Omaha daily bee., 1912-03-17
zhe Gorl.nA Ga1a1


John Bull. As Il is now. no large block
OF the common stock appears TO be owned
by any Individual or corporation or other
government. John Bull Is said 10 have
a large majority Of. the WHOLE. aud the
next shareholder IN point of ownership Is
a Frenchman who has only a little more
than 1900 shares out OF the whole 10000.
AS / remember II the British government
bought 17s.ooo shares Of the old khedive.
Ismaii Pasha. getting the same through
loan OF s9o.0oo0oo. which was made by
the RothschIlds originally. ana finally
turned over to the British government
That Investment Of sse.ecooOo was one Of
the best John Bull has ever made. The
stock which be has bought is NOW worth
more than $4,000 900, and 1t has paid
go. 90 or f7ooco,ooo in dividends. II
Panama should turn out equally well II
win give Uncle Sam a surplus big enough
to join the great lakes to the golg by a
similar waterway $50
Panama Versus sues.
Beside the work Of building the Pam
anna canal that of suez seems little more
than a chore. The suez canal is only a
great ditch through the desert. where the
earth is soft sand and the ground is COM
paratively smooth. 1t is q sea-level
canal, and that without locks. At Pan
ANA the canal cuts right through the
backbone OF the Andes. and at cuiebra
alone we shall have to cut out more earth
and rock than the Egyptians lifted in
A.. - In, h. oN
suez the dirt and sand could be left on
the banks, but at Panama II has had to
be carted miles away.
The Suez excavation was soft in most
places. and 1t was only here and there
that rock had TO be cut. AT Panama
some Of the work has been almost like
blasting through iron. and II is only the
steam shovel that has enabled US to con-
quer the difficulty.
The Suez canal was excavated almos.
by hand. Twenty thousand Egyptian
peasants were employed at a time and
they scooped the dirt up in baskets They
got from TO Is cents a day. and many
of them worked under the lash and were
not paid at all. Our canal has been con-
structed with the mightiezt Of modern
machinery; so efficient that had II been
used at suez that canal could have been
constructed at one-third Of tho cost and
within one-tenth Of the time.
Trip Through the Canal.
The trip on the Panama canal will be
one OF the great sights OF the world. 1t
will take one through some Of the most
picturesque scenery Of the tropics, where
there will be palm trees, banana trees
and the other vegetation which clothes
the equator. 1T will be through a noun.
famous region. over lakes and up and
down the mighty water steps known as
locks.
The Suez canal Is a trip through the
desert. The only difference between &
and the ordinary trip Of that kind is
that one rides on the deck Of a steamer
instead OF on the back Of camel. And
stili ii has wonderful beauties which our
canal will not have. The last time I
passed through from -suez to Port Said
spent the night on the canal. Our
ship was steaming through the sands,
under the stars Of the tropics. We had
great. round moon Of burning copper
which turned the canal to molten silver
and our pathway was made xtifl brighter
By the electric searchlights which blazed
from our masthead and prov. Standing
upon the deck We could see. now and
then. on the banks a caravan Of un-
gainly camels with their ghost-like
r4ders clad in white bobbing up and down
under the moon.
We passed many steamers whose
searchights made one think Of so many
cyclopesn demons, each with an eye of
fire in his forehead. marching on to at
tack him. We had to go slowly. The