map and follow out the course a ship must take. It must skirt Denmark
and pass into the North Sea, then go through the Straits of Dover, down
the coast of France, across the Bay of Biscay, and down the coast of
Portugal until the Straits of Gibraltar are reached. Here the vessel
must pass into the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, and follow it along
through the Grecian Archipelago, through the Dardanelles into the Sea of
Marmora, and passing through the Bosporus, it at last finds itself in
the Black Sea.

The time required to make such a long voyage is a great loss to
merchants, and the vessel has to pass through so many narrow straits and
past so many strategic points that the voyage could hardly be undertaken
if Russia were at war with any foreign nation.

The canal is to be 213 feet wide at the surface, 115 feet at the base,
and to have a depth of 27 feet.

It should, therefore, be a very fine canal.

Germany and the United States are both very pleased about this great
work, for both nations see in it an opportunity to sell their iron and
steel manufactures.

The Czar of Russia has issued an order that there is to be no more
exiling to Siberia except for certain very serious crimes.

Instead, large prisons are to be built in Central Russia for the
political criminals. The change is to go into effect in one year's time,
when it is supposed that the new prisons will be in readiness.