The Great Canals of the World 475 



looking into the establishment of a re- 

 frigerating system, so that meat, vege- 

 tables, eggs, butter, poultry, and other 

 foodstuffs can be brought from cold 

 storage in the United States, transported 

 in cold storage by vessels to the Isth- 

 mus, and then distributed by refrigerat- 

 ing cars to the ice-boxes of the hotels 

 and boarding-houses along the line of 

 the canal. With the installation of this 

 service the personnel of the canal will 

 be properly housed, will have pure 

 water, will be well fed, and the question 

 of proper sanitation will be solved. 



The most efficient scientists and engi- 

 neers are thoroughly convinced that 

 eventually the Isthmus will be a pleasant 

 and agreeable place of abode. They 

 affirm that the fever is not indigenous to 

 the Isthmus. The nights are cool and, 

 with the exception of a short period in 

 the middle of the day, the heat is not 

 oppressive. Both Panama and Colon 



can be rendered as agreeable places of 

 residence as Mobile or Pensacola. 



The Commission have about twelve 

 American steam shovels at work ; others 

 are arriving at the rate of about two a 

 month. 



The Isthmian Commission found that 

 their employes were not being properly 

 fed ; local merchants lacked capacity or 

 enterprise to provide for so many new- 

 comers ; prices for food had nearly 

 doubled in the past two years, with the 

 result that the employes had great dif- 

 ficulty in securing sufficient food of the 

 right quality. In view of this fact, the 

 Commission have made arrangements 

 with an American firm to supply the 

 employes of the company with whole- 

 some food at rates varying from about 

 $10 to $30 a month. The rations must 

 reach a standard set by the Commission, 

 which will inspect the food. 



G. H. G. 



THE GREAT CANALS OF THE WORLD^ 



THE Suez Canal is usually consid- 

 ered the most important exam- 

 ple of ship canals, though the 

 number of vessels passing through it 

 annually does not equal that passing 

 through the canals connecting Lake 

 Superior with the chain of Great Lakes 

 at the south. In length, however, it ex- 

 ceeds any of the other great ship canals, 

 its total length being 90 miles, of which 

 about two-thirds is through shallow 

 lakes. The material excavated was usu- 

 ally sand, though in some cases strata of 

 solid rock from 2 to 3 feet in thickness 

 were encountered. The total excavation 

 was about 80,000,000 cubic yards under 

 the original plan, which gave a depth of 

 25 feet. In 1895 the canal was so en- 

 larged as to give a depth of 31 feet, a 

 width at the bottom of 108 feet and at 



the surface of 420 feet. The original 

 cost was $95,000,000, and for the canal 

 in its present form slightly in excess of 

 $100,000,000. The number of vessels 

 passing through the canal in 1870 was 

 486, with a gross tonnage of 654,915 

 tons; in 1875, 1,494 vessels, gross ton- 

 nage, 2,940,708 tons ; in 1880, 2,026 

 vessels, gross tonnage, 4,344,519 tons; 

 in 1890, 3,389 vessels, gross tonnage, 

 9,749,129 tons; in 1895, 3,434 vessels, 

 gross tonnage, 11,833,637 tons; and in 

 1900, 3,441 vessels, with a gross tonnage 

 of 13,699,237 tons. The net profits of 

 the canal for 1 903 were 65 , 579, 347 francs 

 ($12,500,000) and the stockholders re- 

 ceived dividends of 12 per cent. 



The canal is without locks, being at 

 the sea level the entire distance. The 

 length of time occupied in passing 



*The facts in this article are derived from an exceedingly instructive monograph published 

 (1905) by the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor, entitled "The 

 Great Canals of the World," bvO. P. Austin. 



