The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-08-10

With American control Of the Pane-
ma canal opening the second chspte.
in che story OF the great isthmian
waterway, we ;nheris graveyard Of
many wrecked hopes and lives, with
their monuments streWn from the
Atlantic 70 the Pacific in the shape Of
decayipg relics Of an earlier engineer
ing period. There is no richer Dig
ging in the ruins Of an ancient Rome
or Pompeii than along the deserted
route Of the canal. For upward Of Q
quarter Of century some s20, 100000
worth Of decayiug machinery, build
ings, and engineering implements have
been buried in che moist soil. In
nothing was the early French COM
pany more extravagant than in pur-
chasing supplies Cor the isthmus.
These included nearly everything that
man could think Of, and the ship
ment Of the goods to the isthmus kept
employed o email feet Of large and
small ships. Every steamer that
touched the isthmus in those palmy
days Of canal digging unloaded stacks
Of supplies FOX the engineers and their
subordinates.
There was machinery by che scores
and thousands Of IONS, large, small,
and medium eize; costly machinery
and antiquated types OF nogTeal value
at all; machinery that was to be used,
and machinery intended for waste;
machinery that was go much out Of
plaoe in that far.away corner. Of the
earth as steam radiators in the Desert
Of Sarah. Why this endless amount
Of machinery was shipped there, NO
one could explain; but it was all ac.
cepted, paid for, and then left to rot
in the hot, moist climate. There
were locomotives from Belgium and
the United States, enormous steam
hammers from England, great turn
ing lathes from Germany, scoops,
buckets, steel rails, and machine
tools by the acre from all parts Of the
earth.
There were no storehouses sufficient
to hold all these supplies. There are
2,431 building, on the isthmus left by
the old Panama company, many Of
which are hospital buildings and exc
cutive olives, but not oil of these
could store the machinery sent down
to help dig the canal. What wonder,
ther. that machinery, became ordinary
articles Of common use? Engineers
and contractors stored what they
could, and turned the rest out Of
doors to the tender mercy Of eli
mate that quickly destroys steel and
iron. <
There were some who used the iron
as foundations for their costly homes.
Along the line Of the cahal, the slit
Of the soil is often as soft and clip.
perry as quicksands Il filters through
and into a-erything. It made the
building OF che canal dificnlt engi-
neeriDg problem for the French,
which they could never quite over
come. When you build substantial
houses u stone or iron upon the rum
ming soil, there is no surety that the
foundations will last. Some of the
large houses built by the French Off
GERS Of the company sank down into
the silly soil, until to-day only the
upper stories are visible. So, TO make
their homes more secure, some Of them
used the surplus machinery as fonn.
dations. There are houses on the
isthmus that stand on $4,000 worth
Of machinery, which was never used
for the purpose intended.
In many similar ways the. surplus
machinery was employed to keep it
from standing idle. In parts Of the
isthmus il is found buried ten and If
teen feet below the surface coil. I'm.
earth il, and you find it as soft and
porous as cheese. It may be huge
iron anchor. o steel bucket, or q cast
iron scoop, that protrudes above the
soil TO attract the attention. With q
penknisei il can ib,e scutand raired as
easily aasifit were an apple. q Ia some
mysterious way, the soil and climate
has disintegrated the metal, SO that
its haxdness has disapp cared. J. and
vhile retaining all of its outline and
outward charact ctssiatics, Ii IL no lopger
iron: or steel. Ons wandms along the
lineIo thessanal "a pick upi iold pieces
Of relics, only to iind them crumbling
under The touch. S F!s Is q 81 &
Nnl e1l .Ass sshi .vhiu sry, ~ q however, has
been casb9 asid da so sipEss into 4 tha loose
anil - X1Sa a. Ssat taSh