Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-28
n. prooce.s at Panama:


bride in the diplomatic victories Oh
President Roosevelt ard Secretary Hay
.nd have supreme confidence tina:
a ,,.,,c-.n engineering science ah'f
American energy will succeed where
r-,,,oe made a failure. But it is the
,,,, after all which is the thing. anu
thus far there has been very little IN
the newspapers regarding the actnai
vork of construction. The Tribune
correspondent confesses that he did not
90 to Panama filled with optimistic
,,;c,vs but-his account makes 1t certain
-hat he has become an cptim1st durihs
his soiourn there, and he tells us much
that is inspiring and reassurihg re-
earding the great enterprise
He makes it plain that for the sto'-
Ooo. 900 which we paid France. we ac-
n,,ired much more than "a right OK way
and a streak Of rust as the pessimist5
have held. He shows that although
DeI.esseps made a colossal failure OF
bis undertaking, ne nevertheless dfd
work which is worth millions OF dol'd:S
IN those who have now taken up MS
task and that he left behind him ma
cb;nery and materials which can now
b. used. Much Of his machinery
10 he sure. has become mere
worthless junk. particularly the
drcdges and other machines down III
tide:vater. but the Tribune correspOn-
don, GAYS that in the uplands the en-
pines can still be used and that the big
machine shops and warehouses with
e-reat stores of hardware of all kinds
are also ready for use. He concedes'
however, that some of the material lett
by the Frenchman will be of no use
and mentions a large consignment Of
snow shovels. which were sent there Ill
the davs OF DcLess.ps' folly. In view
of the correspondents recital of the
work done and the useful materials
left the bargain Of our government APP
pears very economical and judicious.
The correspondent also does away
with the old bugaboO Oh the lofty noun
tain chain which we are told the build
org Of the canal would have to cut
through. and which used to be referred
to as the mighty mountain wall Of the
Andes" and the backbone of the
continent" DeLess"ps once talked o.
boring the canal through it rather than
irving to make the cut! According to
the Tribune correspondent the highest
peak" on the whole line Of the canal,
which he assembled OH the back of n
mule is exactly 600 feet above the SEE.
leyel, and instead Of being a mountain
OF lodges and bouIders is nothing more
than a clay bank. If the amazement OF
Balboa was great. when he climbed the
peak in Darien''-possibly this very
ridge of land-and saw the Pacific. it
was not more marked and gratifying
than that Of those who after the fairy
tales of mountain walls. found ridge
of soft earth nowhere more than 800
feet high. as the only bar to a sea level
canal between the oceans.
AS to the work OF the canal being
done at the present time, the correspon-
dent says that the chief of engineers.
Wallace, now has upon his pay roll
about $500 men, and they are busy lot
The American engineers are bright
enough to observe the great mistakes
which " ere made by their predecessors,
and these are being carefully avoided
so that the present work is being con-
Quoted with thoroughEes. which leave
very small margin for errors. The
present promoters of the great enter
prise are not simply making estimates
but they are securing absolute and &C
curate data for estimates. and III their
results they are showing that the form
err estimates erred chiefly in the direc-
ton of magnifying the cost and time,
so that there is now good ground for
hope that the canal will be flushed
more promptly and at less cost than
most men have hitherto ventured to ex-
pect. Great steam shovels from the
United States are being introduced and
with one of these 20 men can do the
work Of 800 men without it. This saw
ing of 30 per cent in labor will have an
important bearing upon the labor prob
lem. 1t is now thought that not over
s, 1000 or 10000 men will be needed for the
work. a very small proportion Of the
number which DeLesseps planned for
and actually had. 1t will be remem-
bered that the French company Sc
cured nearly $4,000 lahorers from
Jamaica alone. leaving them stranded
on the isthmus when the work ceased.
The Tribune correspondent devotes a
large art of his article to an argument
| in favor of a sea level canal. The plan
of the canal is not yet fully determined
but must be settled in the near future
4 4.