Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1885-07-11
Progress of the Panama Canal.

Progress of the Panama Canal.
New York Tribune.
The Panama Canal is in such state
that its ultimate completion is beyond
question. But it appears equally certail
that the present company never Car
complete it. Three-fourths of the esti
mated cost of the canal has already been
spent, and the result is mere scratch
across the Isthmus. But the preppara.
tons for the actual work of digging the
canal, the clearings, borings, soundings
surveys, houses, barracks, hospitals
dredges, excavators, ETC., are complete
The building of the Suez canal was child'e
play compared to the building of this
one. There nature seemed to have in
tended that the waters of the Mediter.
ranean and the Red sea should mingle.
Here she has opposed every possible OBJ.
stacle to the marriage of the Atlanticand
the Pacific. The confguration and geo.
logical structure of the country the dead
ly climate, the intense heat, the differ
ence in tides, the Chagres, alternately a
brook and a devastating torrent, the
thickiy matted jungle, all conspire to
render the digging of canal across the
isthmus one of the most difficult pieces
of engineering work ever attempted by
man, If not absolutely the most difficult.
1t is common saying that every tie of
the Panama railroad represented hui
man life. Every foot of the Panama
canal will represent not only life, but a
fortune as we'll.
The work of preparation for the
actual digging of the canal has met
with great Obsticales. The sound
ings in the section between Pedro Nc.
Gill and Gorgona I believe never would
have been made but for the indomitable
energy of Mr.. Burt, now general superin-
tendent of the Panama railroad, who
transported On mems backs, through q
before impossiblejungle, the machinery
necessary for the work. In going along
the line of the canal, one sees to .day the
perfect state of preparation and the utter
absence of anything like a canal at q
glance. In those pretty villas on the
hill-sides live the chiefs of sections.
Leaning on their spades or lettering be-
side the huge excavators are few scat
tered men. Everywhere are idle exca-
vators or empty carts bearing evidences
of long disuse. The songless birds browse
in the shadows of the drowsy palms.
The handfal of sleepy laborers doze in
the shade or throw few shovelfuls of
earth to one side with a weary motion.
In short, in going over the canal route
one gets the impression that work is
practically stopped; and from the best
information to be got here, 1 believe
such to be the case. The last revolution
here, of course, had something to do
with the state of affairs, for when bullets
fly, spades drop, But revolutions have
their benifts, too, for they afford the
canal company reasonable excuse for
giving up their work; and give it up they
must before long, or get large amount
of new capital.
The greatest difficulties of construc-
ton have not as yet been grappled with
at all. All Culebra, the summit, where a
cut 260 feet deep will be made to tide
water level, only about fifteen feet have
been excavated. The great dam which
it is proposed to build between the hills
of Obispo and Santa Cruz to control the
waters of the Chagres has not been be-
gun, nor has spade been put to all those
sluices and channels which are to be
built to carry off the waters of the turbu-
lent river in the rainy season. In fact,
the Chagres is such knotty problem
that there is still some haziness about
the method in which it shall be treated.
Here, at Colon, vast amount of money
has been spent on the terre-plain, q
spacious platform of made land with
piers, houses and machine shops, ETC.,
and in the dredging which is still going
on. OFF the mouth of the Rio Grande at
Panama one or two large dredges are at
work, for there will be the Pacific en-
trance of the canal. On the slopes of
Mount Anoon, back of the city of Rana-
ma, are the fine hospitals of the com.
oany, erected at cost so great that the
rue amount is difficult to ascertain, but
he best authorities place it in the mill
ions. At Colon, at Panama and on
avery section of the canal the company
has erected buildings. many of them
arge and many of them elegant. To
.ealize the vast amount of money spent
n putting up these buildings one must
that building which would
cost $3.50 in the United States here costs
. 500. Bearing this fact in mind, one
an see where many of the millions spent
nave gone to. Itisalso said that q large
mount of money has been spent in the
changing of trifling details, such as the
moving of a building from one side to the
,ther, the transportation of an excavator
rom place where it was idle to a place
where it would be used, and similar
operations.
The isthmus has reputation that ex.
ends to ali parts of the world, and it is
With difficulty that laborers are induced
% come here. Nearly all the laborers
IN the canal now are Jamaica negroes.
They are averse by nature and tradition
o work, and their natural and inherited