IE-
* . -
10 Conservative *
THE NICARAGUA CANAL.
Tin : CONSEHVATIVE'S Oouuersville cor
respondent , in the issue of April 26th , is
much in error ill some of his statements
regarding the proposed Nicaragua canal.
Ho says that "Lake Nicaragua is a
beautiful sheet of water , which has
always attracted the attention of those
seeking a canal route , but to the east ,
and to the west , lies a rocky and moun
tainous region , of great extent , which
will bnfllo the skill of the best engineers
in connecting the placid lake with the
two oceans. "
The fact is that the placid lake is
already connected with the Caribbean
sea by the San Juan river , up the valley
of which the canal is to be constructed ,
without encountering any kind of a
"mountainous region , " or other unusual
natural obstacle. The length of this
river is 121 miles , and the maximum
lake elevation is to be 110.4 feet above
sea level , which is less than one foot rise
per mile. From the lake to the Pacific
ocean the distance is 17 miles , and the
highest "mountain" encountered on the
canal route is only an enlarged mole
hill , the summit of which is only 55 feet
above the surface of the lake and 165
feet above sea level of the Pacific ocean ,
which is about five feet lower than the
Atlantic. Again your correspondent in
depicting the difficulties of navigating
the San Juan river , says that "at the
Castillo rapids , the river falls thirty
feet in a quarter of a mile. " The report
of the Walker Nicaragua Canal Com
mission , made public a few weeks ago ,
gives the fall of the river at Castillo
rapids as six feet in four-tenths of a
mile. Quito a. difference.
Again , he says , "there are several
rocky rapids in the San Juan river , and
it will require enormous outlays of
money , and great labor , to construct a
canal with locks and dams. " Only one
dam is proposed to be built by the
Walker commission , and that to bo
located at Boca San Carlos , sixty-four
miles from the lake , and fifty-seven
miles from Grey town. This dam will
raise the water in the river to a level
with the water in the lake , and make
slack water navigation in the river for
sixty seven miles , from the dam to the
lake. The Castillo rapids and other
rocky rapids will be submerged more
than the thirty feet depth of the canal ,
and thus cut no figure in canal con
struction.
And the cost of this dam. will not
require such an "enormous outlay of
money" either , the estimated cost being
$4,570,580 , but little more than the cost
of a first-class battleship , with its equip
ment and armament.
Proposed Locution.
Briefly stated , the canal as located by
the commibsion , begins at Greytowu on
the Caribbean sea , runs thence a few
miles across a low and nearly level
coastal plain , to the narrow valley of the
< 0H V *
San Juan river , thence it runs up the
valley to Boca , San Carlos , where the
big dani is to be constructed ; thence it
follows the channel of the river with
slack water navigation , to the lake ,
thence across the lake to Los Lajos ,
thence cutting across a low divide and
descending to the Pacific Ocean at Brito.
The total length of the completed
canal will be 189 miles. The 110.4
feet rise from the Caribbean sea will be
overcome by use of six locks , each hav
ing a lift of 18.4 feet , so located as to
give the least possible excavation. The
rise on the Pacific side will be overcome
with four locks , each with a lift of 28.87
feet.
Climate Not Unliciilthftil.
Your correspondent also apprehends
that the Nicaragua climate is as deadly
as the Panama climate. The reports of
the Maritime Canal Company show that
there was no more sickness among their
men than is usual among similar camps
of railroad men all over this country ,
and Mr. F. L. Stuart , one of the assist
ant engineers of the canal commission ,
says in his report : "The climate on the
San Juan river has been very uniform ,
rarely very hot or cold. The eight or
ten officers and thirty or forty men ,
who have composed our camp for the
last seven months , have all been in good
health , with one exception. The men ,
ourselves included , have camped in tents
along the bank of the river , been exposed
to constant rains , have had no water to
drink except that of the river , have fol
lowed the dictates of their tastes in
eating such food as was provided , have
had no medical attention , and yet have
been perfectly well. " No climate or
locution can give bettor results than
that.
Cost of Construction.
The canal as planned and estimated
by the commission has a much greater
cross section than the Maritime Canal
Company or Menocal plans , having
thirty feet minimum depth and one
hundred and fifty minimum width ,
against twenty-eight feet minimum
depth and one hundred feet minimum
width respectively , thus giving about
sixty per cent greater average water
prime than the Meuocal plans. For unit
prices the commission has taken the
prices paid for the Chicago drainage
canal as a basis , adding fifty per cent
thereto for canal prices west of Lake
Nicaragua , and thirty-three and a third
per cent for prices east of the lake.
With these unit prices and others for
locks , dams , etc. , based on prices paid
for similar work elsewhere , and after
adding $8,000,000 for a double track
railroad to facilitate construction for
sanitary and police purposes , and for
buoys , beacons , lights , etc. , and adding
six per cent to the whole for engineering
and administration , the gross sum
amounts to $98,428,158 , but to cover all
possible contingencies the commission
has added twenty per cent to this sum ,
carrying the grand total up to $118,118-
790 , and doubtless this is more than
ample for constructing and completing
the canal in a first-class manner.
Feasibility of the Canal.
As to feasibility of construction , the
commission says : "The ability to con
struct and operate locks of requisite
dimensions is sufficiently established by
existing structures on the Manchester
and Kiel canals , at Davis Island on the
Ohio , and at the St. Mary's canal in
Michigan. The possibility of construct
ing the necessary dams , weirs , sluices
and embankments , which shall be
sufficiently stable , is fully demonstrated
by the many hundreds of miles of
embankments , levees and dams at home
and abroad ; there is no question as to
the adequacy of the supply of water for
all purposes ; neither is there any doubt
with reference to the ability to secure
good supporting ground for the trunk of
the canal nor suitable sites for locks and
dams. The harbor question is only a
matter of money and it is believed that
capacious and safe harbors can be
created at a reasonable cost.
BUllcultics Not Insurmountable.
Thus it will be seen that the com
mission is thoroughly convinced of the
feasibility of the construction of the
great canal. When the whole question
is carefully studied in the light of the
many surveys and investigations of the
last decade , the alleged tremendous and
insuperable obstacles , so persistently
raised by those who oppose the con
struction of the canal , all vanish and
disappear. Its ten locks are each much
less in size than the great "Soo" look at
St. Marys in Michigan. Its San Boca
dam is less in length , breadth and
heighth than the big Croton dam now
under construction in New York. Its
artificial harbors at each end are no more
difficult of construction than a score of
others. The amount of rock excavation
is only about two-thirds of the rock
excavation in the Chicago drainage
canal , and the earth excavation is mostly
alluvium , sand and silt , much more
easily and cheaply handled than the
excessively hard "glacial drift , " en
countered in the Chicago canal. Thus
there are no problems connected with
the Nicaragua canal that our engineers
and contractors , among the ablest , best
and most ingenious in the world , cannot
successfully handle. Unless the present
enlarged canal commission shall find a
better route , which seems very unlikely ,
all that remains to bo done is for con
gress to remove all political obstacles
and provide for an issue of $100,000,000
of 2 per cent bonds , to be issued as may
be required , when the engineers and
construction force will do the rest.
O. B. GUNN.
Kansas City , Mo. , April 29 , 1900.
