The canal a good investment financially and commercially It is estimated that The canal has costover ssoo,000,000 Since 1917 he tolls have been greater than the running expense, but in only a few years have they been large enough to pay full interest on the capital invested. The average time for filling and emptying a lock chamber is 15 minutes, but it takes between 5 and 8 hours to pass a ship through the entire lengthy of the canal. Recently, over 9,000 ships each year have passed through. The canal is so brilliantly lighted that ships can pass through by night as well as by day. The canal can