THE PANAMA CANAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1736, 10 January 1888, Page 3

THE PANAMA CANAL

M. De Lesaeps now proposes to build the canal with looks, Instead of the tidewater plan, but he will adopt the latter eventually. Mr Honry B Slaven, Preeident of the Mexican Contracting and Dredging Company, that has been actively la the work of dredgiog the oanal since the start, arrived m New York on November 29. He informed the " Sun " that the oanal is nearly half done, and m his opinion ships will oross within three years from January, 1888. The canal is open atpreaent for vessels drawing 15ft of water for twenty kilometres on the Atlantic side, and of a total length of seventyfour kilometres, and twenty- four more will be done by Jnly next. The French Company on the P*cifio aide will bare five more completed. M. de Leasepß denies that he trer said the Canal would ba opened m February 1889. Some American papers, notably the •• New York Tribune," advance the opinion that the election of M S»di-Oarnot to the Presidency of the French Republic will have an important bearing upon the fortunes of M. de Leaaeps' enterprise, baaing this upon the fact that when the new President was Finance Minister of the De Freyclnet Cabinet, m 1886, he proposed on the part of the Government, the authorisation of the Panama Canal Lottery Bonds, a proposal wbloh waj rejected after a mas'orly rep rt had been made by M. Rauß»eau. M Sodi-Oarnot la now elected Pre. ldent at a critical morce t, when the De Lease p? enterprise is literally said to be m the laatditcb.