390 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL

 Mr. BAcoN. They will not have to go through the canal, even if it should be
 built, will they? They do not have to use the canal.
 Mr. SB*as. The contract that the Government has with them, I think, provides
 that they shall carry the mall by the shortest route that can be traveled.
 Second, I would like to call your attention to this map. Perhaps you have
 beard about this before This [Indicating] is called the Yucatan Channel, the
 graveyard of ships. This is leading into the Gulf and down into the Caribbean
 e. The canal, you will see, comes through here [indicating] from Yankee-
 town across to Jacksonville. Now, the canal is 878 miles nearer to the Gulf
 on the western side through the canal on to Galveston and other Texas points.
 From points on the east coast of Florida to Galveston, Savannah, Charles, and
 northern ports, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, and other points, the distance
 is 800 to 400 miles shorter by going through the canal instead of around the
 coast of Florida.
 Now, they tell you that the boats will not use it; but the same argument was
 used against the Sues Canal and it was used against the Panama Canal. I
 want to be perfectly fair with you. It may be argued that the Merchants &
 Miners Line, the Clyde Line, the Occidental, and all the lines of ships from
 New York City around to Gulf ports, will come around through the Yucatan
 Channel, by way of Key West, and may refuse to use the canal.
 The CAnsMAN. Is it to be a sea-level canal?
 Mr. sB&as Yes.
 The CRAIMAN. With no locks.
 Mr. Szam. No, sir; no locks.
 The CamAuNw. Do you know at about what speed ships could traverse the
 canal?
 Mr. Szaz& I am not an engineer, and I can only give you the statement of
 Colonel Youngbird [reading]:

 "SAVINGS IN DISrANC, TIME, AND MONST
 "Having determined the cargo tonnage to benefit by the proposed waterway,
 and knowing the characteristics of the various vessels and the number of voy-
 ages, the data must be translated into terms of distance, time, and money, and to
 contrast these factors via the existing shipping lanes and those that would result
 from the construction of the waterway. Distances east-bound are not the same
 as distances west-bound for the reason that ships follow different lanes. There
 are corresponding variations in time or duration of voyages, determined not
 merely by the mileage but by the effect of helpful or contrary currents and winds.
 The operating costs of vessels vary according to their characteristics and their
 management The studies have taken all these variations into account, and for
 purposes of Illustration they are indicated as follows:
 "On an out-bound voyage from New Orleans to New York the canal would
 save 898 nautical miles, but on the in-bound voyage it would save but 385 miles.
 For a vessel of 8 knots in the open ocean and 6% knots in transiting the canal a
 saving of 4 days would be effected; but for a 10-knot vessel the saving would be
 cut to 3 days for the round trip. Correspondingly, between New Orleans and
 northern Europe the savings out-bound would be 371 nautical miles and in-bound
 would be 338 miles; and the round-trip savings in point of time would be 3 days
 for a vessel of a normal speed of 8 knots, and 21A days for a vessel of a speed of
 10 knots."
 Mr. BAcoN. At 8 knots or 10 knots?
 Mr. SZamS I am just giving his statement. There would be that much saving
 In time going through the canal. He said there would be a saving of time of 2%
 days or more.
 Mr. TanerON. Will this canal silt up and require constant dredging?
 Mr. SaM s It will not silt at all. When I say it will not silt at all I mean there
will be, comparatively speaking, no silting. We have a soil in Florida that is
different from that in most places. It does not silt streams to any extent. There
is practically no silting of the St. Johns River. It is a peculiar sand that does
not form silt deposits.
 If I had a boat line from New York to Jacksonville, and on to Gulf points, and
I should refuse to use the canal, then if somebody else with a boat line from
New York to Gulf points made use of the canal, and saved 2% days per trip, I
would have to use the canal to meet that competition or go out of business.