Transportation on Water 383 



practically no interruption until the completion of the canal. 

 The official opening occurred in March, 1915. 



Value to trade and commerce. The trade and commercial 

 importance of the Panama Canal may be indicated by a few 

 facts briefly stated. The cost is estimated to be about 

 $375,000,000. The length of the canal is fifty miles. The 

 highest elevation to which ships must be raised is eighty-five 

 feet above sea level, through the Gatun Lake and the Culebra 

 Cut. The locks are constructed to accommodate the largest 

 ships, being 110 feet wide and 1000 feet long. 



Exercise. The distance from New York to San Francisco via 

 Cape Horn or the Straits of Magellan is about 13,244 miles ; via the 

 Panama Canal, 5299 miles. The canal route is shorter by nearly 

 8000 miles. Consider the difference in cost to shippers, if the average 

 daily expense per shipload is $100. The canal tolls must be included 

 in the total expense. Find what these are for general merchandise. 



The canal route distance from Liverpool to San Francisco is about 

 8038 miles ; via the southern route, 14,084 miles, and via Suez Canal, 

 13,844 miles. What distance is saved via the Panama Canal over 

 both the other routes? Estimate the saving in shipping cost. Euro- 

 pean ships clearing from Eastern Asiatic ports, as Yokohama, may 

 save time and money by returning via the Canal, stopping en route 

 at ports on the Pacific Coast of America for freight for European 

 destination. By aid of distances given on the map (Fig. 136), cal- 

 culate other advantages gained by the use of the Panama Canal in 

 oceanic transportation. 



174. Other canals. The Panama Canal is important to 

 the United States because of its commercial, engineering, and 

 defensive significance. It also serves as an example of the 

 way in which man changes the waterways of the earth to suit 

 his needs. Cities which were geographically inland have been 

 changed into seaports and have thus acquired large maritime 

 interests. Manchester, England, is now a seaport by means 

 of a canal 32 miles long, which connects the city with the Mersey 

 River and the ocean. Amsterdam, by a canal 16 miles long 

 and 32 feet deep, brings to her docks all but the largest trans- 

 atlantic liners. Holland has almost completely transformed 



