liner. and
these, by means Of great steel sluice gates.
raise and lower the ships to the height or
depth of sixty feet. There are, in short. from
Manchester TO the sea, five mighty steps.
each twelve feet high. which the ships have
to climb in coming up the canal.
Docks Are Watts of Water
Walled With Masonry.
I was surprised at the extent Of the Man
chester docks. 1t seems strange to see all
the surroundings of one of the largest sea
ports right in the heart of a rich manufac-
turing and agricultural country. The docks
are watts Of water walled with masonry and
surrounded with great warehouses. which
are equipped with the finest OF modern ma
chinery. The water space within them COW
ers 26 acres. and the total length OF the
quays about them IS more than five miles.
In one OF the docks three Atlantic liners
have been berthed simultaneously at the
same quay. and during my visit yesterday
! saw a ship from Bombay. one from Aus
1 @N OHO VI odANtclbb tpd4illE anu
unloading goods almost side by side. Along
the docks railways run and the company
has 100 miles OF track connected with the
canal. and there are more than forty trains
daily, carrying goods in and out the docks.
1t was in the canal company's steam
launch that l was taken from dock 10
dock, and from warehouse to warehouse.
and it was with a canal officer that 1 later
on took a trip down the canal from Man
chester TO the sea on the Duke of Lein-
ster, bound for Ireland. Our captain of the
Leinster was a jolly old sea dog who
trembled like a leaf as we were photo
graphed standing on deck going down the
canal.
1 I'M surprised at the traffic which this
port already has with the United States. In
every warehouse 1 found American goods,
and in one especially. known as the New
York warehouse. 1 saw thousands Of bales
of cotton, which had just come from Gal
weston, great boxes of machinery for the
Westinghouse electric works. crates of
American desks and great cases of hams.
bacon and lard. on the top of another
warehouse, four stories high. 1 took photo
graphs of a thousand odd bsrrels OF resin
which has just come from the pine lands
of Georgia and South Carolina. ard at the
grain elevator ! saw a ship unloading wheat
from PHILADELPHIA.