The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1905-06-09


perlatives it's cost will comparatively
speaking, not be great. An American
syndicate has offered to construct the
work for $315, 1000, 900, or for about
three -fifths the bid made by Russian
syndicate. i.
These bids were made a year ago
on the favorite route mentioned. Since
then, however, q new scheme has been
prepared by a, Belgian engineer. the
details of this proposal have not yet
been made public, but they are said to
apply to waterway about 400 miles
shorter and having.a uniform depth OF
% feet and, a breadth on the surface
Of 2Os feet and at bottom Of ia feet.
II this plan Is followed the engineer
states the canal can be completed IN
about six years. With a speed of eight
knots the passage would occupy about
five days. * vi n
Apart from the extensive works Ito
be built at the cataracts and the act
ual digging Of only II miles through
a country presenting no great difficulty
to the operation, the canal building
will very largely be the simple work
of dredging a deep channel in the
rivers and the existing canal and the
widening of the latter.
No one familiar with Russia's hui
initiating position on the Black sea
need be told that the subject is an old
one and q recognized necessity, for
while the car has been permitted to
build a powerful feet Of warships on
the Black sea, treaties and conventions
extending back almost century, or
since 1909, have closed the gates of
the Dardanelles upon them.
The Black sea fleet, which consists
Of about $50 ships, has been "locked"
in the Black sea principally through
British action, although Russia is a
party to most of the treaties, recog-
nizing the fact that it is some consola
ton to know that no other force, not
even British fleet, may pass through
the straits. "the key to the cars
home" as Napoleon described it.
The canal from the Baltic to the
Black sea would bring st. Petersburg
5000 miles. nearer the far east, and,
what is more to the point, would bring
it 80 much nearer Egypt and India.
It is no secret that no matter how the
war in the far east ends, Russia will
strike for an outlet on the Indian
ocean. The British have been guard
ing the northern boundary of India
for years in anticipation Of any Rus
sian movement on the frontier. A
quarter Of century ago the Russians
were at the gate of India within
a few miles of Herat. There they
still are, but it is beyond belief to
think they are content to stay there.
During the long peace which fol-
lowed the congress Of Vienna many
schemes were evolved for connecting
the Black sea with the Baltic. OF
most of these the essential principle
was the deepening Of the :Dwina,
which runs into the latter at Riga,
and of the Dnieper, which river prac-
tically may be said to; enter the Eux-
Inc at Kherson. The total distance to
be covered is. 1,41O miles, but the
actual length between the inner ends
of these two well-known rivers is only
IS miles, and indeed there are alterna-
tive points-presenting, moreover, less
difficult problems of marine engineer
ing-but At miles apart. 1t will thus
be seen that by the former ready made
route the linking canal would be of
about similar length to that of Suez,
and by the latter to more than half
that distance.