New-York tribune., 1901-12-30
THE PANAMA CANAL.
GENERAL Fl. L. ABBOT on ITS PRESENT
CONDITIONAASSERTS ITS SUPERIOR
ITY TO THE NICARAGUA ROUTE.


one or the leading hydraulic engineers of the world
and who, after retirement from the corps Of en-
.glneers Of the United States Army spent three
years as member of the International Commits
sion II careful study of the isthmian canal ques-
uon' In their Introduction General Ahbot's arti-
Gle the editors of the magazine say:
conceT ERgbheeTing b tb Magazne has no particle Of
/ Llglng the measure which will in the end best
serve me work OF the world II stands, it has
o6dnslstentIy stood from the outset. outspoken
aGoTe IL of Of the Panama Canal because the facts
The VII be me most seryicea Bile TO commerce,
t'blaI 70 fb Lfahc capacity, and the most adaptable
IN other words II is the best tool for the intended
With "dea ht fe fePoT Of the & sent
ara4 ~ was conceiyabe that the merits of the Mic
i advls5 bic TO abandon the work done the other
rsry shows that a v Re report & On the the con on
iG M}iGGarrsGuan route is inferior The United States
tory political cr industrial if they seize the inferior
others wiser viii take What tfy erca srf so
bbanng the best will leave her vanquished and dis
many's opportunity.
General Abbot first sketches briefly the three
epochs of the history of the Panama Canal: How
! II was started at the International Congress of
1851 with estimates based sufficient local in
Vestigations and with contracts preceding the sur
Veys Of its engineers; how the "Compagnie Uni
NerselIe du Canal Interoceanique" was compelled
! IN 1888 to abandon its undertaking from want of
| luhds' and now. to carry out plan of liquidation
the "Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama"
was organized in 1894 Concerning the work it has
! done since that date the article continues:
Nature had placed on the Isthmus of Panama far
, LeSs o1sstructlons to the construction of ship
oaI th4n on any other possible route between the
70 De apprehended: the cut at the continental d-
tr0ecd oe sHa9n sEsg Of the & GhagGes River and the
- ne deep cut at the Cuiebra has quite lost
closing .i5 days Of the old company. The cutting at
maj maj GATE was in dsintegrated materials near the
surface and serious caving and sliding had
Cured, partly from natural causes and partly from
pany had made numerous borings, and they have
Pts pePmiin 9iRed b by the 1ew company with deep
LIH deRth adopted for the bottom OF the canal;
moved the resumption Of the Work SO placed
as ] 10 secure depth rather than width and thus
@ rnTo% ngnt on future conditions; and lastly tun
mel 2I9 feet long and 20 feet by Is feet in cross
Guilty at The point where the worst sliding had oc
estabsbI11 1 me me eSdeHSe thus secured concurs IN
has already been passed. and that future deep cut
schist which stands well even on steep slopes and
IN rEa TaGn G1o5Si fayng Is not not 70 be feared
River demanded Investigations of the most Ella b.
above Boho Of about IS M sTs4 Ss h9ypE u basin
From this point the canal and river follow different
fore was to provide for the joint occupancy Of
thirteen miles of valley without allowing inter-
terence 6t with the canal In times Of river floods
the river could be made TO supply safclent water
for canal purposes .nder the demands Of any prob
records all in perfect accord, have demonstrated
becomes saturated with water which in the dry
season filters out into the river and constitutes
source IS much above the level established for the
the soil is already supercharged. To explain in
clusions rest would far exceed the limits OF this
article. but they leave doubt 10 the correct
and perfectly controlled So far as the low water
volume is concerned annual traffic OF twenty
three million tons (nore than double that OF the
S suez Canal can De certainly accomm9dated with
!EE ana operating power. In word, the investiEa-
rom being an obstacle to the canal, the Chagres
River. regulated on the familiar system Of locks
9f navigation No better source Of supply could be
1T II Geqains to consider the climate Throughoq5
m iae emIrr FtsIon ~hSte IN iS,nmsn cana! eonId
Jr0PcS yarynE but a it'll during the year from the
hansiS, forbiddn hard d0 Il mn b, I'm
The former can direct the works, hut the latter
must s%ecuto them. Experience both on the Pan
when the virgin soil is FIRST disturbed much sick
ness is caused by the malaria thus generated. but
when excavation has gone below this level 10 the
the matter Of rainfall W cannot be snored @ Soi" At Goion
on hg , 'inif Soast The annual @ Precipitation e Is
on the Pacific Coast about q inches-au well de
There is everywhere a clearly defined dry season
Of about four months available annually for
est work lies in the interior where the precpita-
larger @ than That on the Cuff Coast of the Tnted
States In Nicaragua the conditions are far less
where the heaviest excavations are required, ap-
pea RS TO he about go inches and there is no dry
season In the interior and on the Pacific Coast
much less rain falls: and there is dry season; but
here the volume seems to exceed somewhat
that in the corresponding portions OF the Panama
district The matter OF rainfall is of vital mpor-
tance not only during the construction Of the
canal but also in it's subsequent operation. The
danger of earthquakes, very formidable for the
locks of modern ship canal, is also much greater
The foregoing facts make apparent how different
Is the present condition OF the Panama Canal from
what II the formation OF the company
results The plans are perfected. based on thor
ouSh understanding Of the subject The route now
presents no serious difficulty from engineering
GOOD progress has been made in actual construction
parallel railroad. the existence OF numerous quar-
tools are syailable for Immediate resumption Of
work on grand scale AS compared with its most
formidable rival nature has given route only
hai the number Of Iocks: an exemption from about
fifty miles Of river navigation which cannot but he
Tery bad curvature and troublesome foes and
winds and lastly, harboFs which 1t have aided in
Spanish occupation four hundred years ago, meet
admitting or future improvements az moderate eN-
pense. should such become desirable. II seems
CATION there could be commercial competition
between them. taking into account the delays and
ing. etc. and insurance rates
Canal may he summed up follows: The opera
tions of the new company have demonstrated that
OF isthmus The estimates of the International
6G of also hgsn rsnT u9 99t b
United States and Colombia, have placed the
needs Of navigation for fifty years, and admitting
of enlargement IL ever desirable, at 800 600 900
Nicaragua Canal estimated by the Isthmian
thing in readiness to begin work on a grand scale
except the funds II the United States do not care
the approaching commercial struggle between the
great maritime powers tnat SJ"gyoOoo VIII not be