SHIPS ON WHEELS. 341 
is less than one-third of that required to build the tide-level canal proposed by M. 
De Lesseps. The annual tonnage to be carried is placed at 1,000,000 tons below 
that estimated by De Lesseps—namely, at only 5,000,000 tons. Now, if the 
Nicaraguan Canal Company can pay an 8 per-cent dividend annually by the im- 
position of a toll of but $2 per ton, the same dividend can be declared by the 
ship railway upon the imposition of toll of but $1 per ton, for the reason that the 
cost of the ship railway will not exceed $50,000,000, or one-half the sum required 
for the construction of the canal; nor will its maintenance and operating expenses 
be in any greater proportion. I am convinced that the estimate of the cost of 
constructing the canal at Nicaragua is far below what it will actually cost, and 
that it can not possibly be built as proposed for less than $100,000,000. Should 
the proposed work be constructed, it will be found that the cost of improving the 
harbor at Greytown will far exceed any figure which the sanguine advocates of 
the scheme are now willing to place upon it. The cost of maintaining its har- 
bors when improved, that of dredging the canal and keeping it and its locks in 
repair, and a hundred other minor expenses, demand the attention of those by 
whose products and labor the necessary interest on the capital invested must be 
paid. 
Capt. Eads concludes as follows: ‘‘ Standing in your presence to-day, and 
conscious of the full import of my words, I declare to you, 
1. That a shin railway can be constructed at one-half the cost of a canal 
with locks, and in one-half the time. 
2. That when completed, the railway can be maintained and operated at a 
cost not exceeding that of a canal. 
3. That your largest vessels, with their cargoes, can be safely carried from 
ocean to ocean in one-half the time required for a passage through the canal. 
These considerations alone, it seems to me, should decide you at once in favor 
of the railway. But these are not the only ones. The railroad, when completed, 
can be enlarged from time to time, as the wants of commerce may demand. 
And should the commerce using the road demand a double instead of a single 
line of tracks, the work can be speedily done and at a reasonable expense, and 
without interfering with its traffic. Another matter which I desire to suggest is 
this: Wherever a canal is practicable, a railway is also practicable; and at some 
points a railway could be constructed where a canal would be out of the question. 
As you reduce the distance for the carrying of your freight you reduce the cost 
of transportation. ‘There can be no doubt a ship railway could be constructed at 
Tehuantepec, and if this route were selected almost 700 miles of transportation 
could be saved over that necessary if the transit was by Nicaragua.”—San Fran- 
cisco Chronicle. 
