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Show CANAL FORFRAHCE ON 13 PROPOSED FltOM ATLANTIC TO MEDITERRANEAN, Gigantic Enterprise Which Would Make Gibraltar of Little Value to England To Take Eight Years to Build. Franco is getting ready to lift up her shipping to the first rank, double the forco of her navy, and cause tho Mediterranean Med-iterranean to cense to be an "English lnko" by nuullfylng Gibraltar. And this she expects to accomplish by building a vast ship canal across the lower end of Franco from tho Atlantic At-lantic to tho Mediterranean. By Its means, the French fleet will be capable of operating, ono day on the Atlantic, and then two days later show itself In Mediterranean ports, without subjecting subject-ing Itself to the guns of Gibraltar. Ono of the queerest things about It Is that tho canal exists already for canal boats and small coasters. To enlarge en-large It for warships and merchantmen is no mere dream. Slnco 1878 't'ho canal of the two sens" has been fully planned by engineers. Three parliamentary parlia-mentary commissions have mado estimates es-timates upon it, nnd now M. Oauthlcr, CANAL ACQUKUUCT OVEIt GAIlONNIi IUVKR. (How Locomotives Will Draw Warships Through the Cnnnl.) minister of public works, has sent his own commission to make final studies of tho scheme, and its conclusions are to bo submitted to the lower house for action. Tho modern engineers havo a Titanic Ti-tanic task before them to enlarge tho Bordeaux-Narbonno system to a deep sea ship canal a ship canal that must climb and descend a mountain water shed! Eight years will be required. The cost is estimated at a minimum of $100,000,000, although an early commission com-mission set It at $200,000,000 and still another at $350,000,000. The latter calculation cal-culation has been proved erroneous. The presont estimates foresee 300,-000 300,-000 workmen, guided by 30 chief engineers en-gineers and 200 overseers, with dig-glng dig-glng and tunneling machines driven by 60,000 horsepower. The route Is straight from Arcachon to Agen on the Oaronnc, 86. miles of easy cutting, without a slnglo lock. , Tho waters of tho Garonne aro to be reenforced from mnny a torrent of tho Pyrenees which will save Toulouse Tou-louse and other towns from tho periodic peri-odic inundations that now trouble them. Between Agon and Toulouso the Garonne, strongly banked and become be-come at last the safe drain of these mountain torrents, will tako the fleets of war and commerco to Toulouso bo come the central maritime arsenal ot France. j From Toulouse to Castelnajidry, the route Is along the old bed of tho canal of Languedoc, of Clara Ward's ances jtor-by-marrlage. Tho old cnnn abounds in locks. To mount to tho lock of tho ocean, where begins the up per race, it asconds a gradient of 200 feet by means of 17 locks in a distance of 32 miles. Tho upper race is 3 miles long and terminates at the lock of tho Mediterranean. To descend tc the Mediterranean the work ot Rlquet extends over 114 miles, descending s gradient of nearly 600 feet by means ol 48 locks. French commerce waits upon tht canal for Its restoration. While the French coasting trado Is reduced to 8,000,000 tons n year, that of Great Britain Is over 120,000,000 tons. The French deep-sea carrying Is less than that of Ital or Norway. German boats touch at Cherbourg to tako American freight; and English lines to the orient ori-ent cnlmly mako Marseilles their western west-ern stopping place. Over 80 per cent, of French exports nro carried In for elgn bottoms, making a gift of $S0, ,000,000 annually to the English, Germans Ger-mans and Italians. When this canal Is built, England herself will elthor havo to pay toll to tho French or loso a lot of her own trade, and so on for tho othor commercial commer-cial neonles to-day nasslnc thMr stuff through the straits of Gibraltar. From Malta to Ushant, for example, there will be an economy of moro than 800 miles by the canal; from Genoa to Ushant, an economy of 1,150 miles Bordeaux and Nantes, on tho Atlantic, will becomo almost Mediterranean ports. From Bordeaux to Malta b Gibraltar Is now 2,308 miles. By the canal it will be only 1,000 miles. |