Morris tribune., 1886-03-24
THE PANAMA CANAL.
A X cord of Fraud Unparalleled in the
Annals of Any Nation.

A former Cincinnatian. Mr.. w. j.
Crosby, has just returned from Pana-
ma, where he has been since last Sep
tember fulfilling contract for tighten
ing cargoes on incoming ships to the
shore The yellow fever has been and
now is, committing dreadful raVages
there, and when his turn came his
physician aud a friend hurried HIM out
of the country. His wife had preced-
ed him by a few weeks, He reached
New York, and there heard of the sud-
den death of brother in Evansville,
which sad news summoned him west.
He expects to return about the goth
of the present month.
Mr.. Crosby has been q number of
years on the isthmus; at one time as
an agent of the Pacific Steamship CON-
pany, and his position gave him op-
portunities for observation. which he
seems to have improved to the fullest
extent, after a manner proverbial With
Americans.
':How is the isthmus at the present
time?" he was asked by a representa-
tive of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
.''1t is not the incest place in the
world to be in now," he remarked,
'.for people are dying in the streets by
the cart-Ioad with the yellow fever.
Taken at the best, Panama is not
what it was some years ago. Then
there were dozen or twenty Ameri-
can families there that cultivated So
cialities, and Il better or more home
like place could not be desired. With
in the past few years, however, a lot
OF Frenchmen have made their APP
pearance, and have changed the con-
ditions of residence most materially"
s'How about the canal?"
The history of that canal" said ne
earnestly. "will be record of fraud
almost unparalleled in the annals of
any nation. Already it has cost the
sum of ~$120, ,000, 600. The projectors
have in addition u debt of $50, ,0OO. 900,
and now they estimate that to compass
its completion $500. 100000 additional
win be needed. What have they ac-
complishedp Nothing more than the
transportation to the objective point of
an unlimited amount Of machinery,
which is useless and can not even be
converted into old iron, as the rate for
freights away from the isthmus are so
high as to render protitless any such
venture.
''The Nicaragua route is undoubted-
ly the best for canal purposes, but it
is at the same time the longest. The
route selected by the French and Ger
man syndicate is the shortest, but it
is fraught with difficulties which,
think, have been all too lightly con-
even if they have been con-
sidercd at all.
..For instance, the land lies very
high in places, and the deepest por-.
tion will be n cut six hundred feet in
depth. Now, tho water surface of the
canal will have to be 150 feet in width.
This will neccssitate n cut nearly eigh-
teen hundred feet in width at the top;
SO you can easily imagine the amount
of dirt to be removed. The canal line
follows closely that of the Panama
railroad. The contract for removing
the dirt has been let to a French and
Dutch syndicate for $4,000, 600, and
as yet the contractors have done
nothing. Then they seem to have
taken no account of the varying aspect
of the spring tides. OF course, they
will have to employ an elaborate sys-
tenn of locks. In the spring the tides
ON the Pacific side rise from twenty
five to thirty feet, while on the gulf
coast they are from twelve to fifteen
inches. These conditions ] deem of
Importance, and lastly, they are using
the channel of the Chagres river as a
starting point on the gulf side. The
Chagres is mountain stream, and in |
times of flood is terror to the inhab- |
itants. You have heard about tor
rent rushing and jumping. Well, the
breast OF torrent in the Chagres just |
Jumps along. 1t comes down like a
solid wall, bearing all before it. They
will have to divert the entire channel
IF this stream. The canal has now
,een under way for four years, and
the channel, when completed, will be
Forty-seven miles in length.
"The company has erected great |
number OF houses along the line, and
ust to give you an idea of the manner
n which they conduct their business I |
will tell you that in their office, which
s an immense place, they had at one
lime over seven hundred clerks en-
,loycd. 1t seemed ut once a hospital
ind an asylum for broken-down. relics
If French nobility. Each window of
he Office had a. small balcony, and
zach balcony its lolling Frenchman.
When one got tired and went within
10 either pore over the pages of o
french novel of questionable moral
purity or the Paris papers another
took his place. If anyone
lppeared with bill or series of ac-
counts he, as like as not, would be
old to call again, as all hands were
90 busy to pay any attention to him.
70 any man conscientiously attempt-
ng to, discharge his duty this was dis
All these fellows did was J
- dras.v fLos,. ao1ax.;1. .,s.I~~.x-l