The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-27
De LESSEPS'S BIG DITCH.
-ur TREMENDOUS WASTE OF MONEY!
nv THE PANAMA CANAL.

nj III
poxoxA. Cal. Nov. 1e.-Col. Eben W. Holmes
am. up the coast to Los Angeles this week
o. a Ave months stay at Colon. Panama,
"a along the line Of the canal across tho
,.,hmns OF Panama. He is thoroughly famil-
~ wlth the work which has been done by the
Is French canal company. and the informa-
M bs brings is interesting.
az Taft Panama on Oct, "a" said Col. Holmes
A., sus correspondent, after having been in
~. LEGALITY Of the Panama Canal since May 1S.
Ths great ditch seems to be about one-thlrd
snIshed. although several French engineers on
Al. work informed me that 1t Is nearly half
.nmnleted. On the other hand. such engineers
+, Nirande and De VeAux at Colon. told me
,hst the canal work Is now less than one
,hIrd finished. The work 10 80 ~stupendous. and
,rvo,yes so many problems concerning the
i.ndslIdes at the Culebra cut and the gigantic
,.ots necessary under the new plans. that no
~. RALLY knows what part of the whole work
h,, vet been accomplished. Last spring nearly
obO0 negroes from Jamaica, at IS cents a day.
=, az cents American money. were employed.
Int last July. when the fevers were worst in
mat region, the force was cut down to 1900,
and has not since been restored to Its full
,umber. About half these men have been at
work on the famous Culebra cut, which is the
~rrsatest piece OF excavation OF The kind ever
Known. II is the plan Of the local managers
10 increase the number OF laborers on the
dltch to 5000 by December. but 1t all depends
an the financial success OF the company at
Paris, / heard praises everywhere on the
Is,hmus OF the prudence and frugality OF the
men now In charge OF the canal construction.
The ohacers hope that in a few months more
thew will be able to make such a showing that
ths French people will take new heart in their
.nt.rprise, and put in enough capital to insure
the completion OF the canal.
mo one on the Isthmus, so far as my per-
,istent inquiries showed me. knows when the
br canal will be finished at the rate the work
IA now progressing. II, however. the labor
should continue as steadily as 1t has during the
last Two years. the new waterway will. the en-
rineers say, be finished several years before
the ten years. concession by the Colombian
Government is outlawed.
THE new Panama Canal Company, which
was organized In Paris in October. in 1904, on
the wreck OF the former notorious one. got
together from the sale OF new shares and by
compelling a disgorging Of ill-gotten wealth by
canal contractors and others about $6.500.-
900. In the last eighteen months some 81 AGO.
900 more has been raised by the saie OF shares
IN France. The Colombian Government has
given a concession to the new company. and
demanded that the canal be finished in ten
years from October, 1894. The new company.
under the management OF Mr.. Mango. the Di-
rector General at Colon. has been going ahead
slowly. carefully and economically. 1t is said
at the Isthmus that about $6.500.000 has been
expended by the new company. n that tho
balance. about 81. 0 0.000. will have been con-
sumed by next spring at the present rate OF ex-
penditure. In the first year OF the work under
the new company from 400 to 900 men were en-
ployed. but as the engineers saw their way clear.
they gradually increased the laborers to about
5000. Sir Henry Taylor, the engineer who
built and managed the Grand Trunk Railroad.
spent the fall of 1895 in examining the Panama
Canal. and he reported that the work was
progressing wisely and economically. and also
that the canal would be built. Adam A. Briggs.
q well-known English engineer. examined the
cana! In 1900. and vent away saying that it
never could be built on its present plans for
less than $3.50. 100000 whereas the French
engineers have all along estimated the total ex-
pense OF finishing tho project at about $780,
100000. All the engineers at the Isthmus are
angry at Mr.. Briggs. and say that he came
there prejudiced against the Panama Canal
and in favor OF the Nicaragua Canal.
THE abandonment Of the plan OF construct
luz u tiuV-lCNCi ana hAouO VIC ioIAo az
each end OF the canal necessary. Under the
operation OF the new company. excavation has
been going on at both ends of the ditch. and
particularly at a central point-the Culebra cut.
Between this cut and the eastern and western
ends OF the waterway is altogether about
twenty m lies that has never been touched by
eIcavators. Atthe Colon end Of the canal four
teen miles has been dug and practically fin
ished. The old De Lesseps Company put some
S6O.O00,O00 in that. excavation, which the
new engineers Say could now be done
for about 81. 000.0 00. At the western or Pa
oiac Ocean end OF the canal seven miles were
we'll excayated by the De Lesseps Company at
an expense OF $50. 0o0. 900 more. and with a
little dredging now this part could be made
AVAILABLE. The new company finished a fine
steel wharf 900 feet long at Panama, on the
Pacific end Of the canal. last spring. and points
othis with pride as the best wharf for the least
money. The wharf enables the largest sea-
going craft to land there. instead Of landing
freight and passengers by slow and expensive
system Of lighters.
The work at the great Culebra cut is worth
more than a passing remark. It means the
cutting Of cash six miles long. from 100 to
$50 feet deep and 300 feet wide. So enormous
IN excavation has never been known else
where. Literally a mountain OF earth. bowl
ders and hardpan must be dug and hauled
away. There is two miles In the Culebra cut
where the excavation will have a level OF 345
ieet deep and at the uppermost part the cut
WI be abo ut 700 feet wide. At one time last
May there were 1900 men working there,
Trains OF iron cars or the railroad track laid on
tecanai bottom hauled the rock and earth
away and steel dredges forty feet high chewed
out holes in tho gravel and boulders. and
buckets as large as hogsheads carried the
debris to the cars.
As an American I have been very proud to
zee now the French engineers have been grad
ualy adopting our American ideas in the utili-
fcsuop o. energy and machinery In the Pana ma
sSnat This year seven dre1ges. the largest
ESrer pallt, have been received at the isthmus
aaon New Jersey and New York. and they have
SSvne wonders. The American steam cranes
Ppsse 9een adopted along the ca and all the
STnhcn dredges. which cost from $4,000 To
$500, have been thrown aside. Scores OF
aa%sticah engineering ideas have been
nMop.ea on the isthmus. since the engi-
doSsss from the Chicago drainage canal went
tbiSSmn, mere, and showed the French many
do mss that American genius had evolved. A
inonn 81 SO dirt holsters. and steel conyeyors
ssS.at fhlladclnhia have been eminently sue
siSndah IN the canal work. They have cost
viii NJ each One OF these great machines
am Gngs out about 10000 cubic metres OF
Gaafn 10 a day. Tho French affairs that the
Ia LSSseps company had on the canal to dc
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