Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-05-14
THE PANAMA CANAL,
Project-The Work Far Advanced, and Health on the Isthmus Good,

pletOn, Ot Massachusetts, who has spent some time in the United States of Columbia, and who is thoroughly familiar with the opera tions of the Panama canal, has returned to Washington and joined his wife at the Hotel Arno.
 A representative of The United Press was granted long interview with Mr. Appleton, in which he said:
 ''The work is now well under way all along the line with the exception of ten miles at the Pacific end, which, however, is easy dredg- ing, and can be dcne in . year and half. The Slaven dredges have dug out fifteen miles from the Atlantic to Bohfa Soldado, where the place is now being arranged for the lock. Besides dredging the canal they have also finished many miles of the de- viations, or cuts which are to keep the water of the Chagres river out of the canal itself.
 ''In few months these dredgers will have completed their contract of the canal to its required depth and width, and also the cuts. Excavating is going on in all parts of the canal which will be embraced between the locks. There are excavators in abundance of different patterns, with cranes for lifting up buckets of rocks and dumping the material in dirt cars. These and the excavators are moved by steam. Dynamite is extensively used to loosen the rock There are several hundred miles of track to remove the debris and deposit it way off in the virgin forest. At the Culenra section alone there are sev- enty-fve miles of railroad, with about forty excavators and locomotives, and six of the locks now under way. There are to be eight of them in all, possibly ten.
 'tAn the world is watching with deep in terest M. De Lessep's last great undertaking. but am not aware that any governments have taken any action in relation to it. The government of France merely authorizes the now loan, but has nothing further to do about it. It has no desire to interfere in any way with what is being done in the American isthmus, and certainly does not propose to get itself into hot water. The best guarantee of the absolute neutrality of the canal is that it passes through an independent country, Colombia, which will zealously see that it's rights and autonomy are respected This is the exact meaning of the famous Monroe doctrine.
 "The health on the isthmus for the last year has been exceptionally good, with very few cases of fever. In fact, the average mortality is not so great, all things considered, especi- ally when the conditions of life are so differ ent from those in a temperate zone. should say that Americans employed on the canal in various capacities have stood the test of the climate extremely we'll. MT. Slaven has a force of about 200 men in all, of whom, of course, a great many are negroes or other natives of tropical countries. The captains of his dredges are mostly Americans, as are also his engineers and skilled mechanics, with a sprinkling of white men from other countries
 ''Their health is usually good, and they all live on the dredges, which are at work night and day, and often in secluded places out in the jungle, where one might easily get the blues. They are we'll fed and paid, and every attention given to their comfort. Should they fall sick, the hospitals of the canal com pany offer them the best treatment at small price. On one of the dredges, some three years ago, the captains wife had a boy born 1 and the whole family live happily and ir | perfect health. l believe the digging up o1 the soil and letting in the salt water is making the isthmus healthier. One of the first Ameri cans to have a canal contract, Mr. Millet whom saw in 1883, attacking the high land at Culebra with an Osgood 6 McNaughtOr excavator, is still on the isthmus, engaged al some other contract, and in perfect health.