Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/630

* NICARAGUA CANAL. 536 NICCOLINI. been made to iinluce Congress to {.'uarantee the principal and interest at 4 per cent, of an issue of $100,000.0(10 of canal company boii«ls. to be is- sued for construction purposes. In 1S!I.5 Congress provided for the appointment of three engineers, namely, Colonel W in. Ludlow. I'.S.A. ; M. F. Endicott. C.E. ; and Alfred Noble, collectively known as the Ludlow Commission, to investigate and report upon the feasibility and cost of com- pleting the work already begiin by the company. They reported in favor of the feasibility of the project, estimating the cost at $1.33,472,8!).3, as against the company's estimate of about half that amount. In view of the small appropriation made by Congress, and the consequent impossi- bility of making an exhaustive investigation, the commission advised a more thorough investiga- tion with a view to the possible discovery of a more advantageous route. Congress then provided for a new commission, popularly known as the Walker Commission, to continue the investigation, with a view of mak- ing comi)lete plans for the entire work of con- structing the canal. The members selected were Kear-Ailmiral .John G. Walker, U.S.N. ; Prof. Lewis M. llaupt, C.K.: and Col. P. C. Hains, L^S.A. With a large corps of engineers, geolo- gists, and other experts, the commission visited Nicaragua in December. 18!)", and made a full examination of the topographical, geological, and hydrographic conditions of the country, reporting in May, 1809, that in their judgment the cost of constructing the canal from (ireytown to Brito, by way of the Lull route east of the lake and by way of the Childs route west of it, would not exceed $118.113,7!I0. Colonel Hains, who concurred in the report, estimated the cost at .$134,818,308. In the meantime, interest in the old Panama canal project having been aroused on account of the favorable report of an interna- tional commission of experts, it was decided that nothing further should be done toward the con- struction of a canal by way of the Nicaraguan route until the whole question of canal possibili- ties had been investigated by a larger commission of experts. Congress accordingly, in March, 180!), provided for a new commission to imdcr- takc the task of 'finding the route' The mem- bers appointed by President McKinley were Kear- .•dniiral Walker, Colonel Hains, and Professor llaupt of the Nicaragua Commission; ex-Senator Pasco of Florida, Alfred Noble C.E.. George S. Morrison of New York, Prof. W. H. Burr of Columbia L'niversity. Lieut. Col. O. H. Ernst, U.S.A., and Prof. Emory R. Johnson of Penn- sylvania. After an exhaustive investigation of all the proposed routes on the entire Isthmus from Nicaragim to Colombia, the commission re- ported, Novendier, 1!I01. unanimously in favor of the Nicaraguan route as "the most practical>le and feasible." chiefly on account of the financial dif- ficulties in the way of ac(|uiring the property and franchises of the Panama Canal Company. The Panama Company now removed this dilTieulty by otfering to sell its property and franchises to the United Slates for .$40.0'00,000, the valuation which the Canal Commission had placed upon the work already done on the Panama route. The eonunission thereupon in a supplementary re[)ort recommended the acceptance of the otTer. .M- ready in .May. I!I00, the Iloise of Representatives had liy a vote of 2"2.') to 35 passed a bill for the construction of a canal by way of the Nicara- guan route, which, however, the Senate had re- fused to accept. In .January. 1002, the House repassed this bill by a vote of 307 to 2. Shortly thereafter came the supplementary report of the Canal Connnission recommending the purchase of the Panama Company's property and franchises. This led the Senate to hold up the House bill for further consideration of the Panama scheme. Finally it refused to accept the Nicaragua plan, and after three months of debate the two Houses, largely influenced by the volcanic occur- rences in the Caribbean region, agreed upon the Panama route, with the understanding that the Nicaraguan route should be reverted to in case a satisfactory title could not be secured to the Panama property and the necessary territory from the (Jovernmcnt of Colombia, In such case the President was authorized to begin negotia- tions with the (iovernment of Nicaragua for the neces.sarv concessions, and to construct the canal at a cost not exceeding .$180,000,000. Bini.looR.M'HY. Keasby, EnrJij Diplomatic His- tory of the Xicitragua Cannl (Newark, 1800); Snow, Topics in American Diplomacy (Boston, 1S04); Report of Xicarn'iiia Cnnal Commission IS!n-l>l9;) (Baltimore, 1800); licport o/ Isth- minn Canal Commission IX'.IU-lilOl (Washington, 1901): Moore. Digest of International Lau> (ib., 1003) ; and Reports of Explorations of Sur- veys, by T. 0. Set fridge (ib.. 1874). See Map of Centr.l America; see also P.xama Canal. NICAKIA, ne'kare'a or ICARIA. A Turk- ish island, situated off the western coast of Asiatic Turkey, a short distance west of Samos (Jlap; Balkan Peninsula. F 0). Area, .about 53 square miles. It is mostly mountainous, rising oer 3000 feet above the sea. Wood is one of the chief products. The inhabitants, who num- ber about 8000. are chiefly engaged in the pro- ihiction of cliarcoal and in sponge fishing. NICASTRO, ne-ka'strA. A city in the Prov- ince of Catanzaro, Italy, beautifully situated near the sea. IG miles west-northwest of Catan- zaro (Map: Italy, L 9). It is the see of a bishop. It has the ruins of a mediaeval castle. The town has a trade in wine and oil. There are hot springs in the vicinity. Population (commune), 1001, I7..V24. "NICCOLINI, nik'kA-le'm*-, Giovanm B.ttista (17s2 1si;ii. An Italian poet, born at San (iiuliano. near Pisa, October. 1782. He studied at Florence ami took his degree in law at the Uni- versity of Pisa. In 1802 he took a Government clerkship: from 1804 to 1807 he was in the office of the Archivio delle Riferinagioni, and from 1807 until his death he was jirofcssor of history and mythology, secretary and librarian in the Acca<lemia di Helle .rti at I'loretice, an<l for a while also librarian of tlie Palatine I.ilirary. His critical and historical treatises, many of them Iiroduced in connection with his academic labors, constitute the less important jiart of his work. .s a poet he attained to greatest excellence in tragedy, but he also revealed no little force in his lyrics ( I'nesir nazionnli. 18.59; Pcnsieri poeti- ci, 1800: Canzoniere nii:ionale e poesie rarie, 18113; Canzmiiere cirilr. 1884; Versi inrrliti, IS8S1, and in his translations from .'Eschylus, Euripides, and Dviil, In bis original dramas of the earlier period he adhrTcd to the classic Greek model, wherein we find the norm of his Pnlissena, Ino e Tcmisto, Kdipo, and Medea. The Xabucco I