Show taw R DESOLATE SUEZ va 1 20 rt P 7 tl FRE I 1 4 KEEP IT GOING 4 experienced special pilots guide ships through the suez canil canal X popular 0 pular idea that british control canal doesn doean t agree with fac facts as prepared by national society washington D C service T THE HE suez canal thought by many laymen to be british controlled is the property of and is operated by the compagnie Univ Uni crselle verselle du canal maritime de suez registered as an egyptian company under egyptian law with its main administrative offices in paris the president pre aident is always french as are also 21 of its 32 directors and it its s entire S secretariat e C r e lariat a and nd higher personnel the general workers are arc a cosmopolitan group the canal company does nothing that it can got get others to do equally well when hand labor gave way to machine operation various entrepreneurs pren eurs were given the work of excavation and the majority of the digging was done by contractors part of the west jetty made up of cement blocks worth 65 apiece was built by contract the company had to construct a freshwater fresh water canal and filter filtering inn 1 stations in order to carry on its basic work but it leaves the delivery of the water to others the per personnel sonnet has just three things to do to keep the canal open to keep the ships passing through and to keep the records the maintenance of the canal and its improvements is in the hands of the works department whose officers are first class graduates from the ecole Poly technique and the ecole centrale in paris dentistry for dredges one never knows how much equipment is required in the upkeep of a canal until he accompanies a member of the works department through the shops and around the small harbor where the broken toothed dredges come back to have their dentistry done it looks as though every disabled or incorrigible piece of wood or metal in that part art of the w world orld were dumped about compared with the works department the traffic department has a nice clean job one sees no clutter of papers no bulky correspondence the principal officers are recruited from the french navy there is in addition to the watchfulness of captain and pilot an eye on every ship that goes through the canal from the time she is sighted in one sea until she is turned loose to shift for herself in the other the british post office refused to recognize the canal for two years bears too slow they said yet nothing but an airplane has equalled equal led the speed actually attained between port said and port tewfik on the canal itself the traffic department has some little boats which can make the trip in a trifle over two hours and a half the speed for steamers on the canal is miles an hour but pilots exceed the limit wan when side winds prevent the ship from obeying I 1 i her rudder at a lower speed the canal is now miles long jetties betties having added considerably to its length in recent years guard against blasts during the transit of the canal two pilots are used each making one half the journey they serve only in an advisory capacity though many a captain lets the pilot handle the ship as though it were his own officers of the company unhesitatingly ta sacrifice a single vessel to the common good A shipload of explosives was sunk near the port said waterworks water works and a cargo of benzine in the commercial basin but ships carrying dangerous cargoes are being removed farther and farther from the main anchorages and as careful a quarantine is kept against spontaneous combustion as against cholera of the towns on the canal only one existed before de lesseps began his work suez then a miserable arab village is now a miserable arab town A few apartment i houses are arc rising on squares squares of salt 1 encrusted land which are filled in to bring them up to the level of the street the sweet water canal I 1 brightens things up and flowers fruits and vegetables line its banks clouds and the softer light that comes with them give to nondescript suez a beauty such as many a greener lovelier spot would envy the upper curve of the red sea becomes purest emerald and beside it the tawdry town seems carved from silver and onyx in the background their imposing flanks mot tied by shadows into a chocolate and coffee marbling lie the barren hills of africa in the middle distance gray oil 0 il tanks seem almost phosphorescent phosphoresce n in in spite of the brightness af thoi the w whole hole scene ind and tall chi of bf the port ibrahim refineries rise like full leaded exclamation points suez lady finds love s suez has little todo to do with the that canal it lies up a creel creek in which the dhows chows from tha arabian coast boast are stranded at it low ion tide and Is connected with pa port rf Tewfik by by a causeway port tewfik like port said i is s a byproduct by product of the canal when there was need for land on which to build the dredges dumped it there along the canal front runs the avenue lic aliciene iene a shady shadi bund with a comradely cafe or two nurs maids occupy shaded benches and one healthy littly massof miss of three jaire or OL four who had fallen quite in love with lieutenant stood snood gazing at his monument for manutes s together port tewfik I 1 gateway to the te teeming e m east is provincial on the canal and hence a busy place bitis not a port at all ships wait in the gulf of suez until the pilot takes them in hand ships coming down the canal dont stop at at port tawfik te they only and signal I 1 full speed thead ahead 11 port is principally a haven for tankers which come there to spew up the viscous crude oil or or pump forth a silver str stream eril R 0 of re refined petroleum to the ehst east of suez there was formerly a large camping ground for mecca bound ca caravans bavans made up of swarthy egyptians sl slender syrians serious faced turks ano and IXOS os lems from tu i stan clad in wadded gowns made of bright colored cloth like upholstery cro cretonne tonnes with their women hiding behind horsehair veils 1 1 presents desolate scene now this vast expanse is deserted A single stalking camel ora ora bed on horseback would make it a desolate picture lacking the liv ing element it is only empty the first north of df suez is lufa nedr near the small wn arf are some brightly painted buit lys at the foot fooht of the signal mast alethe are the canvas balls cylinders and cones used to signal to passing ships joac back 01 0 the homes and office is is ii a water tank served bya windmill windoil lill and provided with a filter A few trees give sparse shade that is all alo along ng the northern half of bf the canal the railway runs rune just behind these canal stations station and the station roaster master can keep in touch with ahe he world on land as well as the world of ships but lufa is a lonely spot the visitor is greeted greated dikea prodigal son some ships have a strict imail khail schedule to keep others pre unkempt tramps whose engines ne heed ed no slowing down toi keel them with in the proper 9 speed P eed Winds seep across the desert with tremendous force although them the banks of the canal behind which a steamer looks like a procession of bf masts protect all but the largest ships ahli dredges with barges alongside ard are always alady i shil shifting tini their position N no due ofle shown favors the te station master knows n no 0 fa korites vo rites it may tiburse cause the captain of a great cruise ship some chaffing at af table it if he has to tie up and let a smudgy steam slowly by but he takes his ordis orders rs from those who know khaw tho th canal and would lose their jo jobs bi if they As the tide between the red sea and the equalizing tanks of the bitter lakes calces the ahe ship facing the current beit jagg ragged ged trampot tram por merchant prince aies up UN at af Sha lufa from the appe deak of 0 any ace decently antl jil jarg joi e siai steamer m e r one ca can arx trace the course 0 of t tai the e ancient canal making the moderate dv de mare more conspicuous are hair cloth tents of the who plant grain and vegetables vegetable sin in ils is concavity the station master of lufa u uses d a section of odthe the ad ancient canal as a liri private vate jaiden gaden when in 1887 if t was decided td use the canal day ond and night there arose the question of whether the canal or the shi ps should be lighted the latter was decided u upon pon A fine P experience ap is i s to liflet lie bat on the bow rib above the headlight while hila its silver beams advance into the mystery of asia on ahe one side sida and africa on the other then another eye far down the conal canal turns its lidless stare alpon upon one and comes silently ort 06 |