The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-08
London Correspondence of the New York

Tankerville Chamberlayne, whose practi- cal experience with the Panama project gives the weight of authority to his views He says:
 Americans are at present expecting their session of congress to pass a bill approving the construction of canal across the Isthmus of Panama. It seems to persons of common sense who have in habited the Isthmus of Panama and who have followed with keen interest and ob- servation for seven years the work under taken by the French company. that the selection of the Panama route is most difficult and presents obstacles of an in- superable character.
 There are other isthmuses, such as Darien, Port Bias, Nicaragua and Te- huantepec, which do not offer the com ments as does Panama.
 First and foremost. the climate of Pan- anna Is unhealthy. The seasons, although only two in number, are extreme In their nature-six months of incessant rains and six months of excessive aridity. Fevers dEt pIcNdiSuty III indiJ CdocS AhoA eAt SoS~- as yellow fever and malignant fever.
 The region is volcanic. So far the coun- tries in proximity to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, which are visited frequent ly by seismic disturbances. Only lately towns in Guatemala were destroyed, and Oxos, one of the Mexican ports. disap- peared after an earthquake. Quito is in a constant state of tremor and Panama itself had succession of these seismic disturbances from September, 1882 to May, 1sS3
 Revolutions are of common occurrence. They can be relied upon nearly every alternate year. Within the last five surrections. At the present moment revolution has been active for many months and has not entirely ceased.
 Colombia and Venezuela are in chronic state of revolution. As soon as an insur- rection is on Colomblans desert their work all along the line of the canal and take up arms in defence of their respec- tive parties.
 It Is not rare to find West Indians who have inhabited the isthmus join one of the conflicting parties for the sake of fighting. Many contests besides these revolutions, take place where Jamaicans and Colom- bians have encountered, in which many are killed and wounded, as in 1883.
 Labor is another intricate question. Colombians hate hard work. They will not face a nays work. They are only useful in light tasks, such as clearing paths from vegetation md making roads through bush and shrubs.
 s Justice is in an elementary state. Dis putes and quarrels are frequently settled by lead or cold steel
 Now, the ordinary difficulties are sum- med up as follows: Climate, disease, ses- mic disturbances, revolutions, scarcity and dearness of labor
 Climate impedes proper work for five months of the year. During six months rains do not cease to pour. Sections along the line are frequently flooded, seethng with mud the earthworks on which seepers and rails are laid for the excavators trucks and engines to run on. The tracks are often washed away and have to be renewed.
 During the middle of the dry season there Is a complete lack of water. and at Panama 1t is sold at exorbitant prices, although 1t is of turbid nature.
 Revolutions obstruct the work, and in towns where fighting takes place everybody has to be confined and barri- cated in his home as long as it lasts.
 All the labor is imported, as natives do not consent and are not able to do the work West Indians are the only suitable laborers, and are paid As ($D to 6s ($1.5o) per day.
 One of their cunning artifices was to be imported on the isthmus, remain month or six weeks and return to their island. They would then obtain fresh engage ment and return with free passage. AS imported laborers cost G1 ($5) per head, an interruptions contracter might send the same man back six months in the year, which means G6 ($S0) If you have ten thousand laborers adopt that scheme they would cost e60,000 (s300, 0O0) per annum, besides their wages, ayerag- ing 5s (sl.25) per day which amounts to f75O,OoO (s3, 75o,OOW per am m.
 Let me refer to the physical and finan- cial difficulties actually existing. The problems of the excavation of Culebra mountain and damming the derivation of the Chagres river have not been solved. The ports of Panama and Colon have to be constructed by blasting and dredg- ing.
 The Pacific entrance to the canal before | fte ir,C at To hac fo ha eytpDdQ6 to the islands of Naos and Flamenco, distance of three miles. This submarine section has to be protected by breakwa- ters of considerable size and strength ana powerful locks at the mouth Of the canal to compete with the rise and Tall or the tide. which varies from eighteen feet to twenty-two feet.
 On the Atlantic terminus quays and Jet7- ties on land reclaimed from the sea have to be constructed. The approach to the canal is shallow, and has to be mined and dredged, owing to patches of coral reef and rock.
 The damming of the derivation of the Charges is a mighty work. The plan sug- cested by M. Boyer, a great French en- gineer, was to tap the river near it's source and build an artificial bed or deriv- ation, starting in proximity to Gamboa and terminating east of Colon, near Porto Bello, a distance of about thirty miles. with an approximate width of sixty feet and depth of fifteen feet. This represents a cube of more than five million yards for this artificial bed.
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