Arizona republican., 1902-01-05

ne last nuulDer or the EsnglneerlnS Magazine has an article on the merits
 of the Panama canal MERITS OF route from an engineer PANAMA ing standpoint, written ROUTE. by Gen. H. l.. Abbott.
 which is Of timely inter- est in view of the question now con fronting congress as to the advisability O; accepting the offer of the Panama Canal company and abandoning the Nicaragua route. It is Gen. Abbott s opinion that nature has placed on the Isthmus of Panama far less obstruc- ticns to the construction of a ship canal than on any ether possible route be- tween the oceans. Here only three for midable difficulties weresto be appre- hended: the cut at the continental 'di- vide, regulation of the Chagres river, and the tropical climate. Each will be considered in turn"
 The "Culebra cut has been the great bugbear for dOubting engineers, and the people of Phoenix will remember that in lecture on the two routes in this city some two years ago Mir. Ar thur P. Davis, the eminent hydrograph- CT of the geological survey, gave it as his opinion that the difficulties in the way of making the great Culebra ex- cavation rendered the Panama route almost impracticable. But, according to Gen. Abbott. the deep cut at the Gu lebra has now quite lost the ancient terrors which hung over it in the clos
 
 ting at that date was in disintegrated materials near the surface, and serious caving and sliding had occurred, partly from natural causes and partly from neglect to secure proper drainage. The old company had made numerous bor- ings, and they have been multiplied by the new company. with deep pits per mitting the material to be inspected to the full depth adopted for the bottom of the canal; six million cubic yards have actually been removed since the resumption oi the work so placed as to secure depth rather than width, and thus to throw light on future condi- tions; and lastly a tunnel 2,10O feet long and 20x13 feet in cross section has been Ni Cii S-I St lbN ltNtl " llAiOul tlillCully at the point where the worst sliding has occurred He considers that all the evidence thus secured concurs in estab- fishing the fact that the dangerous ma terial has already been passed, and that future deep cutting will lie chiefly in an indurated argillaceous schist which stands well even on steep slopes and in which caving is not to be feared.
 Gen. Abbott explains that the prob lem of the regulation of the ChaSres river demanded investigations of the most elaborate character. It is a-stream having basin above Bohio of about 1CO square miles in surface. From this point the canal and river follow differ ent routes to the sea, and at Gamboa, thirteen miles above, they again separate. One problem, therefore, was to provide for the joint occupancy of thirteen miles of valley without allow ing interference with the canal in times of river floods; another was to deter mine with certainty whether the river could be made to supply sufficient water for canal purposes under the de- mands of any probable prospective traffic.
 The Chagres river is characterized by two distinct regimens, one correspond ing to the season of heavy rains. from May. to December both included. and the other to the dry season covering three of the four remaining months of the year. During the former the aver age discharge is about 3,900 cubic feet per second at Gamboa and 5.400 at Bo- hio, but it is subject to frequent fresh cts in which the volume may rise to 25,OOO or even 3O.0oO cubic feet, lasting however, only for an hour or two. Dur ing the past quarter of century, and so far as can be determined by the records of the Panama railroad during the past half of a century. only five great floods have occurred. In by far the largest of them. that of November. 1879. the river carried q maximum vol ume liberally estimated at 112,0O0 cubic feet per second at BUhio and at 73,O0O cubic feet at Gamboa. but only during the period of two or three hours. The plans of the company for regulating the floods are based on the figures of this year, which are known to be far in eX- cess of any other.
 During the dry season inc ChaSres is 9 quiet, peacable stream with at Gamboa an average discharge Of about 1.t00 cubic feet per second. and in years of greatest drought q minimum average of 650 cubic feet. At BohiO the latter is about 75O cubic feet. The company has been careful to make it's flood esti- mates err ii at all, in excess. and it's low water estimates err. if at all. by