Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-17
CANAL OF THE TWO SEAS
Taken Up by the French Minister Of
Public Works.
0sT OF THE GREAT PROJECT
Waterway Will Permit War Vessels
and Merchantmen to Cut Across
France in Two Days.



PARIS, February 2, 1906
The French are going to revenge them
selves on Panama-at home. BY a gigan-
| tic engineering work entirely within their
own borders they are getting ready to lift
up their shipping to the first rank. double
the force of their navy and cause the Med
tterranean TO cease to be IAN English lake
by multiplying Gibraltar.
In way they propose to copy EngIand's
natural advantage by Transforming part of
France with SPAIN into an island. more
than doubling their seacoast and creating
ocean ports for languishing inland cities.
This is to be accomplished by construct
ing vast ship canal across the lower end
of France from the Atlantic to the Medi-
terranean. By it's means the French fleet
viii be capable OF operating one day on
the Atlantic and then two days later show
itself IN Mediterranean ports, without sub
jeCting Itself to the guns of Gibraltar
one of the queerest things about Il is tina +
the canal exists already for canal boats and
small coasters. To enlarge 1t for warships
aud merchantmen Is no mere dream Since
1873 the canal of the two seas has han,,
fully planned by engineers Three narIia-
mentary commissions have made estimates
upon II, and now Nj Gauthier minister IF
public works, has sent his own commits
SION TO make final studies OF the scheme
and its conclusions are to be submitted to
the lower house for action
Scheme Originated in 1880.
As early as the year 1880 Francis de-
sired to join the Garonne (cmptving into
the Atlantic TO the Aude (Which empties
into the Mediterranean. All that was
needed was to build canal to climb the
water shed on one side and descend It on
the other. One extraordinary difficulty
stared the ancient surveyors in the face
and threatens now to be for the canal
what the CuIebra IS for Panama The Duo
dc Joyeuse in the time of Charles TX and
Sully In the time Of Henri " both gave
up the problem, but less than one hundred
years later an engineer of genius solved If
This was Pierre Paul Riquet, made nv
Louis XIV Count Of Caraman for bIiIdiDo
this canal of Languedoc, the first great
artlhclal waterway of Europe. His grand
son married the sister of the last Prince
or Chimay before the direct male line he
came extinct, on which the title was trans
ierred to his descendants, the present
house of Caraman- Chimay-v,hich CTar5
ward of Detroit weighed in the balance
and found lacking.
The system was completed for small craft
Dy dlgging lateral canals beside the rivers
ana fed by their waters Today small
coasters and canal boats stfu Green nm ~
Saronne from Bordeaux, enter the CaTonne
lateral at Castets, climb the water shed IN
the NaGrouze pass-the height that stopped
the anclents-by way of the once eytraor-
binary locks OF Riquet descend the Mcdf
terranean water shed to the Aude ana
Aude lateral by more of them, and strike
the Mediterranean at Narbonne or. fur
ther up, at Cette. Or they can skirt tho
sea by a continuation of the Iangue,ioc
canal climb up the RhOne and the Rhone
lateral at AVignOn, and thence ON nm 10
Lyons-and even on to Dion. into ~
Marine canal. and so to Paris. It is a
small part of a gigantic network OF canal
routes. - 0'iia'
The modern engineers nevertheless how
a Titanic task before them to enlarge Tho
observation-disclosures system to a deen-sae
ship canal-a ship canal that must Climb
and descend a mountain water shed
Cost Estimated at 100000. 600
Eight years will be required. The cost
Is estimated at minimum of s16o 600 600
although early commission ser n az
$500 100000 and still another at s350 600
600 The latter calculation has heen
proved erroneous 1t was based on the
data Of the German canal of the Baltic
sixty miles long. 1t required forty-one
chief engineers, 1000 workmen 22o OD0
horse power and five years Of time to
build 1t. Therefore argued the commits
sion, the canal of the two seas, being just
five times as long, will demand five times
forty-one chief engineers, five times 10000
workmen, five times 100000 horse power
and five times five years. On the same
reasoning, eff 1t takes one architect two
years to build an apartment house it viii
require 100 architects 200 years to build
a street.
The present estimates ioresee 100000
workmen, guided by thirty chief engineers
and 200 overseers, with digging and tun-
neling machines driven by 60,00G horse
power.
One of the chief surprises is the ADAM
donment of Bordeaux. The canal being a
great patriotic work, as we'll as a COM
mercial revolutionizer, the first thought
has been the security and convenience Of
warships in its Atlantic entrance. Bor-
deaux is too high up in the>mouth of the
Garonne. They have therefore chosen the
extraordinary natural basin of Arcachon.
really nearer as the crow files, to Bordeaux
itself; and the canal will strike the Ga
rome just beyond that ancient port
The route Is straight from Arcachon to
Agen on the Garonne, eighty-six miles of
easy cutting, without a single lock.
The waters of the Garonne are to be re-
inforced from many torrent of the
Pyrenees-which will save Toulouse and
other towns from the periodic foundations
that now trouble them. Between Agen
and Toulouse the Garonne. strongly
banked, and become at last the safe drain
OF these mountain torrents. will take the
fleets Of war and commerce to Toulouse