_Scheldt and Rhine Canal._—For a considerable time past, a canal has been in course of construction between the Scheldt and the Rhine. The undertaking has been jointly promoted by Holland, Belgium, and Germany. The two former countries are said to have completed their part of the new waterway, but the German section of the work has been allowed to stagnate for lack of support, and in 1887 the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce applied to the German Government for assistance, with a view to its completion. At the present time, the Rhine is one of the most important waterways in Europe in reference to the extent of its traffic. The port of Rotterdam is, however, the only one open by this route, while the new canal would give access to the magnificent port of Antwerp, whence cheaper freights are obtained to North America than from any other European port. _Oder and Upper Spree Navigation._—The old Friedrich-Wilhelm Canal, constructed over two hundred years since, was till recently the only means of water communication through this district; but the dimensions of the channel, as well as the locks, were too small for present requirements, and in preference to reconstructing the whole work, it was decided to cut another channel, joining the Oder a few miles further from Frankfurt. The country traversed is easier than in the case of the Ems, and as the Oder does not take such large vessels as the Ems, the dimensions of the canal are smaller; the limit being for 400 ton barges:— _Canal._ │ _Locks._ ft. in. │ ft. in. Width of bed 46 0 │ Length 180 0 ” at water level 76 0 │ Clear width of gates 28 3 Depth 6 6 │ Depth of sill 8 3 The total length of this navigation is stated at 54½ miles, and the cost is estimated at 11,592_l._ per mile. It is now proposed to connect the North Sea at Hamburg with Vienna, and thence, by the Danube, with the Black Sea and the Orient generally, by a canal from Kosel to the Danube. The Prussian canal system now allows of water transport all the way from Hamburg to Breig, whence the canalisation of the Oder to Kosel, now being carried out, will be completed in 1894. Prussia would continue the canal thence to the Austrian frontier if it was completed to the Danube, 273 kilometres further, by others, and efforts have recently been made to bring this about. This navigation improvement will bring the coalfields of Eastern Silesia into direct communication with Berlin.