The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-11-29


tending municipal AMI provincial gov
| crnments and providing the funda.
| mentals Of Il system of free public
| education the American people
! through the news dispatches have
been kept closely in touch Less, how.
what has been done III the direction
of establishing or developing public
works. The annual report of the sec.
rctury of war devotes several pages tc
this topic.
Secretary Root first discusses har.
Dor improvements. The harbors OF
the Philippines are generally shallow
At Manila all the freight of Seagoing
vessels Of over sixteen feet draft has
to be transferred by lighters between
the ship and the shore for several
miles ut very great expense and risk.
Storms frequently interrupt business
altogether, especially in the season ol
typhoons. and great damage is often
caused TO the unprotected shipping
The burden imposed upon commerce
by this method of transacting bus-
ness is great. The freight rate be-
tance of about 200 miles. i; as much
as. and sometimes more than, between
San Francisco, and Hongkong. Il dis
tnnce OF about 5000 miles.
The commerce of Manila" The sec-
retary says. urgently demands the
..1,n t,.lIl s,f hnr ptf tod
harbor with sufficient depth OF water
to accommodate the largest ships,
here they can lie in safety and load
and discharge their cargoes in all
Wcathers. More than twenty Years
ago the Spanish government foimu-
lated an elaborate scheme for the inn
provenlcnt OF the harbor. and had
completed about 80 per cent. of the
work before the cession of the islands
to the United States. After a careful
examination of the plans and Specitica-
tons of the Spanish engineers by Ma
jor Bddle. now the engineer commits
sioner OF the District of Columbia. and
then chief engineer of the Division of
the Philippines. they We're adopted
with some notifications. \ sum Of
81 900, ,000 in American money was ap-
propriated for the Improvement OF the
harbOr. and contracts We're authorized
for an additional amount not exceeding
$2,00O,00o, The plans call for the COM
pletion of the partially finished break
water and for 80 feet OF water within
the breakWatcr. SO that ships of the
largest class now frequentlnS the port
of Manila may be able to lie under its
protection; the improvement Of the
with The PaSig river; the Improvement
of the PasiS river below the bridge
of Spain, ana the bar at the mouth of
the Pasig river; a hulkhcad to bc
reached by IL channel five hundred feet
in depth; also Il railroad and wagon
Pasg river, and the improvement of
the river between the bridge of spain
and the Lagunu tie Bay"
Nearly every account OF tho Phl-
ipplnes dWclls upon the wretched con-
diton of roads, on rather the absence
of roads. which practically prevents
internal commerce except Immediately
upon the navisable waters On the
lalh of September 1900, The Philippine
commission appropriated S2,O00,o0o
tMeXicam to be expended IN the con-
struction of highways ana bridges.
Both this work and the river ANA har-
Dor work above referred to hUye been
placed under the charge of the United
States corps of engineers. The force
of engineers in the Philippines was
greatly increased for that purpose ana
they have been working during the
year on over eight hundred miles Of
roads. Seyenty-hVe thousand dollars
have been expended in the oonstruc-
tion Of a road from the town of
Pozonubio, IN the province OF Pungas-
nan, to The town OF Baeuio, in the
province OF Bensuet.
A cold-storage ana ice plant ample
TO supply both the needs of the army
and the civilians in Manila who are
accustomed TO the use of Ice. has been
completed At an expense of about
100000, Two market houses in the
city Of Manila have been built. and
two others are in course OF erection
The bridge OF Spain has been widened,
the erection OF the Santa CRUZ bridge
has been commenced. repairs TO the
Ayala bridge have been undertaken
and an OF he small bridges in Manila,