Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-08
BY e. BRUGUIERE.


TINE proposed Nicaraguan Canal
during the present week will
play a part in the war game OF
Il a f1rst-power nation. The Battle
Fleet, under the command OF
Admiral Frank H. Schofield, has been
ordered to sail from California to Pan
anna, there to join the Scouting Fleet,
under Vice Admiral Arthur L. Willard.
The two fleets are scheduled to COM
mence the maneuvers on Thursday.
Then, for the purposes of the battle
problem, the Battle Fleet will be desig-
mated as the BLACKS" and the Scouting
Fleet as the Blues" The Black Fleet
is to be the attacking force, while the
Blues endeavor to protect the entrances
Of the Panama and Nicaraguan Canals.
Observers feel that the report of the
Navy Department on the findings of
the coming maneuvers as to the rela-
tive merits of the two canals in COM
municationS and defense will be one of
the deciding factors In the fate Of the
Ntcaraguan project.
Half Capacity Now Used.
Although the Panama Canal has been
considered by the authorities adequate
for the present needs, it has been cal
culated that within the next 20 or 80
years, at the present rate Of traffic in
crease, the Panama route will become
insufficient The annual capacity of
the Panama Canal in cargo tons Is esti-
mated at 65,000,000. That figure does
not, however, take into consideration the
fact that the arrival of traff1c is very
irregular. There are times when the
entrances are practically empty and
others when ships are forced to wait as
long as two days for clear passage.
The transits of 1929-30 were 6,185,
u.-fk1 e a
what is considered the mean average
(32 ships daily the average annual
maximum capacity is IL $50 ships, which
would allow only slightly more than a
80 per cent increase.
The drought has greatly aggravated
the problem of the increasing traffic.
The l929-30 period is reported as the
driest on record in so years, greatly
lowering the water level of the artificial
Gatun Lake. Now officials in Panama
are looking forward to the completion
of the dam authorized by Congress in
1928, to dam the Chagres River at
Alhajeula. This dam will be ITO feet
high and with its $4,000, 100000 cubic
feet of water will create a reservoir COW
ering % square miles. It's cost is esti-
mated at $12,000,000 and the time to
complete it at five years.
Follows Vanderbilt Route.
The Nicaraguan survey, which Is
being made by Col Dan I. Sultan, with
Q battalion of United States Army En-
gineers, Is progressing rapidly and
completion Of the survey is expected by
this coming Summer. The map making
details have been completed and the
Engineers are now diamond drilling at
the proposed locksites to determine the
depth of rock.
Ae roonOod %ha ,,ro,o,.k ,..o,.-.os
route comedies almost perfectly with
the route suggested in 1850 by Antonio
Galvao, Portuguese; it also follows
the passage used by Commodore Corne-
Illus Vanderbilt in 1849, when he
brought the Side-wheeler Dictator as
lar as Lake Nicaragua, loaded with
men on their way to the California
gold rush. From the lake the ensuing
is miles to the Pacific Coast was dis
OF low, rocky, arid ground is today the
only part of the route where it is
necessary to cut q channel.
Following the mapped route from
Brito, on the Pacific, to its termination,
at the breakwater harbor Of Greytown,
on the Caribbean, after crossing that
first narrow strip of ground, the trav-
eler finds himself on the shores of Lake
Nicaragua, body Of choppy, muddy
water 125 miles long and from 40 to
rs miles in width. Draining into Lake
Nicaragua from the north through a
16-mile channel known as the Rio
Tipiapa, is Lake Managua, almost half
as large and "a feet higher, insuring
q plentiful water supply The route
crosses Lake Nicaragua for a distance
Of rs miles to San Carlos and the San
Juan River, which runs parallel to the
border between Costa Rica and Mica
ragua and In one spot touches the
border.
Time Saving Put at Two Days.
For one-half of its length the San
Juan River is deep and sluggish, and
wide, winding through jungies and
p1angrove swamps. But after passing
dne junction with the San Carlos River
it becomes turbulent and muddy. Even
30 it is navigable for small river boats
(Which now are Nicaragua's only means
of coaSt-to-coaSt tranSportation) with
the exception of the four rapids known
as the Costello group. At these points
portage Is essential. The river In sew
eral places would have to be straight
ened and the channel deepened for its
entire length to Greytown Harbor.
The entire distance from coast to
coast by this route is 1873 miles, and it
IS estimated that the time of passage