g the holes to
the allotted depth, the machine automatically sets in each a tube,
washes out the dust, inserts a dynamite cartridge, withdraws the tube,
and connects the wire of the electric fuse in the cartridge with the
battery wire in the boat. The cartridges are charged with a pound of
dynamite to each. In hard rock only one charge is fired at a time, but
in softer material four are fired at once. If the water over the work
is deep, the boat is not moved from its position, but in shallow water
it is towed a few yards away from the spot where the explosion is to
take place. The drill holes are about six feet deep, and are spaced at
the rate of about one to every three square feet, something, of
course, depending upon the character of the rock. The whole work is
now under contract, the mechanical engineering firm of Luther, of
Brunswick, having undertaken to complete it in five years, for a
payment of less than four million dollars.

* * * * *

THE NEW GERMAN SHIP CANAL.

The gates which admit the water into the new canal which is to connect
the Baltic with the North Sea have been recently opened by the Emperor
William. This canal is being constructed by the German government
principally for the purpose of strengthening the naval resources of
Germany, by giving safer and more direct communication for the ships
of the navy to the North German ports. The depth of water will be
sufficient for the largest ships of the German navy. The canal will
also prove of very great advantage to the numerous timber and other
vessels trading between St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Dantzic, Riga, and
all the North German ports in the Baltic and this country. The passage
by the Kattegat and Skager Rack is exceedingly intricate and very
dangerous, the yearly loss of shipping being estimated at half a
million of money. In addition to the avoidance of this dangerous
course, the saving in distance will be very considerable. Thus, for
vessels trading to the Thames the saving will be 250 miles, for those
going to Lynn or Boston 220, to Hull 200, to Newcastle or Leith 100.
This means a saving of three days for a sailing vessel going to Boston
docks, the port lying in the most direct line from the timber ports of
the Baltic to all the center of England. The direction of the canal is
shown by the thick line in the accompanying sketch map of the North
Sea and Baltic. Considering that between 30,000 and 40,000 s