Show A CANAL IN 1 Y OP WONDER UNKNOWN A great vt russian insl neer thich V ae ight ne a of do benso in ancient time detailed account ofalia wonderful structure the great russian engineer writes from odessa to alio smithsonian institution describing tho ruins of an ancient canal discovered in tho crimea which ho regards one of the wonders of tho world it is certainly 27 centuries old and among similar ancient objects of historic interest is second only in ago to tho great pyramids the hanging gardens of babylon and the colossus Colos suc of rhodes shrouded with no deeper mysteries than tho existence of this great ditch ruins can be traced for a long distance tho crimean plain whether it was a waterway in the olden times and the pathway of ancient commerce between the black theeda of adov or a means of defense for the people living in its vicinity is a question which men supposed to know all about antiquities cannot explain xenophon the distinguished athenian who conducted the retreat of greeks from the up country march called writes of ditches which were dug by inhabitants of hostile territory through which they passed as an impediment to their water was often turned into these that crossing was rendered more difficult perhaps the ancient and wonderful canal served tho purpose on a very large scale while it was of grand proportions which at that early day surpassed the engineering feats of the suez canal the fortifications for its protection are no less interesting at each end of the western side there was a lofty castle tho ruins of which remain to this day tho cubical contents exceeding meters A part of stones as well as those with which tho bed of tho canal was paved ita entire length removed some time ago to build a town which adjoins during tho crimean war some of the stones remaining acro utilized in the construction of hospitals for the wounded soldiers which structures are still standing along tho banks of the canal there were once at least six towers but what purpose they served unless for defense 1 uncertain there was also high wall which extended its entire length at an equal distance from each end there was a gigantic fortress built hi the form of n square and covering a of square meters alio canal is as straight as an arrow its entire length except at this point where it forms tarco eidee os square about the fortress hero there was smaller canal on tho outer eide which may have provided greater security ono of the gateways of tho fo rtresa is still partially preserved and through it passes a dilapidated road the canal was built by assande I 1 of in the seventh century B C and is 0 kilo long mention is made of this in the writings of pliny and strabo but nothing is eaid about tho great amount of timo and money expended in its construction st or for what epenial purpose it was done it passes by tho modern town of Pe and 1 not far from the greek city of neapolis Nc apolis whoso name was changed by asmando after tho building of tho canal to Ta pharas which is the greek for ditch its width on the bottom was about meters and its depth 10 meters whether it served formerly as a great and towering fortification or not it certainly contained water enough to sail ships of considerable burden undoubtedly before the time of christ many ships used it as a short cut across the peninsula between the two seas the bed is now dry except for a few standing pools but it is said eliat the oldest inhabitants can remember when for several miles in the central part there was sufficient anter to form a roadway for the lighter craft of the people this is accounted for by the fact that come time in the fifteenth century the canal was repaired the russian government has a project under consideration of opening up a great waterway across tho peninsula between the seas and his connection with echeme is what led the engineer Melni kofl to inquire into the history of alie canal and attempt to explore ita wonders arites in french and convoys a vivid description of the ancient ruing he has just written a pamphlet and this contains in russian a full account of all that is known and all that has been eaid about the canal in the centuries since ite construction it also contains diagrams and illustrations of the canal as it now appears philadelphia telegraph |