476 The National Geographic Magazine 



through the canal averages about eight- 

 een hours. By the use of electric lights 

 throughout the entire length of the 

 canal, passages are made at night with 

 nearly equal facility to that of the day. 

 The tolls charged are 9 francs per ton 

 net register, ''Danube measurement," 

 which amounts to slightly more than $2 

 per ton, United States net measurement. 

 Steam vessels passing through the canal 

 are propelled by their own power. 



THE CRONSTADT AND ST PETERS- 

 BURG CANAL 



The canal connecting the Bay of Cron- 

 stadt with St Petersburg is described as 

 a work of great strategic and commercial 

 importance to Russia. The canal and 

 sailing course in the Bay of Cronstadt 

 are about 16 miles long, the canal proper 

 being about 6 miles and the bay channel 

 about 10 miles, and they together extend 

 from Cronstadt, on the Gulf of Finland, 

 to St Petersburg. The canal was opened 

 in 1890 with a navigable depth of 20}4 

 feet, the original depth having been 

 about 9 feet; the width ranges from 220 

 to 350 feet. The total cost is estimated 

 at about $10,000,000. 



THE CORINTH CANAL 



The next of the great ship canals con- 

 necting bodies of salt water in the order 

 of date of construction is the Corinth 

 Canal, which connects the Gulf of Cor- 

 inth with the Gulf of ^gina. The 

 canal reduces the distance from Adriatic 

 ports about 175 miles and from Mediter- 

 ranean ports about 100 miles. Its length 

 is about 4 miles, a part of which was 

 cut through granitic soft rock and the 

 remainder through soil. There are no 

 locks, as is also the case in both the Suez 

 and Cronstadt Canals, already described. 

 The width of the canal is 72 feet at bot- 

 tom and the depth 26% feet. The work 

 was begun in 1884 and completed in 

 1893, at a cos t °f about $5, 000, 000. 

 The average tolls are 18 cents per ton 

 and 20 cents per passenger. 



THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL 



The Manchester Ship Canal, which 

 connects Manchester, England, with the 

 Mersey River, Liverpool, and the At- 

 lantic Ocean, was opened for traffic Jan- 

 uary 1, 1894. The length of the canal 

 is 2>5% miles, the total rise from the 

 water level to Manchester being 60 feet, 

 which is divided between four sets of 

 locks, giving an average to each of 1 5 

 feet. The minimum width is 120 feet 

 at the bottom and averages 175 feet at 

 the water level, though in places the 

 width is extended to 230 feet. The 

 minimum depth is 26 feet, and the time 

 required for navigating the canal from 

 five to eight hours. The total amount 

 of excavation in the canal and docks 

 was about 45,000,000 cubic yards, of 

 which about one- fourth was sandstone 

 rock. The lock gates are^operated by 

 hydraulic power ; railways and bridges 

 crossing the route of the canal have 

 been raised to give a height of 75 feet 

 to vessels traversing the canal, and an 

 ordinary canal whose route it crosses is 

 carried across by a springing aqueduct 

 composed of an iron caisson resting 

 upon a pivot pier. The total cost of 

 the canal is given at $75,000,000. The 

 revenue in 1 901 , according to the States- 

 man's Yearbook, was ^621,128, and 

 the working expenses, ^483,267. For 

 the year ending June 30, 1903, the canal 

 yielded ^55, 105 ($275,525) toward pay- 

 ing the ^225, 000 ( $ r , 1 2 5 , 000 ) of interest 

 which the city of Manchester has to 

 pay on the capital invested in the enter- 

 prise. The freight-paying tolls on the 

 canal are increasing each year. 



THE KAISER WILHELM CANAL 



Two canals connect the Baltic and 

 North seas through Germany — the first, 

 known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, 

 having been completed in 1895 and con- 

 structed largely for military and naval 

 purposes, but proving also of great value 

 to general mercantile traffic. Work 

 upon the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal was 



