and apparel for £ E. 339,284, timber for £ E. 349,432, coffee for £ E. 243,575, wine, beer, and spirits for £ E. 265,267, tobacco for £ E. 475,475, petroleum for £ E. 296,301, machinery for £ E. 187,532, indigo for £ E. 191,379, fruits for £ E. 183,188, rice for £ E. 167,905, animals for £ E. 91,000, and refined sugar for £ E. 84,660. The chief exports were cotton for £E. 8,272,226, cotton seed for £ E. 1,380,255, beans for £ E. 730,647, sugar for £ E. 338,923, wheat for £E. 223,906, hides and skins for £E. 95,293, onions for £ E. 72.834, rice for £ E. 70,696, wool for £ E. 52,514, Indian corn for £ E. 23,457, and lentils for £ E. 19,627. Navigation. The vessels that arrived at the port of Alexandria during 1890 numbered 2,019, of 1,632,220 tons, and the number cleared was 2,020, of 1,613,800 tons. The arrivals and clearances at the other ports numbered 3,942, of 2,307,200 tons, of which 930, of 1,342,300 tons, were British. Of the vessels entered at Alexandria, 569, of 756,088 tons, were British; 131, of 263,658 tons, were French; 937, of 239,743 tons, were Turkish; 114, of 157,581 tons, were Austrian; 55, of 82,315 tons, were Russian; 81, of 74,625 tons, were Italian; and 17, of 18,838 tons, were Norwegian and Swedish; the Greek, German, and Danish flags coming next. Internal Communications.-The length of railroads in operation in 1892 is 1,127 miles, to which 108 miles of new lines under construction were soon to be added. There were 4,696,286 passengers and about 1,900,000 tons of freight carried in 1890. The gross earnings were £E. 1,408,742, and the total expenditure was £ E. 610,124. The Government telegraph lines in 1891 had a length of 3,168 miles, with 5.430 miles of wire. The number of telegrams sent in 1890 was 819,940. The postal traffic in 1890 comprised 9,356,700 letters and cards sent, and 8,740,000 received, and 3,769,500 papers, samples, etc., carried, and 5,382,940 received. There were 1,630,500 foreign letters forwarded, and 1,499,000 received. The Suez Canal.-For the year 1890 the number of vessels that passed through the Suez Canal was 3,389, having a gross tonnage of 9.749,129 tons. Of the vessels, 2.522, of 7,438,682 tons, were British; 275, of 731,888 tons, were German; 169, of 555,941 tons, were French; 144, of 341,828 tons, were Dutch; 87, of 217,480 tons, were Italian; 55, of 177,941 tons, were Austrian; 34, of 103,111 tons, were Spanish; 43, of 78,107 tons, were Norwegian; 20, of 59,613 tons, were Russian; 21, of 28,303 tons, were Turkish; 4, of 6,300 tons, were Japanese; 7, of 3,814 tons, were Portuguese; 3, of 2,682 tons, were Greek; and 3, of 2,112 tons, were American. The number of passengers who were carried through the canal in 1890 was 161,153. The receipts were £ E. 2,679.340. The canal has a length of 87 miles, including 21 miles of lakes. The share capital amounts to 195,125,000 francs, and the bonds outstanding in 1891 amounted to 121,764,179 francs. Besides the 394,677 shares, of 500 francs each, that were issued to the public, there are 100,000 founders' shares, which have the right to a part of the surplus profits, their share for 1890 having been 2,545,732 francs. Of the other shares, 176,602 formerly belonged to the Khedive and were bought by the British Government in November, 1875, for £3,976,582. of the net earnings beyond 5 per cent. interest on the capital stock, the Egyptian Government receives 15 per cent.; the founders' shares, 10 per cent.; the common shares, 71 per cent.; the managing directors, 2 per cent.; and the employees of the company, 2 per cent. In 1890 the net profits were 38,133,384 francs. The Firman of Investiture.-When Mohammed Tewfik died, on Jan. 7, 1892, his son, Abbas Pasha, was immediately confirmed as Khedive of Egypt by the Sultan of Turkey, according to the existing firman, which gave the right of succession by primogeniture. It was expected that the firman of investiture would be issued shortly, and assurances were given to that effect. When, after a lapse of several weeks, the document was drawn up and signed, a further delay occurred in dispatching the firman. The suspicion of the Khedive and his ministers was thereby aroused, and when Ahmed Eyub Pasha, the Sultan's envoy, arrived in Cairo, on April 4, and refused to disclose the import of the firman before its public reading, the Khedive was prevailed upon not to submit to an investiture before a full knowledge of its contents was obtained. To become a party to any conditions which the Sultan might choose to insert without being made acquainted with them was even considered dangerous to the independence of the Egyptian Government, not to speak of the difficulties it might create with the powers friendly to Egypt. In this the Khedive was strongly supported by Sir Evelyn Baring, the British diplomatic agent. The Sultan's envoy finally consented to disclose the contents of the firman, and a copy was furnished to the Khedive. It appeared from this that the limits of Egypt as described in the new firman were not those set down in the one issued during the reign of Tewfik, following the firman issued to Ismail Pasha, this new firman being based on that issued to Mehemet Ali. This meant a curtailing of the Egyptian eastern frontier, a line being drawn from El Aresh to Suez, at the head of the western branch of the Red Sea, instead of a line drawn from El Aresh to the head of the eastern branch of the Red Sea, the Gulf of El Akaba, whereby Turkey tried to reassert her authority over the Sinai peninsula. Sir Evelyn Baring addressed a note to the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, calling attention to the departure taken in the new firman, and asking whether a satisfactory explanation from Turkey had been received. The Minister of Foreign Affairs attached a telegram from the Grand Vizier to his answer, which conceded the administrative rights of Egypt over the Sinai peninsula, and also a telegram from the Sultan, stating expressly that the Sinai district was to belong to Egypt. Sir Evelyn Baring answered to this that the Government of Great Britain could not consent to any diminution of Egyptian territory, but that the definition of the boundaries as described in the firman and supplemented by the telegram were satisfactory, and that the Government of Great Britain regarded the telegram as constituting part of the firman, and requested that the two be read together. This was consented to, and the public reading of the firman took place on April 14, constituting Abbas Pasha legally Judicial Reform.—The reforms in the judicial methods, as prepared by Justice Scott in 1891, were to a great extent carried out in 1892; and Justice Scott, in his first report on the native tribunals, gives the scope of the work done since his arrival in the country, in 1890. The system that was in use was the French system, founded on the Code Napoleon, and embodying those rules of equity and good conscience which prevail throughout the civilized world. Apart from their inherent merits, the laws have been in practice in the mixed and native tribunals for a good many years, and the people had become used to them. It was therefore decided not to make a radical change in the existing system, but only to simplify the procedure. It was found that the qualification of the judges was not of a high standard; in almost every tribunal there were numbers who had received no legal training, and who had not been improved by practice. The same drawback to efficiency existed in the Court of Appeal. One by one changes were effected in every tribunal, and those that were clearly unfit were eliminated, and men of good reputation and legal training were put in their places. On account of the difficulty of finding a sufficient number of judges with proper qualifications, the old method of 3 judges sitting together, even in the first instance in all civil and criminal cases, was abolished, and the system of a single judge, sitting in summary civil justice, with a limited criminal jurisdiction, and subject to appeal in all but the smallest matters, was adopted. These summary tribunals were introduced very gradually throughout the country, and numbered 33 on June 1. The introduction of the one-judge system necessitated the establishment of some system of inspection and superintendence, and the Committee of Judicial Surveillance was therefore established. It is composed of the Judicial Adviser Justice Scott, M. Menondo, and M. Le Greele. Under them are 2 inspectors and 1 secretary. Their work consists of inspecting all tribunals, the examination of dossiers, chosen weekly at random in every tribunal, on which they have to report to the committee. They also receive and report periodical returns from all tribunals as regards the business done. The judicial adviser has to make periodical visits to the tribunals, so as to see the work of each of them at least once a year. This surveillance is quite independent of the system of appeal; it calls attention immediately to the error, in order to prevent its recurrence, but it does not attempt to set the error right in the particular case. In order to provide a continuous supply of new judges, the Khedivial School of Law was founded some years ago, but it had been without a head for four years; a new director was chosen, and the standard of instruction was raised. Justice Scott proposes to reduce the expense of litigation, reform the bar, and abolish the exceptional tribunals, which under the new organization have lost their usefulness. The professional tax, which was a grievance, affecting the poorer traders especially, was abolished. About 150,000 acres of uncultivable land, heavily taxed, but of no value, were relieved of taxation. The taxes on the Mazroof lands, which were originally sold by the Government against the payment of a quit rent, but which, with the reduced values of produce, could not afford to pay an annual tax fixed in more prosperous times, were reduced so as to equal the taxes levied on other lands in the same localities. In order to carry out the reforms of an equitable reassessment, the rates of taxation, which numbered about 1,400, were reduced to only 220. Liberal fiscal regulations for the purpose of encouraging the reclamation of land and a system of improving the old village land registers were also adopted. A decree prohibiting the importation into the provinces and territory dependent upon Egypt south of 20° of north latitude, or the manufacture in them of distilled liquors, was issued according to the resolution of the Brussels Conference of July, 1890. Treaty with Germany.-A commercial convention was signed between Egypt and Germany, July 22, 1892, to go into effect April 1, 1893. This treaty differs somewhat from those entered into with Austria, England, and Italy, in that it specifies the procedure to be adopted in case of dispute as to the valuation of goods, a provision as to the admissibility of searching German domiciles for smuggled goods, and in annexing to the treaty a copy of the existing customs regulations and by-laws, which the Egyptian Government is debarred from changing, in certain clauses, without the consent of the German consul-general. A duty of 15 per cent. ad valorem is fixed as a maximum which Egypt may impose upon silks, wines, spirits, petroleum, animals, and cereals. ENGINEERING IN 1892. The past year has still further emphasized the tendency to restore old and create new canal systems. Particularly is this true in Germany, where nearly all the available streams are canalized; in Belgium, where the plan of making Brussels a seaport is well-nigh realized; in Italy, where Rome ere long will complete a canal to salt water; and in France, where the merchandise by canal now amounts to more than one third of that conveyed by rail. In Great Britain many of the old canals were long since acquired by railways and discontinued as canals, the earthwork, of course, being utilized to the new end. The Manchester Ship Canal is the only great work approaching completion. Among the most notable of the works now under way and approaching completion is the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, building by the Canadian Government; the Merwede, connecting Amsterdam with the Rhenish provinces of Germany; the allied Dutch work contemplating the drainage of the Zuyder Zee; and the Manchester Ship Canal, uniting the great cities of Liverpool and Manchester, England. In this country the final collapse of the Panama Canal scheme under French management has been followed by adramatic exposure of corrupt dealings among its principal officers re-dealings, it may be said, which were more than suspected, and were indeed common talk in New York for several years before the final crash. The only other American works of special inter Taxation Reforms.-Several taxation forms were instituted to relieve the burden of the Egyptian people. Salt, of which the Government has a monopoly, was reduced 40 per cent. in price. est north of the isthmus are in Colorado, where the immense system of irrigating ditches has been greatly extended. During the past twenty years the total tonnage transported on New York canals fell not far short of 110,000,000 tons, with an estimated value of about $3,250,000,000. Such enormous commercial interests naturally suggest the practicability of a ship canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson. This would not far exceed the cost of the Manchester Ship Canal, and there can hardly be a doubt that it would prove largely remunerative. Improvements in tunneling devices rapidly increase the possibilities of that branch of engineering. No tunnels are sufficiently near completion to merit description at this time, but those under the Thames at London and the Hudson at New York are under way, and will no doubt be pushed forward rapidly. Detailed estimates alike for a bridge across and for a tunnel under the British Channel, from England to France, have been completed to the minutest detail. The cost of a bridge from Cape Blanc Nez to the South Foreland is estimated at $164,000,000, while the smallest revenue is calculated at about $20,000,000 annually. The only obstacle to the construction of one or both of these works is found in the conservative dread on the part of the British public lest such means of transit should open a weak point in the defensive armor that Nature has provided for Great Britain. On the whole, the year has not been conspicuous for the completion of great engineering projects. The Viaduct du Loup.-One of the most picturesque and, from an engineering point of VIADUCT DU LOUP. view, one of the most difficult regions in southern France, has recently been traversed by a new railway running through Nice, Puget Theniers, and Grasse. Although only 624 miles long, the road has been very costly, owing to the broken character of the country. The most notable of the bridges, of which there are many, is the viaduct, shown in Fig. 1, crossing the Vallée du Loup, on a curve of 675 feet radius. We are so accustomed to solving problems of this kind with iron or steel, that the construction of such a work in masonry seems almost a waste of material. It has been done, however, in the present instance, and the effect is described as very beautiful, the curving line of eleven arches, each 63 feet span, sweeping from side to side of the deep valley at a height in the middle sections of 170 feet. The total length of the viaduct is 1,050 feet. It is hardly conceivable that the building of such a structure with stone at this day is really good engineering, considered in the abstract, but it is nevertheless a fine piece of work. Steel Bridge at Memphis.-The formal opening of the great steel bridge across the Mississippi at Memphis, Tenn., occurred on the 12th of May, when the structure was opened for traffic with appropriate ceremonies and great public rejoicing. Between this bridge and the Gulf of Mexico the Mississippi is not bridged, and above it the nearest bridge is at St. Louis. It is the third largest of its kind in the world. Work was begun in the autumn of 1888, when the first caisson was sunk. There are 5 spans and 6 piers, including the anchorages. The system of construction is the cantilever; the main span, consisting of 2 cantilever arms and 1 intermediate span, is 794 feet. The other spans range from 621 feet to 225 feet. The total length of the bridge is 2,597 feet. An iron viaduct extends the structure westward 2,500 feet, and then changes to timber trestle for 3,000 feet, and nearly a mile of embankment, to a junction with the tracks of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad. This junction is near Sibley, Ark. The river piers are sunk to depths varying from 75 to 131 feet below high-water mark; all these were sunk into position by the pneumatic process. They are of masonry from the caissons to the bridge seats. The main posts are 80 feet high, weighing 28 tons each, and many of the single smaller members weigh from 10 to 16 tons. The main pin of the cantilever truss is 14 inches in diameter and weighs 2,200 pounds. The bridge crosses the river, as nearly as can be decided, at the very spot where Ferdinand de Soto crossed it in 1541. In support of this theory or tradition is the fact that, while excavations were being made for the shore piers on the Tennessee side, several Spanish halberds and sword blades were found, which could hardly have been there legitimately unless left by the early explorers. Pecos River Bridge.-Owing to difficult grades and numerous bridges the Southern Pacific Railway has undertaken to straighten its line by a cut-off about 800 miles west of New Orleans. The new work includes a bridge over Pecos river cañon in Texas, a tremendous ravine 400 feet deep and nearly half a mile wide. The bridge, as nearly completed, is shown in Fig. 2. It is surpassed in height by only one other structure of the kind in the world, namely, the Loa Viaduct, in Bolivia, described in the "Annual" for 1889, and falls short of this only by about 8 feet. Its height above the stream is 328 feet: length, 2,180 feet; width at floor, 20 feet, providing for a single track and footways for employees. The material is steel, the principal tower being 321 feet 6 inches, including the limestone foundation. The viaduct has 48 spans all told, the central or channel span being a cantilever of 185 feet, while the others are plate girders, alternating 35 and 65 feet long. The towers are all 35 x 100 feet at base and 10 x 35 feet at top. The erection of the ironwork was begun in November, 1891, and finished during the summer of 1892, under the supervision of the Southern Pacific engineer corps. Moving a Bridge Tower.-An interesting engineering feat was accomplished late in December in moving a large drawbridge tower on the Harlem river. The structure is of iron lattice work 126 feet high, 48 feet 6 inches wide, and 34 feet long at the base, tapering upward wedgewise to a horizontal tiebeam at the top of its two vertical main pillars. With its accessory machinery it has for many years done the work of raising and lowering the drawbridge that carries the trains of three great railroad lines, namely, the New York Central, the Harlem, and the New York and New Haven roads. The traffic by river and rail has far outgrown the capacity of the bridge, and a new one is in course of construction. Since no interruption of traffic is ad missible, a temporary structure must be erected until the new bridge is ready for use. The most feasible plan seemed to be to move the tower to the line of the temporary bridge. This was accomplished under the management of Mr. Maylan, foreman for Coffrode and Saylor, the original builders of the tower. Two rows of piles were driven, topped with heavy stringers and rails, and the tower, stripped of movables, but still weighing 180 tons, was jacked up 3 feet, rails connected with those on the piling were laid under it, and the tower was lowered into position. Dixon's plumbago lubricator was used on the rails, and with the aid of a powerful hoisting engine and immense sheave blocks the great tower slid easily on its ways and was moved back and forth at the experimental trial at the rate of more than 2 feet a minute. Eventually it was moved without a hitch to its new site, and set to work operating the temporary draw. The new bridge now under construction will carry four tracks in continuation of the present Fourth Avenue system, and will be built to meet the requirements of the United States engineers who have in charge the improvements that will soon change Spuyten Duyvel creek from an insignificant inlet to an important commercial highway. The Norwegian Ship Canal.-One of the greatest of modern engineering works is undoubtedly the magnificent canal, now completed, which connects the great lake system of Telemarken with the sea near Christiania. It forms a water way of more than 85 miles, traversing half of southern Norway from east to west. It forms, in fact, a beginning of what may be regarded as a main highway between the east and the west coast of the Norwegian peninsula. The work was begun in 1861, when the first of the chain of lakes was connected with the sea. But the engineering difficulties peculiar to the rest of the route postponed further operations until 1886. The Government then decided on its accomplishment, and engineers—mainly Norwegian, we believe-have most successfully overcome the difficulties. By nature the lakes were connected by a considerable river, with frequent rapids and falls, but this, by means of locks and the other appliances familiar to canal builders, has been converted into a navigable channel. The greatest natural obstacle was encountered at Drangfos, a succession of falls and rapids more than a mile long and having a total descent of about 75 feet. Here it was necessary to dam the river at the foot of the incline and raise the water to the height indicated. As the natural foundation was untrustworthy, a massive stone arch was built across the chasm, forming a base for the great dam of masonry which now restrains the rush of water. This canal passes through scenery of great wildness and beauty, and it will no doubt become a favorite route for tourists in this picturesque region. Drainage Works.-Chicago's long struggle with the question of water supply and drainage has passed several critical periods within a few years, but the coming Columbian Fair has brought matters to a crisis, and it is determined that a large drainage canal shall be opened from Lake Michigan to an affluent of the Mississippi, so that the drainage of the great city will literally be carried into the Gulf of Mexico instead of being emptied, as heretofore, into the source of the city's water supply. It has been held by some geologists that in former ages the lakes found their outlet to the gulf instead of to the Atlantic. However this may be, it is certain that the level of the Mississippi river opposite Chicago is enough lower than the level of the Great Lakes to insure an ample fall for drainage. The beginning of the work has been made at the crest of a ridge known as the Chicago Divide, on what will be the central line of the main channel intersecting the boundaries of Will and Cook Counties. A deal of litigation is unavoidable to decide upon the value of lands taken for the canal, as well as upon consequential damages; this, of course, in cases where the owners and the commissioners can not agree as to terms. Careful estimates give $25,000,000 as a possible minimum, and contracts amounting to about $11,500,000 have been let from Willow Springs to Lockport. This estimate is for actual construction alone, not including the price of land, so that it is extremely probable that the total amount will considerably exceed the sum named above, particularly when the almost uniform tendency of engineers to underestimate is taken into the account. The necessity of the work is imperative, at whatever cost, and no doubt it will be carried out with characteristic energy. The projected canal, saturated as it must be with rich but unsavory fertilizing material, is not without its terrors for suburban residents; but it holds out, at the same time, attractive possibilities to agricultural interests, and will no doubt eventually be utilized for that purpose. Sewerage is not a particularly savory subject, but it is satisfactory to know that modern scientific ingenuity is reducing its objectionable fea tures, and even rendering it available for purposes that could hardly be anticipated. Recent experiments in the vicinity of Berlin, Germany, are among the most remarkable on record. Two years ago, it is said, a pond having an area of about 1,000 square feet was supplied with water coming directly from the sewerage system of the city after it had been employed for agricultural irrigation. The pond was stocked with trout, which lived through the summer and winter until the following year, when the water was drawn off and 300 trout from 4 to 5 inches long were found. The success of this experiment led to the construction of six new tanks, with an area of more than 40,000 square feet and a depth not exceeding 3 feet. Some of these were stocked with carp and others with trout, and at a banquet lately given to Prof. Virchow about 150 of these sewer fish" were served in one of the courses. Carp, it is well known, thrive in impure water; but as trout are exceedingly fastidious in the matter of water, the result at Berlin proves that a process of filtration through wide cultivated tracts is highly efficient. 66 Relief Sewer in Brooklyn, N. Y.—Warned by a startling disaster involving loss of life and considerable damage, the city of Brooklyn has provided a sewer capable of carrying off the surplus water of heavy rainfalls. The dangerous district was about 1,300 acres in extent, and during the first rush of water after a heavy rain the lower streets were flooded, including adjacent cellars, and much damage often resulted. The work just completed is known as the main relief sewer. It is carried across the drainage area through Greene Avenue, Fourth Avenue, and Butler Street to the head of the Gowanus Canal, which falls into the natural cove now mainly occupied by the United States Navy Yard. With this main, the regular street sewers are connected in such a way as to deliver only storm water; thus the regular sewers will only be called upon to do work of which they are amply capable. The tunnel has been made under the Anderson method of construction, using the Beach system of tunneling needles, which is an American invention and was patented as long ago as 1869 by Alfred E. Beach, of the "Scientific American." Recently, however, it has been brought forward as an entirely new thing in Great Britain, where it attracted much attention from engineering authorities. The needles are, in fact, heavy bars of iron or steel. They are driven forward separately into the earth that forms a support for the front part, while the rear end rests on the progressing work of the permanent tunnel. A notable instance of the use of these needles at King's Cross Station in London was described in the Annual Cyclopædia" for 1890, page 285. The main part of the sewer is circular in section, with a diameter of 10 feet, enlarging successively to 12, 14, and 15 feet as it descends, with walls usually not exceeding 16 inches, except in some places where local features call for a 28-inch side wall. Of this circular portion there are 11,400 linear feet, of which more than 9,000 feet were laid by tunneling, part of it far below the solidly builtup parts of the city. Near the discharge end the section is changed to something nearer a rectangular form, the bottom being an inverted |