The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1904-05-19
WASTE 0HTHE ISTHMUS
What an American Engineer
Saw In Panama.
EZZzlE11ES OF BUSTING MACHINERY.

ESwzaences of Reckless Extravaganza
sam he Seen Along Nearly the Length
aesT &gae Canal-A Contractors Method
$50 EEiIIinG I'm Over Costly Rolling
ssUock-EHect OF Blasting ON LIZ
ssaSgers.
- New York engineer whose travels
E@SgntIy took him across the iSthmus
SIT Panama has been describing to his
Eszr6Ands the evidences of monumental
zzS2&a4e and extravaganza which he en-
se2Szntered during the journey, says the
S@asE York Post.
KEss first impression after viewing
esxe abandoned excavations was that
ssxasg one attempt had been made-to
EMy as much machinery and material
ag possible, transport it, set it down
SsUgwhere and leave it there. That
vxgnsch actually had been accomplished
wySzs lost sight of in the rusted and rot
fzgg array of unused material.
Engines, derricks cars, rails, camp
essEuzpnents aud hardware supplies
xsn1a strewn almost the length of the
IzHE9al, the machinery for the most part,
unprotected and rusting in the rains"
Said the engineer.
@Ssonle of the material is so covered
wa172 growths of rank vegetation that
IT, SE lost sight of, and some has fallen
tn gs5eces. While l was down there
13asy told me of a native who had Sc
eEzeeal a contract for filling in. When
Ekg bad almost finished, some Ameri-
esGE2x saw the top of what seemed to be
81 locomotive sticking above pile of
rs@szse on which the contractor was
e3nxzHping. They examined further and
fs9gzae3 not only d whole locomotive UT
eTeE the pile, but also other machinery.
Here they said to the boss in
s1zarzgge, you are covering up valuable
prosperity
4Ehe boss went to the contractor and
asked what he should do.
ado? retorted the contractor some
uzTaE warmly Why, fill up the hole.
Il G1a10't know anything about engines.
.Tz-EKsey amt in the contract
SO the locomotive was covered up
szEG7 the machinery with it. Nobody
sesHaed worried about the loss of, it,
au,3 / doubt if any one ever knew il
had disappeared.
There are millions of cubic yards Of
rzy<:k yet to eXcayate along the route
GE the proposed canal. One estimate
Ez1z placed this quantity ~ 30,0000O0
e@EIazse yards. an idea of the amount f
ExTzar this means may be had if one
pgIM remember that only about a mil
LzfzE yards have so far been eXcavated
III the New York subway. In the sub
vgs2ZV the contractors work with steel
s4gZ1xs Of great power and penetration.
TS4xgan in Panama, it is. said, the labor
ex% use nothing but the ancient hand
GgT1Es progress with which is tediously
zzIasTE
FINALLY one gang of drillers will get
Il SsEast set. Then they will lay a fuse
z1xiT blow a queer French locomotive
v~a1sile as Il warning. At the sound Of
gzzis every labOrer on the works, no
EIzzfer how near or how far, as long
szs he hears it, will run like mad.
Exwe, ten, fifteen minutes will
ssEaxse, and then finally will come the
E2aSf- After the smoke and dust have
sc4sared the wOrkmen saunter back to
@Szg4zr tasks as though they were on
12pe7r way to church. Probably before
SEze.y reach their tools the whistle will
sscx&asch again, and then off they will go
ezTzee more, the idea being apparently
GaEa see who can get farthest away from
his job. With this blasting going on
continually one may see how difficult
X rs 10 accomplish much Roadway.
@As I understand the system in the
Eesg York subway all the drilling is
s1sag9e with steel tools driven by COM
pressed air. AS the charges are set
g1seg are connected by wires and then
AZ 1he noon hour or at the time for
changing the relief the charges al
EASILY set are fired at one time by cleo
f..ETEsify. Meme of this exists down in
Esszaama The system there is the
srsH1est.
AT the Chagres river, which in food
sszg9ils to an enormous body Of water,
s1913e, if anything, | understand, has
.Essseaa done toward solving the problem
6zE Its control. This is considered to
xaes the most important piece of engi-
Eaeering work along the whole canal,
skzSa it remains for the Americans to
ss2EgIount this difficulty"