The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 14, 1898, Page 22

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 1898. of the GREATEST ENGINEER- ING feats of MODERN THE GREAT DAM THAT BACKS UP THE WATER FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY—FOUR MILES. | When It Is Stated That the Flood Discharge of a River a Mile Wide and Thirty at the Rate of 15,000 Tons of Water Per Second, Times the Water Will Be Dammed Back Thirty-Six The Colossal Character of the Great Dam Will Be Apparent Feet Deep, Flowing at High Velocity, Must Pass Through the Dam’s Sluices 9,000,000 Tons a Minute—More Than 50,000,000 Tons of Water an Hour! At new WILL i transform COMMERCIAL and AGRICUL- TURAL life in oy Feet Above Its Pressed Level and for a Distance of 144 miles Above the Dam, ONDON, July centuries of 29.—After discussion some | and archaeologist. rlanning the Nile is at last to = D e N e o e |ampies of the Ptolematc temple. No | fulfflls:the pohular conception of & o been c lo plans Dave | Gotnic architect in his wildest mo- aract. The river is broken up by in-| been completed for some time | ments ever played so freely with his numerable islands—some of and as soon as the floods have subsided the contractors will have several hundred men busy on the stone work at Assouan. The man who is to have the direc- tlon of the work, which will rank as the greatest irrigation scheme ever at- tempted and one of the engineering feats of the age, is Sir Benjamin Baker, whose name is already a i ated with many great enterpris beautiful. light and ples on the island of Philae are of im- to the architect and the They are splendid ex- mense st son’s | lines and his dimen ten designer of Philae, and none ever produced anything more picturesquely It contains all the play of shade, all the Gothic art with the mass grandeur of the Eg is no building o great pity if the reservoir which is to water Bgypt had demanded s rifice. At one time it ap) ns as the forgot- majority mere rocks, watercourses. At one variety of iveness and There part of the width of the etween the yptian style »f Thebe channels gyptian been a ch 2 red of foundation are concerned above its pressed level, and for a dis- tance of 144 miles above the dam. “The Nile-at Assouan by no means them considerable acreage, but the which are s merged in flood time—into myriad shal- low en the islands, but for the greater river the islands carry only a trickle of water during the dry | It is upon this foundation of A the dam will be rength and economy | the | | | the water runs deep and fast |and the temples of Philae wil | | | east to the west banks of the Nile; and | | on its western side will stretch a chain | 3 | of locks, leading from the upper to the | t- |Jower river. The locks will be 150 feet | long, each capable therefore of taking ,.and will be of fifty feet. The | of | a good sized ste: great | an average height o archipelago of. islands will disappear, the tops of the hills in the larger is-| lands will just appearabove its surface, | ise out | of a wide placid lake instead of ap-| pearing as mow, when tourists visit it at low Nile, insignificant and in a hollow.” To the Egyptian administrator the | chief concern is in the money value of | new dam to the country, and In espect it mal a m avorable d which, in Sir two this Benjan is himself Teady to start for | evitable, and Sir Benjamin Baker sug- ' leaves nothing to be desired. showing. In a Assouan, where he will assume per- | gested that the whole groundwork of | througho hard, comr syenite rdner Wilkinson's phyase, “positiv sonal direction of the undertaking. In the temples should be raised. The cost | or quart te, and the section of the | Iy screams for water,” its worth can N T e have been $1,000,000, | river is so wide and shallow that the | scarcely be overestimated. ~With its i ¢ the » was rather too much for ! foundat s of the larger part of the | supplementary dams and barrages at 2 Jtian taxpayer, who, in Sir Benja- | dam can be put in dry. The ‘under yut and near Koshesheh, it will in- the s words, sot care a plastre | sluices will be built upon reefs pro- | crease the present cultivated area of first steamer would pass through the e temple ept as a means | jecting over the water surfs both | ¥pt by 600,000 acres and bring under locks into the reservoir, on its way to | of attracting tourists to Assouan. in summer and winter, so that the | constant cultivation the whole of that the upper Nile. Whatever difficulties | As to the importance of the work, | foundations will be open to annual | proportion of the 5,000,000 acres in | may me encountered 1n the work it | from the engineer's point of view, Sir |inspection—a most Important advan- | Egypt which is now under yearly ir- | probably will not take so long as it has Benjamin says: tage, when so many interests depend | rigation only. The supply of water b | “Phe colossal character of the great upom the stability and endurance of the | needed for this purpose, - according. to for_the Khedive and his French ads ers to make up their minds to tion it. The effect of the dam as at present conceived will be to bmerge the nearer islands only, but as originally »d it would at flood time, or “high have sub: ged the island of , & mile up stream, and the tem- the dam’s slul N Phila &5 EX-MAYOR W.R. DAVIS. 30000000000 OW that peace seems to be approaching, public interest, which h been centered during the past few months upon the war and all the various clrcumstan pertaining thereto, is beginning to turn again toward civic matters. State elections are rapidly approaching at numerous points in the Union and in a W ey will help fore- cast the chances in the next P idential election. What effect this confiict between the United States and Spain will have upon Am n poiitics in the future is a question which is worthy of deep con- side: on at this juncture. A number of prominent statesmen and public men of San Francisco and Oak- land have here given their views upon this subject. <Lt s, e the sentiment of love of country lized form of universal patriot- ism felt more in our political EX-MAYOR action as a nation, WILLIAM R. DAVIS," | tional legisiation and nation- Bind | al policies. | ® 271t will strengthen the arm of the Republican party. McKinley's adminis- proved to have in tration has now been thus speedil it not only wisdom and gentleness, but courage and invincibie strength, too. = 3. It will bring to this nation a self-consciousness of its international relations and of its own real great- hess and mission also, not only for our own peopie but among the great peoples of the earth. 4 it will tend to make political and governmental pursuits broader, political views deeper and political scope wider; and I feel sure will, in perceptibie de- gree, both broaden and elevate public service and public men. 1. It will erys nd make that ¢ o st In one way this war with Spain has been and will be a positive blessing to our country. During these - — months when we have been a preparing for and carrying | 3 CO.NGRESSMAN out the armed and effectual | WARREN ENGLISH. | protest which we have just if————————— made against the misdoings of a forelgn power sectional differendes have b=en buried so deeply that their resurrection is not to be reckoned on as being among the possibilities. While there must always be differences of opinicn on many subjects among individuals who as citizens love thelr country and its institutions equally well, and while such differences of opinion, given free ex- pression, must inevitably segregate and consolidate individuals into parties, one or the other of which must hoid the reins of government, personal feelings and .prejudices will have far less weight in the poli- tics of the future than they have had in the past. These United States will be more firmly united than ever. Our success in arms will, however, bring with it new and wide responsibiiities, from which will arise many new differences of opinion. The question as to the final disposition of the countries which we have conquered may become a very live issue in politics in the near future. Speaking for myseif, personally, 1 am strongly ih favor, since this new departure has been made in the annexatlon of Hawaii, of retaining the Phi}‘ippmes and Porto Rico. There are many rea- sons why this seems to me to be a just and wise course under present circumstances, now that we have taken the initiative step in this direction. . The union of sentiment between the Northern and Southern States which has been brought about by the war with Spain will be of DEe | inestimable benefit to our DR. G. C. PARDEE, | (Cintre. While we may con- Oakland. tinue to differ materfally on merely party issues we shall practically agree on aH questions concerning our na- tional position and our national honor, and that agree- ment will help to make our country stronger and prouder and more universally respected than ever. As to what the other effects of this war will be upon the country I can only say that no positive statement can at present be made concerning this. dam will be apparent when it Is stated ne- | that the flood discharge of a river » mile wide and thirty feet deep, flowing | ter at high velocity, s at the rate of 15,000 tons of water per second. 9,000,000 tons | | a minute—more than 50,000,000 tons of water an hour! will be dammed back 0000000000000000000000000000OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGOOOOD’JOOOO&OOOGG INFCUENCES OF GHE WAR ON POCITICS. = Discussed by SENATOR GEO. C. PERKINS. INSURANCE COMMISSIONER 4. J. CLUNIE. EX-CONGRESSMAN WARREN ENGLISH. 000002‘#000000000000000000DOOOCOOOCOO000000000000000060000000 in- na-, work. must pass through at its lowest point, and feet above the lowest the river below the cataract. At times the water EX-SENATOR CHAS. N. FELTON. DR. GEO. C. PARDEE. Matters have not yet developed sufficiently to gi us solid ground upon which to base any specific cor clusions. The final result will be determined by events which will take place in the near future. I do not think that any new party will come into being because of the war; the old parties are strong enough and in- teiligent enough to grapple with and settle all the difficult questions which will come up for considera- tion, Meanwhile President McKinley has met the emer- gency most ably and satisfactorily. He has done the best that could be done under extremely trying cir- cumstances. He has faced the difficult ation bravely and nobly, and has gained the univer: spect of his countrymen whatever may be their po- litical beliefs and afliliations. Our nation has at- tained an eminence of which we are all loyally proud, and it has been proven that In this war against bar- barous oppression “right” was surely “might.” e Naturally a successful war party generally per- petuates itself; therefore if this war turns out as well as we now hope that it will that fact will have a di- rect tendency toward the perpetuation of the present administration. Conceding this we must, however, recognize that there are likely to be very considerable changes in party lines during the next few years. Those changes will be based on changed conditions, to many of which this war will undoubtedly give rise. . s s There is no room for doubt that this war in which we have been engaged for the past few months will Cu i A S St :mve a great and lnstlnig exf- T . REI ‘ect upon the politics of the Exgsg CGHERT'I United States. It has taken 5 eyor General. some of the old party ques- e e iflong largely. or wholly out of the fleld, namely: Free silver, extreme State rights, etc., and it can be said with truth that State lines, even, seem to have been almost obliterated by the tremendous wave of patriotic enthusiasm which has swept over our nation. This wave bore down before it the opposition to the annexation of Hawaii which was felt in time of peace, and has given the public mind an impetus in favor of the completion of the Nicaragua canal and it is still sweeping onward. T | EX-MAYOR E. B. POND. | Already a desire has been created to see our ter- " ritorial limits expand, to the extent at least of re- taining what has been so bravely won by our daring soldiers and sailors. Already there has sprung, from the necessity of battling in a common cause, a unifi- cation of feeling such as has not been ours forsmany years. This is not only true as regards our younger men, but the middle-aged and old have remembered their brotherhood and clasped hands again under their country’s flag. Many also have been drawn back to old affiliations who, under stress of hard times and in the dullness and inactivity of peace, had wandered away In other directions. The able statesmanship of President McKinley, which has been shown in his masterly handling of vexed questions and his vigorous and successful pros- ecution of the war, has inspired confidence in his ad- ministration and has excited great admiration and enthusiasm even among those who were formerly op- posed to him from a political standpoint. This change of feeling will have its influence in the political cam- palgns of theé future. $ wlie e It is difficult to say what effect the war will have upon political actfon in November, 1898, because it s not ended. The terms of peace to be made may make a difference, Terms of peace may be popular in some sec- e e tion and not popular in an- other section. In the main no one can doubt that the war will be favorable to the Republican party. The Republicans who favor the war will adhere closely to their party. Those who did not favor it (if any) have ! ATTORNEY | THOMAS V. CATOR. It will be a splendid thing to look at—stretching a mile and a quar- | 000 of cubic centimeters flowing at a| from shore ta shore, of compact granite, a huge mass seventy feet high its crest 320 water level of | “A carriage road, thirty to forty feet sixty-six feet | wide, will be driven across it from the EX-MAYOR L. R. ELLERT. Mr. Willeock's Teateulation, is 3.610.000,- maximum rate of 630 meters a second | over the whole line .of district affected. | The monetary: advantages of the scheme may be expressed by saying | | that the direct annual return to the | state will be $4,250,000; that the in-| | creased value of land in Egypt will be | EX-SURVEYOR-GENERAL THEO. REICHERT. no reason to vote for Democrats on that account. If the Democrats could agree upon any issue grow- ing out of the war and thus oppose any Republican policy they would probably gladly make an issue in order to avoid the issue of 16 to 1, which they desire to abandon, and which they no longer discuss as an fssue. The Democrats cannot agree upon any new war issue, but divide on it just as they do on free r, tariff and other issues. The Republicans are fore bound to gain by the war. % L e It is difficult to prophesy as to the effect of the Spanish-American war upon politics, State and na- — -~ tiopal. Undoubtedly the ten- EX-MAYOR | dency will be to solidify the ¢ | Republican party and give . R ELLERT. | jtg principles and policies fresh impetus. This effect, I think, will be produced by a general disposition to sustain President McKinley in anything he may do, not only in settling the problems v hich are certain to grow out of the war, but in generally restoring national affairs to a normal con.ition. I think too much praise cannot be accorded to the President for the manner in° which he has managed this difficulty. His policy has been strong, intelligent, vigorous, prompt and eminently statesmanlike. He has shown himself to be a safe counselor and a sa- gacious gulde. If the American people do not ap- firecla&e him and support the political party which as pldced him in power it will be strange indeed. So I think the Republican party throughout the country, in a national sense, will be greatly strength- ened by the events of the war. What effect this ten- dency will have upon local politics it Is difficult to determine. Probably, all things being equal, the Re- publicans will feel the effect of the public approval of the conduct of the war by President McKinley and a Republican Congress. 1 should say that if the Republicans nominate strong candidates for Congress everywhere, that is, men in whom the people have confidence, and declare strongly in favor of the nmew .policy which has been formulated by the President and his Cabinet and which they are bound tp carry out, they will easily carry all the doubtful States of the Union and per- haps some of those which are Democratic. R There are a few things I do not believe and a few things I do beltev I do not believe that the American people, now united in heart as well as in name, favor treason to their con- stitution and their Union. I do believe that the Declaration of Independence and the constitution are the charter of this Govern- ment and the political gospel of humanity. I do not believe that our institutions, as interpreted and applied since 1776, either legally or in policy, can maintain their present rel:tions to our own citizens and to the human race if we acquire and hold alien dependencies and especially if we undertake to govern Asiatic populations. I do believe that imperial conquest and colonization are the especial work of the British Government, ana that our mission is the permanent establishment of a republic, held together for all legitimate national pur- poses, but composed of autonomous parts, each con- trolled by free citizens, of the best blood of the best races, of the highest intelligence and of systematic education. I do not believe that these connected but distinct functions in the development of civilized man can be blended without injury to both and destruction to the United States, which might survive as an empire, but would cease to be a republic. I do believe that the adjustment of Internal con- ditions on this continent, the development of citizen- ship to_correspondence with our form of government and, the application of American principles to our commercial, financial, intellectual and humanitarian relations with the remainder of the world will de- mand all our energy during the twentieth century. I do not believe that manifest destiny means the H. E. HIGHTON. | $230,990,000; that the increase to annual produce will be $83,060,000, and to an- nual rent $26,950,000. leave out value of land and crops owing to in- creased facilities of navigation. Sir Benjamin Baker's view in the words: from the works it is difficult to over- estimate, as the value of the erops will be increased about $30 per acre per an- num over the whole area affected.” This in brief gives a bird’s eye view, of the great scheme which is to give| birth to Egypt. gether will not be far short of $25,000,- in detail, for they carefully fafled to d bark of the tree and new one CONGRESSMAN S. G. HILBORN. ATTORNEY H. E. HIGHTON. These estimates of account the increased is expressed “The profit resultant Tts cost alto- | F all the wonderful sights re- ported by the Jesuit mission- aries, Huc and Gobet, their explorations of Thibet, by | far the strangest is what they |sand fold. have to say of the Tree of Ten Thousand Images. They had heard WONDERFUL TREE OF TEN THOUSAND IMAGES about this wonrderful tree long before | they reached the locality of its growth, during | and as they approached the spot their | curiosity regarding it increased a thou- Here is their narrative of the result of their examination of the tree: «Jt will here be naturally expected ‘i that we say something about this tree itself. Does it exist? Have we seen it? Has it any peculiar attributes? What about its marvelous leaves? “Yes, this tree does exist. At the foot of the mountain on which the Lamasery stands, and not far from the principal Buddhist temple, is a great square inclosure, formed by brick walls. Upon entering this we were able to examine at leisure the marvel- ous tree, some of the branches of which had already manifested themselves above the wall. “Our eyes were first directed with earnest curiosity to the leaves, and we were filled with an absolute conster- nation of astonishment at finding that, in point of fact, there were upon each of the leaves well formed Thibetan characters, all of a green color, some darker, some lighter, than the leaf it- self. Our first impression was a sus- picion of fraud on the part of the La- mas; but, after a minute examination of every detail, we could not discover the least deception. The characters all appeared to us portions of the leat S equally with its veins and the position was not the same in all; in one leaf they would be at the top of the leaf; in another, in the mid- dle; in a third, at the base, or at the side; the younger leaves represented the characters only in a partial state of formation. “The bark of the tree and its branches, which resemble that of the plane tree, are also covered with these characters. When you remove a piece of the old bark the young bark under it exhibits the indistinct outlines of characters in a germinating state, and, what is very singular, these new char- acters are not unfrequently different from those which they replace. We ex- | amined everything with the closest at- | tention, in order to detect some traces of trickery, but we could discern noth- | ing of the sort. | The missionaries, Huc and Gobet, might have remained in Thibet as long as they wished had it not been for the | interference of the Chinese Embassadar there. For some reason this individual took a dislike to them and ultimately caused em to depart. The Lamas were willing that they should remain, but it appeared to the missionaries that their presence might cause disturbance, so they quickly withdrew, taking with them some of the first facts ever gath? ered in that mysterious land. -~ THE WONDERFUL TREE OF TEN THOUSAND IMAGES. Two Jesuit missionaries, Hue andGabet, in ‘relating the marvelous sights they saw in Thibet, describe this tree thesleast deception. s branches ar s, “the process of germination 000CO0R000000000000000000CO0000 300500000070000000000000000000C00 EX-MAYOR E. B. POND. extension of our influence over inferior races by force of arms, but that such a proposition Is a treasonable solecism. . I do believe that manifest destiny means the na- tural and gradual extension of our system as races and communities are prepared to receive it. Having the faith expressed in these sentences and an abiding confidence in my countrymen I further be- lieve that in national' politics the result of the war may and probably will be to clevate parties once more to the dignity of ranging themselves upon definite issues, appealing to thought and to intelligent patriot- ism and resting upon principie and not upon the spoils of office, and that the issue of American re- publicanism against British imperialism may and ought to predominate. o el It is impossible to answer a constitutional ques- tion such as this is in an off-hand manner. To even attempt to do so would re- | sult in absolute failure and | would serve no purpose what- | EX-SENATOR | CHARLES N. FELTON. ever. THe subject is one which will command the grave and earnest consideration of our people and their legislators. The apparent effect of the war at the present time, which we must needs estimate from our present stand- point surrounded by present conditions, may not prove to be the true effect which we shall be made to realize in the future. The termination of hostilities and the necessary adaptation of our country to new conditions will un- doubtedly bring up many questions which will re- quire the most earnest and circumspect thought of our best statesmen. That those statesmen will be able to cope with the emergencies of the hour when the hour arrives we need not doubt. Whatever may be the outcome of the uncertainties of the moment we may be assured that our country will maintain in the future the proud position which she has rightfully held in the past among the nations of the earth. The effect of war upon the Democratic party in the past was to weaken its influence to such a degree — _ as to make it for many years a decidedly minor power in our national politics. I have, however, the idea that this ———————— present war will by no means have so serious an effect upon politics at large, and that as far as the State of California is concerned Democratic interests will suffer little if at all through present conditions and the future conditions which are to grow out of them. I have never understood the reason which has gulded the suffrage of the people either of the State or the nation as regards the sentiment against the Democratic party. My own ideas are that the dem- ocracy of the nation have been those who have always upon all occasions rushed to the support of the flag of the nation. In the present trouble between Spain and the United States we have seen that the men from the Southern part of the country where the Democratic party is so noticeably in the majority have been among the first to come to the front and are second to none in their ardent desire and determination to maintain the honor of our republic at the exnenser%f life itseif. What the effect of this war may be in the State of California I would not for one moment attempt to prophesy. There is nevertheléss a very positive view on my part that the Democracy of the State may win in the forthcoming election. As to what the effect of the war may be upon the political sentiment in the city and county of San Francisco I can only say that it is beyond my ken. No man can, under any circum- stances, estimate weeks or months ahead of the tim what may be the public feeling on any subject. i Given time sufficient for the publication of numer- ous newspaper articles and for the hearing of more or less eloquent platform orators by those who are open to convincement by such means and it is impossible to tell in what direction the tide cf public opinion may ATTORNEY EUGENE DEUPREY. ATTORNEY EUGENE DEUPREY. 0’JOOOO0000000000000000000OOO0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 amined it under the belief that fraud was being practiced by the Lamas, but they Each leaf of this wonderful tree bears well-formed Thibetan characters; the 0 covered with these strange characters. can be traced beneath. We examined ever) in order to detect some signs of trickery, but we could discern nothing of that sort, and the perspiration absolutely trickled down our faces under the influence of the sensations which this most amazing spectacie created. ‘When the characters are cut into hing* with the closest attention, ATTORNEY THOS. V. CATOR. 00000000000 flow. The changes of reasoning on the part of the public are so vacillating and so frequent that no one can foretell twenty-four hours in advance of the positive settlement of a civic question what that set- tlement is to be. It is thought by some who claim to have studied the matter seriously that one effect of this war will _ be the successful organiza- ANDREW J. CLUNIE, ;Iion t a new party—or per= : aps new parties—which will Insurance Commissioner. | e petter adapted to deal ————_ with new conditions than the two which have directed. the destinies of the nation for so many years. This idea seems to me erroneous in the extreme, since I firmly believe that the old parties will be fully competent to handle the questions which will una- voidably grow out of conquest satisfactorily and well. One thing at least in this time of uncertainty is certain, and that is that this war has given to the North and South a union of feeling such as years of peaceful existence side by side could never have brought into being. Hereafter sectional distinctions and dissensions will be overlooked in the broader view which all our citizens, irrespective of party and local=- ity, will take of national affairs. When the United States of America called upon her sons to support her convictions, uphold her flag, and fight her battles, those sons came hurrying from East and West and North ana South, and joined hands and hearts in the name of their common and well- beloved country. This Union, cemented in the presence of a foreign foe, will be enduring and henceforward the thought of North and South will be eliminated from the fleld of politics. Each party will formulate plans which it feels convinced will, if carried out, work for the best good of the country as a whole; local prejudices and Jjealousies will be entirely eliminated, and the best good of the greatest number will be the real point at issue in our differences of opinion. Recognizing the-truth -~ all this I can say with conviction that the effect of the war on the country will be to add dignity to the Stars and Stripes and gain for our flag a degree of respect which shall make it more revered than cver before by our own people and raise it to even a prouder place than it has held heretofore in the assemblage of nations. . & et e It is impossible to say at tlis time what the future may bring us. In times like these events follow each other with such rapidity that SENATOR even the mtost! far-sgelng per- son cannot form any cle: GEORGE C. PERKINS. | ¢opinion as to what ma))" occfirr ———— or what may be the state of public feeling even a few months hence. This present war has most certainly -'-2ady in- fluenced us not oniy as a nation but as individuals. ‘While it has brought us closer together in one way it has given rise to questions about which the opinions of even those most loyally anxious to uphold the dig- nity of our country and advance our national pros- perity are sharply divided. It is a good business rule to deal with circum- stances as they present themselves for consideration and not indulge too much ir speculation as to proba- bilities and possibilities which may never become re- alities. Tt is our duty as loyal citizens to keepinformed concerning all occurrences which may have any bear- ing upon our national welfare in order that we may be able to act intelligently and decistvely when action becomes necessary. < . e e There is no possibility of answering such a ques- tion at the present time. To even attempt to do so 7 would only lead one into a CONGRESSMAN feld of idle and profitless S. G. HILBORN, speculation. Oakland. The .pinion of to-day may i be radically changed by the event of to-morrow. .ime alone will answer such queries for us fully and satisfactorily.