Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-02-01

Atlanta Constitution.-"My first i'm
preston upon landing at Colon was
that if had stood upon tiptoe | could
see the Pacific ocean. The isthmus is
only AZ miles wide between Colon and
Panama, and TO one standing at either
place it almost seems that the beating
of the surf on the other shore is audi
BILE. The next feeling that came over
me was one of wonder that a nation
like the United States had for so long
allowed the isthmian canal to remain
uncut, while the trade of a continent
languished for the lack of such water
way to reach the teeming millions OF
the Orient" In this manner began
w. f. Christian, assistant general pas
senger agent of the Seaboard air line
railway, when asked recently to give
his impressions of the country and the
causes that are now the center of in
terest of the world-Panama and the
canal In 1898 Mr.. Christian went to
the isthmus as STAFF representative of
the New York Press. and his letters
written from that place were syndi-
Gated and published in the newspapers
and other periodicals. In prosecuting
his work on the isthmus, Mr.. Christian
spent six weeks on the scene, covering
the entire territory embraced in the
operations of the French canal conf
pany and he probably knows more
about the land and the subject now be
fore the American people than any
man now residing in this country. Mr..
Christian consented TO tell the results
of his observations i'm the land of the
insect and the fever. and the informa-
ton furnished by him is here given to
1lo public
"I'll give YOU a description of Pana-
ma as it was. as it is and as it can be"
said Mr.. Christian. When l went
there in 1893 the great bubble in which
the Frenchmen had invested their mil
lions had burst. and all those who had
robbed the company were gone. Only
a few decrepit caretakers remained
where the thousands of laboreTs had
been busy at their tasks-only these
had persisted on the fever-haunted
marshes of the most terrible land on
the globe. Standing in ghOstly silence.
decaying from the moist winds that
blow continually during certain hours
of the day. were the splendid palaces
built by the French officers who came
over to build the canal. Among these
establishments was the house of De
Lesseps. the engineer who designed
the canal. All of them were falling to
pieces, and neglect showed on all
sides. | had access to the books of the
company through the courtesy OF NJ
De Sosa. one of the engineers of the
canal and from these books / discov-
cred exactly what had been expended.
both on the canal and on the houses
and other eXtravagances of the officers.
Some of those residences were the big
gest swindles ever perpetratea on any
people. The house occupied by de
Lesseps could have been built for
$4,000. but it was placed on the books
of the company at a cost of $150,000.
4 few one-story buildings. called hos
pitfalls. all of which could have been
erected for $4,000. were charged UP
at 81 100000. The total amount eX-
pended on the isthmus. as figured by
me from the cOmpany's private books,
was S266.000.0O0. With this great sum
the canal was cut for distance of eX-
actly 20 miles. IL miles on one side
the isthmus and nine on the other.
Twenty-seven miles remain TO be cut.
and the part remaining is the hardest
of all. for it REQUIRES that mountains be
moved-the kind OF mountains that re-
ouire money as well as faith to move
them.
Directly in the path of the survey
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