After the pipe was raised, two more 4 by 12 inch pieces were bolted to the piles just under the pipe, and the bottoms of the piles were cross-braced.  Stringers made of two 6 by 12 inch timbers were then placed on the caps, and a track of standard gauge put into place, upon which the dump cars used in filling the avenue were run out.

The engineer in charge was Mr. Dexter Brackett, and we understand from him that a 48 inch main is to be raised in a somewhat similar manner during the present year.

* * * * *

THE INTEROCEANIC CANAL QUESTION.

Mr. J. Foster Crowell lately read a paper before the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia upon the Present Situation of the Inter-oceanic Canal Question, presenting the subject from a general standpoint.  He sketched the history of the various past attempts to establish communication through the American Isthmus, and traced the developments in the different directions of effort, which finally concentrated the problem upon the three projects now before the world, summarizing the progress in each case, and stating the following propositions: 

I. That Panama is the only possible site for a Sea Level Canal, and that such treatment is the only feasible method at that place.

II.  That Nicaragua is the only practicable site for a Slack Water system (for a canal with locks), and that it is pre-eminently adapted by nature for such a use; that there are no obstacles in an engineering sense, and no physical drawbacks that need deter the undertaking.

III.  That the Ship Railway, as a mechanical contrivance, has the indorsement of the best authorities, and may be admitted to be the ne plus ultra as a means of taking ships from their natural element and transporting them over the land.

IV.  That none of these plans has as yet advanced sufficiently to warrant our considering its completion as beyond doubt.

V. That, as the additional sum now asked for by De Lesseps (even if sufficient) to complete the Panama Canal is greater than the estimated cost of either Nicaragua Canal or the Ship Railway, it would be economical to abandon the Panama Canal, and the money sunk in it, to date, unless its location and form possess paramount advantages; and we therefore may profitably consider the relative merits of the three lines without regard to the past, from four standpoints, viz.: 

1.  Geographical convenience of location.

2.  Adaptiveness to all marine requirements, present and future.

3.  Political security.

4.  Economy of construction and operation.

He then discussed the comparative claims to excellence.  In the first consideration, after classifying the several grand divisions of future ocean traffic, and noting especially the needs of the United States, he claimed that while there was little to choose, in this respect, between Nicaragua and Tehuantepec, either was far superior to Panama.