Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-11-22
canal TO SPLIT
SCOTLAND APART
Short Cut For Warships Into
North Sea.
COST WILL Be S120,000,0O0.

COST WILL Be S120,000,000
Proposed Hugo Commercial Water
way to Be 81 Miles Long, 149 Fee
Wide and 36 Feet Deep, and Con
struction Will Be Assisted by British
Government.
The picturesque waters Of Loeb 10.
mond and Loeb Long. so greatly ad-
mired by tourists in Scotland, are to
be invaded by ocean going steamships
and great war vessels for the bust
ness men Of Scotland have decided
that it will be more to the interests
Of their country to have n deep ship
canal connect the Firth Of Clyde on
the west than to allow the tourists to
have full sway in the delightful coun-
try just south of the Grampian noun
tans.
! The cost Of this canal is estimated
| at $l2O 100000 if it is built to conform
to the requirements Of the British gov
eminent for its use by ships Of war
1t will be 81 miles long, at least 14S
feet wide and have a minimum depth
Of 3G feet, with locks Mt least 900 feet
long. Inasmuch as the British ad-
miralty has promised to assist tinan-
cially If its requirements are met, it is
quite probable that the Clyde-Forth
canal will be 149 feet wide and 36 feet
deep.
Short Cut For Warships.
This canal will enable warships to
pass from the Clyde to the Forth in
about five and one-half hours and be
Of great aid in the quick concentra-
ton Of warships in the North sea.
eliminating the long trip around Scot
land or England. The eastern end of
the canal will be covered by the new
naval base at Rosyth in addition to
any fortified lions that may be con-
structed for the special protection Of
the waterway.
The Clyde canal will cut Scotland in
two, and while it will be utilized by
the navy a more peaceful method Of
warfare is the prime cause for under
taking the project. Commercial inter-
ests seem to demand it. and that being
the case it is not strange that CON-
mercial considerations are back Of the
undertaking. A canal built exclusive
~ for war purposes would be burden
upon the people; canal built for com.
mercial uses would be paying propo-
sition. That is why it is so much |
easier to build commercial canal.
The Clyde canal has been under dis
cussion since 1889, at which times the
Messrs. Stevenson, the noted Edin-
burgh engineers, were asked to report !
on the feasibility Of enlarging the ex
listing barge canal from Yoker on the
Clyde to Grangemouth on the Forth
to accommodate ocean going vessels
The Stevensons advised against that
project, but in favor Of connecting the
Clyde and the Forth by deep canal
by different route
Annual Revenue 100000
The question Of expense deferred &C.
ton for some time, but recently it was
decided that the traffic through the
canal would be large enough to war
rant the expense. The engineers esti-
mate that the canal should yield a
revenue Of about 100000 a year
md net revenue Of about $3,700,OO0,
or about per cent on the estimated
cost Of $12O.OOO,O0O. To this would be
added the contrbu ton from the ad-
niralty for use Of the canal for ships
If war.
So Ear as the engineering features Of
he project are concerned it does not
,ffer much difficulty. The canal will
start from the Firth Of Forth above
and run down the valley
# the Forth pas Ben Lomond. through
he Endrick valley into Loeb Lomond.
t will leave that lake at Tarbet and
ross the narrow neck Of land to Ar
'ochar. whence it will pass by Loeb
long into the Clyde Twenty-one miles
will be through the open waters of
.ochs Lomond and Long and thirty
me miles will be cut through the land.