The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-01-03

The Isthmian Canal Commission will sail
/ from New York for Greytown, Nicaragua.
on Saturday to make its tour OF inspection.
and will not return to the United States for
! at least four. and possibly five months.
Rear Admiral Walker. President Of the
! Commission, said TO a reporter for The
Times last evening that the visit TO Paris
during the past summer of himself and
several members OF the Commission had
been Of much advantage to them in learn
ing just what had been previously done in
regard to the proposed French canal. and
that they had secured considerable data
with which to begin their work.
We nave 500 men at work down there
now" said the admiral, boring 10 learn
the character OF the sub-strata. so that we
viii know what scTt Of a bottom We viii
have for the heavy foundations Of concrete
that must be erected for locks, approaches,
and the like Others are surveying various
proposed routes, and going over the ground
! in every way. so that when the Commits
sion arrives at Greytown there will proba-
/ bly, be much new data awaiting us.
The real work Of building. when that
stage is arrived az. may be more or less
| retarded by the rains but these will rot be
seriously obstructive. IL rains about all
the time on the Atlantic side OF the 18th
mus. while on the Pacific side there are
/ about FIVE months of dry weather. At
I Greytown, recently il rained for twenty
| three consecutive hours, and the precipi-
/ tation was - Ia inches. or about one-third
/ of years rainfall here in Washington.
/ As a resident OF the place once expressed
! il TO me. they have a wet season ana a
very wet season "
Admiral Walker was asked his opinion
Of the early building Of the canal, and said
that he had no doubt that il would very
soon reach a stage when actual work viii
be begun
1t being perhaps the most tremendous
engineering work the world has ever TN
dertaken IL will naturally not be rushed.
! Tor when 10 is once completed. IL must have
been built 50 substantially as 10 be an en-
| during monument for all time. 4 multi
! tude Of tremendous obstacles must be
overcome, and they must be Sc thoroughly
| surmOunted that no slightest error may
I in the future be found This will be enc
of the objects of the visit and careful in
sDection Of the Commission. end a dral
route may be decided upon ~ ore --e re-
turn, though nothing definite can safely be
said on that point
"On the interior OF the ISthmus IN the
region Of Lake Nicaragua. there is q very
good climate. which. together with the
simpler form OF engineering work to be
I
the work when once &c is actually under
( taken. IL is al speculation now. Nothing
| definite can be said until after our iusppe-
| ton. when the report in its entirety will
! be laid before the President
In my opinion the canal will not be Of
any serious injury 20 Ihe transcOntiuental
/ railway lines. and il may be that il will
/ help them in a rOunds bout way by caus-
/ iuE them TO decrease thei- time schedules.
! and boy this. gaining in freight traffic The
| saving of something like 5000 miles Of
/ water 20 be trayersed between New York
! and san Francisco viii be a feature which
| the people cannot well overlook. The ca
/ nal ought to be built and there is not the
| east doubt that it will be built but how
/ soon cannot be said. We are well on the
/ way to il, and every day brings us nearer
/ the point
I 4 DO not think the canal. when con-
/ structed. will be a fortified affair. but that
| this question will be amicably adjusted
| before its completion. That is some time
| away yet. We may be back with our re-
| port in April bat il may not be until May.
l We are going 10 make most careful and
! thorough inspection. and viii not return
/ until il is as complete as we can make il -
/ The Admiral and others Of the Com
1 mission viii probably leave for New York
| tomorrow or Friday