The Topeka state journal. [volume], December 22, 1900, LAST EDITION, Editorial Section, Image 15

About The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
I
THE GREAT ARTIFICIAL-
WATERWAYS OF THE WORL D
I
IF THE recommendation of the isth
mian commission is to be adopted,
sooner or later it would seem that
the backbone of the American continent
is to be divided and the long promised
ranal connecting the waters of the At
lantic and Pacific become an accom
plished fact. Viewed in the light not
only of recent but ancient history,
whatever may be the outcome of the
latest investigation, there is no , doubt
that the American interoceanic canal
hy some route is an eventuality of the
future comparatively near, taking into
account the gigantic nature of the task
and the necessity for careful prepara
tion. Although it was well within the pres
ent century that the TTnited States gov
ernment had its attention directed to
the feasibility of a. transisthmian canal
and only in 1S05 that the famous sci
entist Von Humboldt declared it prac
ticable, yet nearly 400 years have pass
ed since the search for a waterway con
necting the two oceans was first be
srun. Christopher Columbus was look
ing for it in 1502, and it was the impel
ling motive of Vasco Nunez de Balboa,
when, Sept. 26, 1513. "silent upon a peak
In Darien," he, first of all Europeans,
looked upon the waters of the Pacific.
The centennial of canalization in the
I'nited States was celebrated in 1S92,
for it was in 1792 that two short canals
were opened on the Connecticut river in
Massachusetts Put George Washing
ton has been called the "father of the
canal system' in our country, owing to
his early and persistent advocacy of an
artificial waterway to connect the Po
tomac and the Great lakes, which di
rectly resulted in the Chesapeake and
Ohio canal and indirectly, it is claimed,
in the Rrie. President Madison urged
the uniting of the great lakes with the
Mississippi river by a ship canal suita
ble for light draft war vessels, which
X
in
A
syiQ
lere
The
Of the
When
The VPil
If all
ff..t ll
vavtt I IV.. i
The
I
He taught1
Love
ind that
If wealth
Or ease
rank
rMor oy
XN5 Till
was ultimately carried out in the great
Chicago drainage canal in more recent
times.
While we have, it is estimated, more
than 5,000 miles of canals within the
limits of the United States, none is
large enough to float modern warships
of deep draft or vessels intended for
transoceanic commerce.
There are more than a dozen canals
of over 100 miles each in length which
are entitled to the designation ""great."
Heading the list is the famous Erie, 360
"miles, connecting Buffalo and the Hud
son river. All these, however, are of
comparatively shallow depth, and few
are capable of being enlarged to meet
the demands of the times as ship ca
nals. The short but important Sault Ste;
Marie, connecting Lakes Superior and
Huron, has been enlarged and deepen
ed since its original construction in
1S35, and the Canadian canal, the Wel
land, between Lakes Erie and Ontario,
has also been made deep enough for
gunboats and most war vessels.. In the
proposed ship canal connecting the St.
Lawrence and Lake Huron by way of
the Ottawa and French rivers, the Ca
nadian government will possess a work
of inestimable value which may change
the balance of trade considerably in its
favor.
The really great undertaking for this
government to prosecute, many noted
engineers have averred, is a ship canal
to parallel our Atlantic coast from Bos
ton or the north shore of Cape Cod to
New Orleans or Galveston, cutting
across the Massachusetts peninsula,
passing through Long Island sound, be
hind the New Jersey toast. Cape Hat
teras, etc., through the marsh regions
of Georgia and across the peninsula of
Florida to the gulf of Mexico. Such a
cjnal, they say, could be provided at
comparatively small expense and with
out a lock the entire distance. At least
S CHRIST
is Poem by Neil Macdonald
(Cw'lM. 1900, kr Rett MactnuM.)
princely gifts upon His cot were
inatrioir angelic airs seraphic played.
sl'ns forecast the ills of coming
was no presage or mat racerui
crucifixion, or the stranger's tomb.
dismay that filled all hearts with
the earth shook, mid universal
fhah hfrfp hh Fnriir From mir
Obscures in love, for who would dare
The toilsome journey that's outlined for!
the future ills of life they knew? ,
1.1 ' l c li
1 I v w I I J IVO J j Vf V I V II Ivl I 1
fiery ordeal which before Him
though He shrank from ills that
lewent where love and dutyTea
us, love should dominate the
mat forgives, would fain forget a
the kind end tender ever find
Jdys-wh.'ch to selfish persons ne'er
were requisite for highest need.
untroubled led us near to God.
Christ would have traced some (other
Our halting footsteps than the road
and pride and grandeur of the
The Mammon power to which the servile kneel
were naught to Him who chose a low! estate
And on man's toil put His upproving seal.
The poor man's Christ, for poverty He knew
In birth, in life, in death, rebuked the pride
I hat measures men by standard of the
the worth which will God s t
' TOPEK A ST ATE JOURNAL, SAT UTID AY EVENING, DECEMBER 22, 1900
"Kindle the Christmas brand and then
Till sunneset let it burner
Which quencht, then lay Jt up agen,
one plucky American demonstrated the
feasibility of passing from the St. Law
rence to the gulf of Mexieo nearly all
the way by natural water courses and
inlets, when Mr. Nathaniel H. Bishop
made his wonderful voyage of nearly
5,000 miles in a paper canoe.
In the old world, attempts at canaliza
tion were made many centuries prior to
the discovery of the new world, unless
we take into consideration the weak ef
forts of the peoples anciently dwelling
here and who are now extinct. Artifi
cial waterways, in fact, are of almost,
if not quite, equally ancient origin with
roadways on land, having probably
been originally constructed for irriga
tion and secondarily for transportation
purposes. The first ship canal or wa
terway of magnitude was probably As
syrian, but the Egyptians and the Chi
nese possessed some canals of note, for
pretty reliable evidence has been ad
duced to show that Egypt once united
the waters of the Red sea and the Med
iterranean by digging across the isth
mus of Suez, while China today pos
sesses its Grand canal, over 1,000 miles
long, which is said to have taken 120
years to build.
Passing to other worlds, do not the
astronomers tell us that there are ca
nals in the planet Mars, by means of
which it is hoped to secure ultimate
communication with the remote Mar
tians, using them as the basis of sig
naling through ethereal space?
The largest ship canal in Europe until
quite recently was that which placed
Amsterdam, Holland. in connection
with the North sea. This has a length
of 51 miles, a surface width of 124 f?it
and a depth of 18 feet, permitting the
passage of 1,400 ton ships. In Great
Britain there are more than 2,000 miles
of canals, but until the great waterway
was opened to Manchester a few years
ago, the largest work of the kind there
was the Caledonian canal, which had a
laic
time
year.
fear
gloor
Uin
pursueyv)
men.fWy?,
1 1 f 3 . ' J .
WH iC
lay.
woul
way.
ti
ind.
belong.
path to lea
He trod.
drear.
J'ew
Wrong. A jn
Christmas next returne"
A Jolly
S
of1?-
ff1 ts
;i i ...
Photo by Mellen, Clucago.
total length of 60 miles ajid a depth of
20 feet.
The Manchester canal stands unique
in the history of artificial waterways,
since it was dug: to connect with the sea
a city without a harbor. It is 30 miles
long-, has an unobstructed channel 2S
feet deep and cost more than $75,000,000,
the estimate having been $45,000,000. As
an example of enterprise on the part
of merchants and manufacturers, this
attempt to convert an inland city into
a maritime metropolis to bring the
ships to the factories rather than re
move the latter to the coast is almost
unprecedented. , - .. .
In France the Canal du Midi, con
structed more than 200 years ago, is 150
miles long and 60 feet wide, but not
over seven feet. deep. A ship canal is,
however, projected to unite the waters
of the Loire and the Rhone, thus con
necting the Atlantic and the Mediterra
nean. It w ill shorten the distance, say,
between London and India, by at least
1,000 miles, but it will also take away
British prestige by leaving Gibraltar
high and dry and no longer the key to
the Mediterranean.
What is likely to be the longest canal
in the world is that projected across
Russia from the Baltic to the Black
sea. a distance of 700 miles as the crow
flies and about 1.000 as canal and
rivers must run. By means of this ca
nal Russia would be made independent
of Turkey and all other powers in fact,
for it is intended to cut it to a depth
sufficient to permit the passage of the
largest battleships. It is to be 200 ffet
wide at surface, 115 at bottom and 27
feet in depth. Its cost is estimated at
from $93,000,000 to $100,000,000, but will
probably exceed even the larger figures.
The German government, as is well
known, has been Indefatigable in canal
digging, its latest great work being the
famous Kiel-North sea canal, which is
64 miles in length and about 30 feet
deep and cost nearly $40,000,000. It was
opened in 1S95 with briliiant ceremonies,
the emperor himself presiding, when a
procession of merchant steamers and
warships sailed through, taking five
hours to pass a given point. -
It is believed that all the greater
works of this character have been cited,
except, of course, that most famous of
all, the Suez canal, the history of which
is well known. A ship canal may have
anciently connected the waters of the
Mediterranean and the Red seas; but if
so It had been filled up and abandoned
for nearly 1,100 years when Ie Lesseps
took hold of the more modern enter
prise. The first of modern surveys of
this route for a canal were made under
orders of Napoleon I during his inva
sion of Egypt, but the reports of his
engineers in making the level of the
Cbristro&5 AVorpirpg Group.
' si?
T '"7-
x
J -
s.
- f h
r
S
Red sea 30 feet higher than that of the
Mediterranean were found to be erro
neous by a combined survey of French,
English and Austrian engineers in 1847,
when the true level was ascertained.
M. De Lesseps secured a concession for
the canal in 1854, and a company was
ors-anized in 185S, with exclusive guar
antees for 99 years. His original esti
mate was $10,000,000 for the total work,
but when it was completed, in 1S69, its
real cost amounted to J99.000.000. Yet
even on this vast sum it is said to have
paid a good profit, though the original
stockholders may not have shared in U.
In its length of about 100 miles about 75
miles were land excavation and 25 miles
traversed the lakes. Its width at sur
face averages 325 feet, at bottom 72,
while the depth is 26 feet.
Recurring now to the ship canil that
comes neareft home to the pros;e- tive
cut across some portion of Central
America it may be noted that four
routes have been in view for many
years. These were, first, across the
isthmus of Tehuantepec, in Mexieo;
second, along the southern frontier of
Nicaragua; third, across the isthmus of
Panama, and, fourth, across Darien.
The first has been pronounced imprac
ticable owing to diplomatic as well as
physical obstacles in the way, though
it is in some respects admirable. It is
130 miles from east to west side, With
an ascent to 6S0 feet, and the river Co
atzacoalcos extends three-fourths the
way across.
Surveys have been carried on in a
desultory manner by the United States
government during the past 40 or 50
years, and the engineers have finally
settled upon the very routes chosen
more than 300 years ago. Though a
route across Darien, to the south of
Panama, has been frequently advocat
ed, the final choice now lies between
Nicaragua and Panama. The distances
between ports of the north Atlantic
and Pacific coasts are approximately
the same via either Panama or Nica
ragua, each section having its compen
sations and disadvantages. Panama,
as all the world knows, has already
been exploited to a greater extent than
Nicaragua. De Lessees' original esti
mate was $240,000,000, and actual work
was begun in 1S&1, but it is said that
from $250,000,000 to $300,000,000 have al
ready been expended, and that at least
$150,000,000 will be necessary to finish
the work, which is not more than half
or two-thirds completed. In Panama
the Culebra mountain, 400 feet high,
and the intermittently torrential Cha
gres river, with its deadly fevers, are
the two chief deterrents to successful
operations.
Without entering into a discussion of
the respective advantages of eithtr
, ' i
t
A
!r"l!f
S S r.' . .-j.'- ------ .-
' f ' s
Coprriprht, ISO, by Parkinson Co., Nirw York.
"WASN'T SANTA CUAUS GOOD TO AE?'
route, of the Nh nmnuun ii m:iv l
salely asserted that it is cnn!fi;ir;ua;v
healthful. Tlie i lii.'f .bie t inns to ii ti i
lt- length strut rtie rifvntion of Hi
country throui;li uliiili the ;m.il m u-t
pass. As a-:tinst only rnii'-n and it,--poswlbillry
of :i i-r;i K-i-i-l caisl at I'm.
atlia'. there mi- tli iliMain-- of I Mi
Kiiles and an alt it ml" !' 1 lt 'iot.
pitating mini-r)tt 1m Us. in N't';it iii: !
Th"i pre nti ihsi.:il I -i ilii'
cannot be orer, ith". ;,s i.h
cointniKsions ha" r-Hiti-d, lui t-n.M
i,kih expcmlil in es ill hi- rci'iir
tiiimtcs vvryinx all the way fnmi 1 .''.
OoO.Ooo to :'"..-. lit .M". ulii.h l.itK-r 'i
that of the li-t ii ml "iiKist x lia n -;t i
survey ever l t i I tml. This , nniH'--.
however, was ha d nmui a ( fin.il i'
25 feet deep, In Humiliation .!' tmu --fxigi'ni'i,-s;
hut if thi E- I ! !
reduced to fci-t a n'iin nf m i ! i'-1
J ;0.0O0.0M) cculd h" (.,! Tin- it"
t'anary loiku ami an Imrai ns" il.im m
imnountliiig th a!"i-s i.f th" .an Jinn
river make this roiitf t ' - r -
Hvp. prohSf.'y, Unit rout.l l- v-i. ..M.
but, on t'Cc nthi'f haml. its h T t w.. a
ic and topmrrnpliic aw !! as cim.
advantages, arc ind is pu t a hi,-, wp't a
larRa ant di-ti la K" t N i:n t a;;u.i V n ' a
elevation tyf ovfr Ih f..,t a l-n r- .a I. -el
and h perpetual stii't'ly of xsatfi as
ily controlled.
' Taken ail 'in Jl iiml Hfier v Ic ,. ) in
the evidence pro ami enn, it apj.'-ai
that the hi can il to cntn t i he nn
great oceans of ihe fiiinre wit f.roiiHhlv
pass over tit' Nmarm-'na route.
The following tahle oi cmri t-a i a t i
distances shows t h" tiumher ,r nii.
In water travel saved by- the of h-
tial routes built and ro j.vfd :
Distance s-ivil h,iv.-rti V !
I xirwt'in nn(t Bef,slm 4
New York nl s.iti Kiom e mj. i
Sfv Y'lirk anil ll"li' : ,
i-w Orlnan! anil Mi.nkia.ir . w '
Nw tlriitau6 M'ul u t i ;iin i .1 -i , 11 u ' i
.Neiv York anil Sim I l ani-ia Mint
New Yurk and iikni..Hiu ', ""-i
New York and M.1U, a m- a
l.ierpiHil ami Sin Kr:ni 7 a 1 i
laerii0'! and U"'yl"nt; l.l' i
l.iveioel and Y'ekaliiiitiH l.n ,i
Livit-ol anil ll.i.iii , :'pi
Tin' tliwtani e limn n .Iratiu (a
New Y ork is . " " 1 ' '
S.m Franriixi t
tlnii'ihilu i. . a. , t '"a
llanila is a.'i-'-'
TIU'MAN I.. KLTdX.
KOl l.llUII.
The London a? the Unmans lies hurt" f
about 18 ftet lii hnv (lie l" el of Cheap
aide, and si ill il"t per than that ii bur
iedtthe earlier london of the liiiriais.
In nearly all parts oi the it y the. ..
have been diseocre-l lessc'.hi t "il pae
nents, Roman baths. pnribN. Iji iti i
Vases, pandals. ke s. vcai.on. ciri
and Statues of the undent llnnian uinis.
1
I '
1! "
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