Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-18
GREAT ASSUAh DAM
Will Store Up the Waters Of
the Nile.
TO COST TEN MILLION
IS ABOUT A NILE AND A QUAR-
TER LONG.
Land That Will Be Reclaimed-Oppor-
tunities That Are Afforded to
Egypt's Poor to Buy Farms.
TO COST TEN MILLION
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
CAIRO, December 81, 1908.
1t Is a disputed question what the average
Egyptian thinks Of the amazing improve
ments that have been made in the material
condition of his country during the last few
years and how they have affected his char
acter. Many people believe that he scarcely
realizes them: that they have not touched
his soul or even his consciousness at all,
and that he still retains his medieval con-
servatism in spite of the public order and
security. the relief from taxation, the even
hand of Justice, the means of education and
the higher wages that have been brought
to him by the English administrator. 1t is
true that the oriental soul is very different
from that which inhabits the body of the
white man. His ideas are not our ideas,
and his religion, his social habits. his i'm
penetrable reserve, his serene contempla-
ton of fate and other peculiar character
istics. whether good or i'll, have not changed
since the middle ages. And although he
has adopted modern costumes to consid-
cradle extent and has allowed the women
of his family to come into contact with for
eigners. he moves very slowly. Even Cairo,
It's medieval customs and appearance and
Is still the city of the Arabian Nights. No
matter how much of the surface may be
covered with new buildings. old Cairo re-
mains. and will remain, and the evidence of
modern life we see IS only veneer. Never
thelesS. it is scarcely possible to believe
that the farmer does not appreciate what
has been done for him. The signs are GER
tain. as l will explain. He cannot be in
sensible to the improvement of his condi-
ton
1t is also a question of even greater i'm
portance. particularly to us. how much the
cotton crop of Egypt will be increased by
the construction of the new dam at AS
suan and the extension of the irrigation
system The cotton growers of the United
states. however. need not be alarmed 1t
VIII De long time before the cotton fields
or Egypt are extended to a degree that will
be felt by the planters of the United States.
and the Increase will be much less than is
popularity expected
Joseph's Irrigation System.
Under the present system. the valley of
the Nile is producing all that It is capable
OF, and the only way to increase the pro-
ducts and the wealth Of the country is to
bring more land under irrigation. AS
told you yesterday. the present area has
not been increased to any considerable ex-
tent FOR many centuries, although projects
have been frequently proposed. When Jo-
seph, the son of Jacob, was prime
minister for Pharaoh he conceived the
idea of turning the surplus water of
the upper Nile into what is known
as the province of Fayum about fifty miles
south OF Cairo. A vast depression in the
desert known as Lake Moeris by his skill
ful engineering, became productive oasis,
which has added hundreds of millions of
dollars to the wealth of the nation Mr..
Cope Whitehouse. son of the late Bishop
WhitehouSe of Illinois. who has spent much
time in Egypt. and is familiar with the
desert as well as the irrigation system
submitted to the government few years
ago a plan to extend the irrigation system
built by Joseph and utilize it for the benefit
of the country. The khedive wrote him
letter of thanks and conferred upon him
the decoration of grand commander of the
Order of the MedJidjeah but his English
advisers poked the plan into a pigeon hole
and no one has ever been able to persuade
them to pull it out again.
Their Indifference, however. was due to
other plans which they considered more
practicable, and it was determined to con-
Struct an enormous dam at the first catar-
act near Assuan. which will store up all
the water that Is not needed at the annual
Intimidation and allow it to be released
when it is needed later in the season. This
dam, called the Great Barage, is now prac-
ticaly completed.
1t was begun in February. 1898. a contract
having been entered into with Messrs. Arid
81 Co, Scotch firm. who agreed to build 1t
for Sf0OG0,O00. payable in thirty Semi-an-
nual installments of $1,000 each, including
interest. but they do not get a dollar until
1t is completed. The foundations of the
dam rest upon solid granite lodges; 1t is
G,7S6 feet, or about mile and quarter
long; 120 feet high from the rock bottom
81 feet thick at the base, and 26 feet wide
at the top, where there is a roadway guard
ed by walls which take the place of the
bridge which has long been needed. The
dam contains 1,250,O00 tons Of masonry and
about $1,000 tons of steel. The masonry
Is of rough granite blocks laid in cement.
and the materials have been taken from
quarries which for 1000 years supplied
stone for the obelsks. pyramids. temples.
tombs and palaces of Egypt. There are
$50 sluices through which the water can
be released when 1t Is needed and they are
fitted with steel gates that can be handled
by electric machinery. Every convenience
and apparatus known to science has been
applied where it is needed, and IL this dam
had been built a thousand years ago 1t
would have been ranked among the Won
derS of the world.
1t is one of the greatest engineering
triumphs in history. Its construction has
been immensely more difficult than the
Suez canal, and it differs from that famous
public improvement in the important par
ticular that no money was stolen or wasted.
The dam was designed by William Will
cocks, an English engineer. in consulta ton
with Sir Samuel Baker and Sir Benjamin
Baker; the foundation stone was laid Feb
ruary r. 1899. by the Duke of Connaught.
and the formal completion was announced
December 10. 1902 by the same gentleman.
the brother of the king. when the khedive
turned a key which put in motion the cleo
trio dynamos which are to furnish the power
to operate the slufce gates.
The construction of this dam creates a
reservoir 40 miles square which is capable
of storing several billion tons Of water.
The difference In the level of the river
above and below the dam Is sixty-seven
feet. and navigation Is assisted by a series
of four locks. each 400 feet long and thirty
five feet wide. They will save great delays
and cost in the transportation of merchan-
disc, which Is one of the most important
benefits to be derived from the enterprise.
Formerly navigation up the rapids was very