The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-17
Great Canals Compared With Uncle Sarm's Biz Ditch

than the Egyptians lifted in their
whole excavation. In the ditch at Suex
| the dirt and sand could be left on the
banks. but NJ Panama 1t has had TO
be cartel miles away.
The Suez excavation was soft in
most places. and IL was only here ana
there that rock had to he cut At
Panama some of the work has been
almost like blasting through iron, and
I 1t liz only the steam shovel that has
enabled us to conquer the difficulty
! Tn, Suez canal was eScavated almost
| by hand. Twenty thousand Egyptian
! peasants were employed at time and
they scoopcd the dirt up In baskets
! They got from to - cents day, and
many OF them worked under til, lash
and were not paid a; all. Oar canal
has been constructed with the might
est OF modern machinery: so efficient
rthat had 1t been US I'd at Suez that canal
could have hcen constructed at one
| third OF the cost and within one-tenth
F., OF the time.
| - Trip Through the Canal.
The trip on the Panama Canal will
be on. OF the great sights of the world
| 1T VIII take one through. some of the
| most picturesque scenery OF tho trop-
| leg. where there Will he palm, tire IS
banana trees ana the other vegetation
which, clothes the equator. Il will b,
through mountainous region. over
lakes and up and down the mighty wa
ter steps known rs locks.
!. The Sucz Canal Is "a trip through the
desert. The only differ ,ncc between
1t and the ordinary trip OF shat kind is
that one rides on the deck of a steam
CT instead OF OH The back of a camel.
hnd still IL has Wonderful beauties
which our canal will not have. The
last time ] passed through from SucZ
! to Port Said spent the night on the
canal. Our snip was stcaming through
tho sands. under the stars OF the
tropics. We had great round moon
| Of burning copper which turned the
! canal to molten silver. and our path
| way was made still brighter BY the
electric searchlights which biazed from
our masthead and prov. Standing up.
| on the deck. we could Sec now and
then. on the banks a caravan of I'M
calmly cameis with their ghost-lik,
| riders clad in white bobbinE up and
down under the moon.
! We passed many steamers whose
! SearchliShts made one thing of SO
| many cyclopean demons each with nm
eye OF hre in his forehead, marching
| on TO attack him. We had 10 go slow
! ~. The canal is already too small for
the traffic and ships are allowed to go
+
recesses have been cut Into the banks
her. and there. where. upon telegraphic
notice, vessels have to tie UP 20 allow
! other vessels to pass
mere nre many dredges in the
| canal. and steam pumps ure KEPT suck
ing the sand from the bottom and
throwing II out upon til. banks The
| eanal is now little over thirty feet
deep. but IT will soon be thirty-aye
| tn hn
Ing the past year or SO many millions
OF tons Of earth and mud have baen
taken out of the bottom, and Their. IL
| now talk OF widening It, or OF build
ing another BY the side for tho sur
| plus traffic.
:. The oonnth Ship Canal.
. II is not far cry from Susz IN
HreeSe. II lies on the other side of
the Mediterranean. and not long aso
wa, composed mostly of what is now
WIN Which ma syas ma, and the Peloponnesus
OF Corinth. In 1898 this isthmus was
CUT through by the corinth Canal, and
a 1--we ;a,, GTeeee was thus turned into
from the Adriatic 10 the Pi,seus by
over zoo miles, and tho canal should
De one OF the trade routes OF the Medi-
!, q vsar a. 1t Is not When visited
| paratively little shipping poinp
through. and was told that the canal
Is SO situated that il forms huge air
shaft. which makes 1t unsafe for
steamers "
The walls of the Corinth Canal are
100 or goo feet high. and tho canal
USER is only about eighty feet wide
It's depth Is only twenty-sx feet and
me biggest of steamers cannot go
through It. y new company has re-
Gently taksn possession of 1t, and 1t Is
araiiabis for vessels of heavier tom
mage. This company bought the canal
for less than $4,000. although It cost
S0m met 5,er,l IKE 100000 to build
! ditch. with great green walls on ench
! side and breakwaters and lighthouses
| at either end. The canal is spanned
/ by an iron bridge 10 feet high, and
this Is crossed by the chief trunk rail-
way, which runs from Athens to
! Patras.
Built for American Cotton.
/ Our next trip Will be across Europe
end into Gaeat Britain We want TO
see the ship canal at Manchester,
which connects the chief cotton mill
Ing centre on earth with the Atlantic
ton was all landed at Liverpool. and
It had to be carried TO the Manchester
| factor!tes by rail Now tho steamers
can go right up the Mersey and thence
through great locks to the doors OF
the factories. The Manchester canal
Is thirty five miles long. It is twelve
miles shorter than our canal Mt Pan
ANN. Nithin mat distance the ships
are lifted up about sixty feet and
that In five great locks. which rise
| one over the other
| This canal goes through some of the
| most beautiful farming country of
England Leaving Manchester, you
sail out of region of mighty ware.
/ houses and factories into land of
! farms as green as Ohio in June The
fields are divided by green hedges and
upon the rich grass fat cattle arc
| feeding. Every now and then you pass
! q manufacturing town. Tou go under
other. and finally drop down to the
Mersey River, with It's vast shipping
| from all parts of the world.