The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-20

| ThiS new wharf is really q very fine Struc-
ture 1t is made of steel, with a steel roof
which is supported by steel posts. Travel
ing cranes run by engines move along a
track on the edge of the wharf, and the
heaviest OF articles can be lifted by them
out of the steamers and swung down to
| the doors of the cars behind. At present
| all ships have to anchor FAR out in Panama
bay and goods and passengers are brought
in by lighters. 1 am told that when this
new harbor is dredged out reduced rates
| for through freight will be charged on the
railroad. and that all attempts will be
made to get ships to land here instead of
| sailing about Cape Horn or through the
| Straits of Magellan.
ONE-THIRD FINISHED.
The French chief of construction who
| showed me over the Culebra cutting to-day
| told me he considered the canal more than
| half done. This is probably a rosy view of
the work, and'I am told by others that one
| third would be nearer the proper figure.
The old company worked eight years, and
during much of this time had an average of
10000 men in their employ. They spent
quarter of billion dollars and excavated
about sixty-ive million cubic yards of
earth and rock. Then the bubble burst, and
this new company was formed. They have
spent, I am told, only about IS, 100000, and
have made a big cut in the work for the
money. At Culebra the cutting at the deep
est point is now about 225 feet and seventy
| five feet of this was done by the company.
The top of the ditch looks higher as you
stand in the cut than a twenty-story New
York fiat, and the ravine shows the i'm
mensity of the work. The new company are
now very nearly out of money. They are
preparing for canal commission from
Paris, which will probably be here before
this letter is published. Everything is being
painted up for the occasion, as the future
Of the canal largely depends upon the re-
port of the commissioners. If it should be
favorable it is said by the French here that
enough money will be raised to complete
the work, but if not it will probably be
given up or sold. The estimates of amount
required to complete the work range all the
way from $1,000 900 upward, and it is prob
able that $50, 600 900 is somewhere near the
proper figure.
From what I gather here from a variety
of inside sources believe that the French
are tired and sick Of the job, and that with
in short time they will either drop it or,
what is more probable, take in some other
nation or corporation outside of France to
help them The director in charge, 1 am
told, recently said that if the French chose
to give it up he had parties in New York
and Chicago who were ready to put up the
money to complete it. France has no faith
whatever in the Nicaragua canal scheme
as a national undertaking on the part of
the United States. She believes it is all
| matter of political buncombe, and if our
| present commission should really do any
thing and Congress should follow with leg
| ILL., - Of
| Panama.
! VIEWS OF AN AMERICAN.
| One of the most sensible takers as to
canal matters among the men 1 have met
here is Mr.. r, G.. Ward, the civil engineer
! and roadmaster of the Panama Railroad.
| He said to me last night: 1.-THE canal pre-
sents no problem, fnancia. or mechanical,
that cannot be overcome. The trouble is
that the machinery they have here is old
and defective according to modern methods.
It will do the work, but in the most ex-
pensive way. There have been many new
| inventions since the canal was begun. and
| tens of millions of dollars were spent Tor
| these machines. The Chicago engineers said
| it was only a question Of good machines
| and good work, and if I had to finish the
| canal myself / should first find a big hole
| and bury all the machinery they are now
using in it and start anew. I believe it
| would be cheaper in the end. We now have
dredges that will scoop up rocks such as
those quarried for building houses like dirt,
and with the right kind of tools work can
be done at low cost"
How much will it cost to finish the
canal?'
"It is all guesswork, but 1 believe that
$150OO0,0O0 would make a sea-level canal
here, and 1 think a sea-level canal would
be far better than any lock system If the
French would give up the Panama canal l
should like to see Americans buy it and
it. 1t is certainly the shortest and, I be-
lieve the cheapest place on the isthmls for
a canal, and here you can tell just about
what it would cost. The French have paid
the expenses of the experiments; they have
done great deal Of work, and sooner or
later believe there will be canal here"
Mr.. Wards remark about the antiquated
machinery of the canal is founded on some
very bitter facts. Machinery which cost
millions upon millions is now lying along
the line of the canal, rotting and rusting.
There are expensive dredges which cost
fortunes now utterly worthless. Enough
car wheels to equip a trunk line of railroad
are scattered from one end of the isthmus
| to the other, and the rotten trucks, if their
| pieces could be put together, would make
! train half way across the isthmus. The va
| riety of wasted machinery and the rotting
| property Is indescribable. I crumbled up
| wooden carbeds with MY fingers, and
| walked mile or so on discarded and rusted
| machinery near the Atlantic mouth of the
| canal. I saw sheds filed with costly but
| now comparatively useless engines, and as
| I looked at the evidence of waste and ex-
| travagance all about me I could not help
| thinking of the thrifty peasants, or the
| wooden stockings of France, as De Lesseps
used to call them, from where the most of
/ this vast sum came The French officials
! poured out money here for years. They
| bought everything by wholesale. When the
old company stopped work they had on
| hand, among other things, $50 floating der
| ricks 1870 towboats and launches, 5000 iron
dumping wagons, 1870 miles of railroad
| track for the canal work, and over 10000
| cars. This, you must remember, was scat
| tered along a distance not much greater
| than that between New York and Balti-
more They had built beautiful cottages on
every hill and slightly place from the At
! lantic to the Pacific. There were 5000 build
| ings along the line of the canal, and some
| of these are occupied by negroes to-day.
I'D RI for