The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-12-20
Sea Level Canal Sure in a Fen Years.
Says Bu1au- Narfzla, Pananas ste
Obstacles of the Cara h.
C6irg of the ChagS RUa-Ele4nfy
Has Conquered Malaria andYeL ouuFe

Not as the envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipoten- larry of the new re-
public of Panama. but as an enthusi-
asst upon the canal project, Of which
for nearly five years he was the engineer
in chief. Philippe Bunau- Varilla de-
clared that a sea level canal across the
isthmus was a certainty within a few
years
In eloquent terms the minister and
eminent engineer spoke Of the advances
in the electrical and medical sciences,
which by their application would enable
the work at Panama to be prosecuted
with economic celebrity. unaccompanied
by the terrible loss OF life which had
marked the previous undertakings
NJ. Bunau-Varilla only sees now in
the undertaking Droposed by the United
States Government the eonsummation
Of his plans, which were stopped by
the financial crisis which submerged the
last Panama Canal Company. I'm 1888.
True, he gracefully acknowledges that
they are more elaborate than were his
own. but their completion viii accom-
plish the result for which he strived.
He pictures the final canal as "a Bos-
phorus where. uninterrupted. the tide
flows from ocean TO ocean as it Wills
De Lesseps Approved.
Then you believe in the establishment
OF a sea level canal?" was asked.
Yes. In 1887, when an immediate
realization of the sea level canal APP
peared possible. conceived the idea OF
an Intermediary solution. something be-
tween the lock canal and the tide level
canal. a solution that could bring the
quick realization of a waterway with
the aid of locks. But these locks were
TO be constructed in such a manner
that the transformation of the lock
canal thus obtained into sea level
canal could be done by works not tres
passing the ordinary limits admitted by
experience for dredging. They could be
so conducted as not to interrupt for
five minutes the regular exploitation OF
the canal and the passage of ships
II carried out NJ. de Lesseps' adhesion
TO that new plan when 1 said 10 him:
i do not want a lock canal to be built
at Panama i share with you the supe-
rior notion that the interests served by
this heroic conception are OF such mag
nitude that their submission to the OBJ
legations Of the handling of ships by
locks viii be. in the course of a few
years. considered as a challenge TO COM
mon sense. l wish you 10 adopt a sys-
TEN Of construction of that sea level
canal-that needed Bosphorus-which
VIII allow in the course Of it's construc-
ton the ships to pass without delay or
molestation. That can be obtained by
building locks which are the ordinary
type Of locks with a very simple modih-
cation which will allow their transform
ability to exist as soon as the passage
across the isthmus was assured
More Time Required.
II the financial crisis which stopped
the work on December Ii, 1853, had not
come l am as sure as that / am not
dreaming when / speak that the canal
under this provisory form would have
been completed and opened IN the middle
OF 1891. The plans that L made were
based on the execution of the canal IN
four years from January /. 1888. and
they were in absolute harmony with all
the determining factors Of the work"
VIII the United States be able to
complete the work within correspond
ing Deriod?'
1T will require more time, for two
essential reasons. First, at that time
the entire staff of the Panama Canal
Company was in a state of marvellous
perfection. in a conquering mood. They
had overcome the great obstacles which
at one time were considered superior
to possibilities Of man. The true solution
OF the whole thing. which showed near
at hand that aim which before seemed
TO be In a remote future had brought
the energies of everybody to a paroxysm
of enthusiasm and will. Under those
conditions the minimum time would
have been obtained. On the other hand
the project which i had proposed, and
which was adopted, was the simplest
form of the canal. 1t would not have
carried the ships from one ocean to the
other in ten hours, as the plans actually
adopted VIII do. 1t would have taken
perhaps two and a half times as much
time The cuts were narrow, and the
passage Of the summit level was higher
1t was. in fact. what railroad opening
new country Is 10 that same railroad
twenty-five years after.
More Complete Work.
''Now. the Government Of the United
States builds the canal on a more COM
plete scale. These are the two elements
which account for the difference be-
tween three years which I am SIRE
would have been sufficient TO complete
the Panama Canal then. as projected.
and the seven years which / think will
be the necessary time 10 reorganize the
works and complete the beautiful plan
adopted by the United States Govern
ment. on the recommendation OF the
Jsthmus Canal Commission"
What will be the new feature Of
the works."
In ANSWER let me first say in the
most empratic manner that the three
great obstacles 10 the works have com
pletely disappeared. The first were the
technical questions, properly speaking,
Of the Culebra and the Chagres River,
/ have been fortunate enough to solve
on the spot. after two years fight, these
great problems-these difficulties with
nature
The solution which 1 presented in
1892 for the curbing OF the Chagres River
consists In the formation Of a unique
lake by the construction OF a huge
thsdam at Bahio. combined with the
deviation OF the waters OF the Chagres
10 the left OF the lake as the waters
flow 20 the sea. This solution has been
adopted by the Isthmian Canal Commits
sion, modifying only the level Of the
waters. ana raising the lake about
twenty feet above what l had pro-
posed