Evening star., 1927-04-03
SEAS TO Be LINKED
BY RUSSIAN CANAL
volga-Don Stream viii Play
important Part in
Shipping.


planned through the narrow isthmus
between the Volga and Don Rivers
from Shumovsky Khutor near Stain.
grad formerly Tsaritsin) to Sarepta,
in southeast Russia. would connect
the Caspian. Black, Baltic and White
Seas by water routes" says bulletin
from the National Geographic Society.
AT the proposed location of the
canal the two rivers are but so miles
apart, then they veer off in opposite
directions, the Don piercing the fertile
Cossack country to the east, and the
Nolga extending northward through
the Russian grain belt
THE Volga. Europe's longest river.
will play an important part in the
success of the program" continues
the bulletin. "A canal is already in
use, linking the upper stretches of
the river with the Neva River that
flows into the Gulf of Finland at
Leningrad.
ThrOng With Shipping.
"The more than 1000 miles of
navigable water of the Little Mother
Volga, as the people affectionately
call the stream, are busy with ship
ping Huge RATS, some of them longer
a k.
down the wide channel by little side
wheelers.' They are laden with grain,
hides, wool. fruit, vegetables and other
products from the Volga regions.
other side e-wheelers' tow cotton-laden
barges from Persia, and oil tanks
from the neighborhood of Baku in the
Caspian Sea.
Some of the cargoes are consigned
to Russian Centers and some to Lenin'
grad for shipment to foreign ports.
Sometimes the trip to the seaport
means thousands of miles of slow
travel that takes days and weeks, so
the river men try to have all the com
forts of home. Often they build log
cabins aboard the RATS and surround
them with small truck gardens which
they tend as il they were on land.
AT night the boatmen gather around
a large fire which from the shore pre-
sents a picture of campers afioat.
For years. under the despotic ruie
OF the Tsars, the Russian river was
the scene of the Volga bOatmen's toll.
Singing in minor strains, the boatmen
tracked the monotonous shores Of the
river, tugging at crude tow-ropes that
cut into their bulky shoulders, while
their feet sank deep into the soft tow
path clay.
Replaced by Oil Burners.
But the thousands of porters, as
the Volga boatmen were known in
Russia, that played the role of our
towpath mules, have been displaced
by oil burning passenger boats and
commercial craft.
Perhaps the Volga would be the
greatest river in the world If Nature
had been more kind. 1t is less than
200 miles shorter thani the Mississippi
and flows through highly productive
regions. But it has no Gulf of
Mexico at it's front door. The
Caspian Sea. into which II empties
has no navigable outlet. AS re-
suit the worlds largest inland body
of water and thousands OF miles of
its tributaries are hemmed in from
the open sea. and forced TO depend
entirely upon railroads, camels and
other means of land transportation
to reach the Black Sea. the nearest
outlet TO the Mediterranean, or to-
traverse the whole length of the
Volga and Neva TO Leningrad.
When the Volga Don project la
boom. Ships will then be able TO
steam up the Volga. through the
canal, down the Don TO Rostov on
the Sea of Azov and out into the
Mediterranean by way of the Black
Sea and Bosporus. European and
American ports will then be within
reach of Balxu and other bottled
up Caspian ports by cheap trans
portation.
To Handle Increase.
"Rostov. at the mouth of the Don,
will be equipped to handle the in
creased shipping as a result of the
canal route. The harbor will be
dredged and grain elevators con-
structed and Rostov hopes to capture
Leningrad's title as the chief grain
exporting port of Russia. 1t is esti-
mated that grain will he shipped
through the canal from the elevators
ct Samara. in the heart of the grs i'm
region. to Rostov. more cheaply than
1t is now transported to Leningrad
Returning through the canal the
boats will transport coal. iron, tex
tiles, farming implements and manu-
tactured articles for the Volga regions
and Central Asia. The industrial
regions of Ural have not obtained
enough coal from the Ukraine or by
importation. The Volga Don will
probably alleviate this difficulty by
augmenting the service of the rail-
road that for years has opera ted
across me lStnmus, Dut mas been
unable 10 handle the heavy traffic
Costly transfer Of cargoes from river
To rail will also be eliminated.
The canal will take FIVE years TO
build and will cost the government
about S33, 100000. II Is expected to
pay for itself in another Ave wears.
With the exception OF a small
part Of Eastern European Russia. the
yachtsman will be able TO circle
Europe by water route when the
60-mile ditch is opened"