New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-17
An Economical Luxury,
cIeveIand's Baking Powder.

feet deep leading into the spacious lagoon wnere
the canal opens 1t will be o safe and admiraDie
harbor for shipping entering and leaving the canal
and can undoubtedly be kept open permanently
with less dredging than is required at the entrances
Of the Suez Canal
While the harbor improvements have been well
devised and scientifically constructed. there are
some defects in method which ought to be speedily
remeded. The dredging now done in the inner
channel is wastefully conducted because the sand
is thrown upon the breaSwater where much OF IL
is washed back. This kind Of dredging ought to
be cheap for ii Is work which will have to be done
over again. When the sand is dumped into barges
and dumped into the beyond the outer BAR there
will be fair opportunity for comparing the actual
cost with the estimated cost of the work The dredg-
ing as now done is poor work and the plant itself
is not adapted for operating satisfactorily in rough
water. suction dredge is building in Scotland
for harbor work, which will be more thorough.
When this new one arrives the dredge now In
operation at the breakwater will be placed where
1t belongs in the canal cut. The removal o. the
sand, either by the suction dredge itself by
barges, is indispensable If the work is to be
thoroughly and economically done. Another point
for which the engineers criticised is the delay
in filing up sections of the pier with stone; but
to do everything In the main the harbor work
has been excellent, and such defects as have
pointed out win be remeded when the plant is
improved and facilities are offered for employing
q larger force of wOrkmen.
The canal cut has been opened for distance of
1900 yards, the dredges excayating to depth of
sixteen feet. This is the beginning of the sea-
level section, which is to be carried from Grey
town nine and q quarter miles southwest to the
first lock in the valley Of the Deseado, q small
stream descending from the high ridge known as
the Divide. The dredges are now working in
sand and doing well; but there will be better
progress when the fat alluvial deposits Of loan
and clay in this section are reached. The width
of the cut is $50 feet but it will be broadened
subsequently about fifty feet and the material re-
moved A second pair Of dredges following the
first will increase the depth of the channel TO
thirty-fve feet. The sand is now carried over the
railway which has been constructed for nine miles
toward the Divide, and is dumped upon the road
bed Of the new section, which has been graded for
another mile. The dumping is rapidly done by
the movement Of plough drawn along the cars
by a chain attached to the engine. The railway
has been built through swamps bordering upon the
San Juanillo, and is to be extended first to the
Divide and then to Ochoa, where the great dam is
to be made at the junction of the canal with the
San Juan River. This railway has been ingen
ously constructed by c. p. Treat, of Chicago
Trees were felled and piled up along the line as
to form crib-work. Upon this foundation logs
were laid longtudinally, and across these were
placed ties of creosoted wood for carrying the rails
The roadbed was packed with sand from the bank
of the canal. 1t is well-built road which can be
used when completed to the San Juan for the
NJ
well as for construction purposes. The cuts and
excavations made for it confirm the results of Dor
incs along the line Of the canal, and demonstrate
the facility with which dredging operations can
be conducted the greater part Of the distance be-
tween Greytowu and the San Juan. The clays
and alluvial deposits furnish the best possible
packing material and will be very easily cut and
handled by the dredges.
The buildings and plant may be described as
satisfactory in the main. During the past year
additional barracks, machine-shops, storehouses
and warehouses have been erected, and the stall
now has comfortable working quarters economl-
cally constructed. The headquarters are connected
by a narrow-gauge railway with the chief engi-
neers residence and the hospitals and again by
telephone lines with the camps and other points.
The hospitals while less pretentious than those at
Panama. are well planned and thoroughly equipped
for effective service. The working quarters Oh the
company are between two and three miles from
Greytown; but communications are frequent Dy
steam launches and tugs. The machlne-shops are
hardly equal to the requirements Oh SO gieaO d
work, but all the other buildings are suDsVah,lai
structures, well adapted for the needs OF much
larger staff than is now employed. The telegraph |
service of the company is excellent us Lines eA'
tending 10 Castillo, fifty-one miles away, where
connecton is made with the Government wires;
An aoueduct has also been completed Ior severn
niles. by which both the American colony anu Vie
town will be supplied with water. -, ,a.
Tba nIant az the company includes the purchase
made at Colon-seven dredgeS, three steam V1S2i |"
floating storehouse, large number OF SLOWS Sa
ers and baIges, and considerably th}s nIant
ware cordage and supplies WheIiel titio p nt
is worth more or less than was pald loI ~ al
slider finds it difficult to determine III ve i"Go W
conflicting estimates and contradictory 10;
That the dredges are capable OF eAceIcnG "Ui als
evident that all the property at OoiUn oS tho
In value owing TO the extreme n"i IT, disabled
climate. One of the dredgeSS IN n"S for repairs and
I am informed that accidents happen lIequ5In.S
owing to rusty machinery ana IT' is worthless
This does not indicate that the pl.m nb oysTTa,I
but merely that it will require lnoious Suhtoss
inc and Tenairinr as time passes; ana d0uptess
a sufficient allowance was li"u' Iva
when the plant was DOush'. ;uo5 forcn working |
The staff is well-organlZeu W. ,tOanauS |
10 rrner SS end effectively under Mr. Menocals
direction particularly s[Sns Never 'S f hae the
ing and draughting departments magnitude been made
%S y.dS for h %STn sceae
M fnaI enrvev has cost S4OO,OOO, anu one hlo
only 70 spend half-hour in the W ~
TO convince himself that there VIII 70 y" constrnction
6olIars saved in the actual cost OF cons
This with the work in ns S%1' what fSs f has
harDor, ana on ve br the staff since ground was
h beeh 10 pctnber issO Nothing has been at
te%Oted IN on the Pacific side except the clearing
q portion Of III s line o Sf the Sss' been oH o a1s
NV o't H.. ou EASTERN division the line has been
Cleared as S" far as the Divide The STAFF has shown
ITSELF equal the sower of P SSs SnfeS
Saeac %OrK; the treat rock cut at the Divide
has n "es" been undertaken. The Deseado San
Francisco and Toa basins are SUI to be wSCs
70 roi ,%a IovoI n the San Juan and flood large