A FAMOUS "DITCH."

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 8, 29 January 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

A FAMOUS "DITCH."

WONDERS OF THE SUEZ CANAL

The possibility of the Suez Canal being seized by the threatened invasion of Egypt by the Turks, assisted by those hardy desert fighters, the Bedouins, calls attention to the engineering wonders of the " Ditch," as the waterway is termed, and the strange regulations governing the passage of ships through it.

By means of this artificial waterway the distance between Western Europe and India is reduced from 11.379 to 7628 miles. The canal is 100 miles in length, took ten vears to build, and cost just over £17,000,000. It is rightly regarded as one of the greatest engineering feats ever put in hand and brought to a successful completion. To build it, an army of 30.000 labourers had to be collected and housed and fed in a wilderness. Indeed, the fresh water for the workmen had to lie brought on the backs of camels from places so far distant as Cairo.,To make the waterway, 80,000,000 cubic yards of rock, earth, and sand had to be removed and carted away. During its course of 100 miles it passes through no fewer than five lakes. Before the water was let in. however, they wer© virtually dried up depressions. THE OPENING. It was on November 17, 1869, that the canal wa s opened for traffic. Its creator was sanguine enough to estimate that the tonnage of ships passing through the waterway would be three millions in the first year, and would probably he twice as much during the second year. As a fact, only 491 vessels, representing a total tonnage of 436,618. used the canal durincr the first year of its existence, and it was not until the waterway was nine years old that tho three million mark was reached. Over 4000 vessels, now negotiate the waterway every year, representing an aggregate tonnage or between thirteen and fourteen millions; seven vessels out of every ten that use tho canal fly the British flag. Like everything else, it required experience to "find out the most efficient way of handling large and valuable ships that the waterway specially catered for. For instance, it was not until 18S6 that ships could pass through the canal at nigh"!. This difficulty was got over by making each ship illumine her own course by carrying a powerful searchlight capable of spreading light 4000 feet ahead. Those vessels which do not possess such lights can lure them on entering tho waterway at Port Said and return them on leaving at Suez. The first ship that effected a free passage by night was the P. and Q. steamer " Carthage," which accompl'shed the journey m eighteen hours. Hitherto vessels had to take anywhere from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to cover the 100 miles.

THE RULES. To many tho rules governing ships while making the passage may seem decidedly strange. Written information as to his ship must be handed in by each captain—her name, nationality, draught, and port of sailing and destination, as well as his own name, and that of owners and charterers, and the number of passengers and crew. Warships, too, have to supply a. copy of their muster roll. Naturally nothing must be thrown overboard, especially ashes and cinders; also nothing Is to be picked up. notice of any article lost overboard being left at th 0 nearest station. Xo euiw shall Ik) fired and no steam whistles blown, except in cases of extreme danger. Uno rulo also states that no burial is peimitted in the canal banks. All sailing vessels above fifty tons must be towed; above 150 tons tb?y must take a pilot, and no sailing craft may navigate at nidit. While pilots are compulsory, tho entire responsibility still rests with the captain. If local pilots know the canal better than a stranger, it is argued that captains know more thoroughly the peculiarity and steering capabilities of theirV.vn ships. If a collision appears likely, all ships are instructed to run aground to avoid it the yielding nature of the shallows near the banks offering the lesser of two evils. But no other ship is permitted to help off a grounded one. THE PASSAGE THROUGH. Ordinary steamers make the passage of 100 miles in sixteen hours. 1 here is nothing particularly excitmg in the trip. Entering at Port Said (where considerable improvements are now being carried out in the erection of new docks, wharves, and railway stations), one first notices the trees and shrubs which are now being planted along the banks to protect them. After passing through tho Ballah Lakes. Lako Tirosah, some forty-eight miles from Port Said, is entered. Here is situated Ismailia, a nourishing city boasting of its theatres, hotek. clubs, and restaurants, where the officials of tho canal and the pilots reside. Forty years ago it was a small Arab village*. (>ii each side of the narrow waterway stivtche.s the boundless desert. Here and thero one is pointed out places of Biblical and historical interest, x\OW and again, too, one catches sight oi h caravan 0 f laden lamels patiently wendin-' th?ir way along the routes which have been in "ti.se for carrying merchandise in th : s way for thousands of years. \ fine plan for .giving safety to all sh'ps in transit is m operation much resembling the well-known block system. Tho company control the departure and entrance of all ships, the order of precedence being wholly in their hands, by which not only safety„but the speed of'mails is ensured. No ship may demand immediate passage for any reason but preference is given to regular mail steamers under Government control . ... Tho canal is blocked out in division*, and at the head office of Ismailia a dummv model shows the exact moving position of everything afloat. No vessel mav proved until the way is clear, and a complete system of telephonic signals ensure?, this being done. Along the banks are small stations, twelve betwe n Port Said and Suez, each furnwhod with a high masthead, from which red and yellow balls by day, and coloured lights by night, announce to each vessel whether to proceed through tho next division or to " tie-up and wait for one to go by from tlio opposite d'reetion. Ships coining m the same direction are not allowed to pass on« another. Every five or six miles there : s a short widening, or " gare, where yokels make fast. A WRECK AND ITS SEQt'KT,. With all these precautions collisions do orciwdonallv occur, and ships have sunk ntvl held no the trafnc .or days. The mf ,st re-ent striking instance was the case of the steamer ( hatham which took fire and was souttii-d. She had about 100 tons of dynamite on board. »«, w-11 a. a supnlv of detonators. Tt v -., ,i,.,.,!,., 1 to blow up the ve-.sel. and this w.t; accomplished V; means ol large mines fired bv electricity. Tlu. firing stat : on was located three nn!.;s from the sunken wreck. When the niin.es were fired an enormous column of water and debris lmme(iinV.lv arose, and amended continuously for'five seconds the estimated height

of the column being over 1500 feet. Tli© water of the canal overflowed the surrounding country for a thousand yards in e very direction, and fragments of the ship were distributed over a circle 1200 yards in diameter. The enormous downward thrust of the explosion was shown when soundings came to be faken over the spot where the ship had lain. Here was found a huge hob 73 feet in depth. The result of this accident was that within a period of four days the authorit'es had to handle no fewer than 109 vessels which had been fiftythree passing from the north, and fiftyS'X from the south, directly the canal was re-opened, and this was successfully accomplished without the slightest hitch.

TO BE MADE DEEPER. Over seventy per cent, of the vessels that use the waterway fly the British flag, When first opened the canal had a uniform depth of 2o foot. It is now 31 feet deep. 108 feet wide at the bottom and 420 feet at the water-level. It is still being enlarged, and a few years hence th e largest ship afloat will be able to make tn« passage. To carry out these improvements the most up-to-date machinery is called into requisition, and the largest and most powerful dredging apparatus ever built is to be found at work in this waterway. From a financial point of view the scheme has been a complete success. Every year the revenue received from passing ships amounts to between £4.000,000 and £5,000,000. Ordinary cargo steamers are charged a tariff of Cs. per ton and passenger steamers Ss. per ton, and 10s. 6d. for each passenger curried.

For some years past shareholders havo received dividends at the rate of 2o per cent. Indeed, Suez Canal shares are much sought after, especially since the convention of 1888, which was signed by the leading Powers of Europe, which rendered the waterway exempt from blockade and agreed to the proposal that all vessels, whether armed or not, be allowed to make the passage in peace or war. —H. J. Shepstone.