Arizona republican., 1904-12-08
What Young Engineers Are Doing
 on the Isthmus.

The Railway Age directs the atten- tion of the country to the exceedingly valuable work which is being perform ed in Panama by young engineers from the United States-graduates of the technical schools of this country. The showing speaks volumes in favor of technical training for the young man of today who would achieve marked success in the world.
 Notwithstanding all the study given to the problem of the Panama canal by the French engineers, and notwith- standing the exhaustive investigations made by the Isthmian Canal commits sion, it appears that more information of value has been gathered during th@ past year than in all the time previous.
 Few persons are conscious Of the multitudinous factors connected with this project. any detail of which is likely to qualify the whole plan. Sev- eral of these factors are mentioned by the Age. For example. for nearly a generation the Chagres river has been regarded as treacherous enemy. whose violent changes of level might destroy in a night structures costing millions of dollars and deprive the commerce of the world of the use Of the canal during the long period nec- essary for reconstruction. This fear, never regarded as more than a buga- boo by the understanding few, has giv- en place to a more rational conception by the many, and the Chagres river is now known to be either a necessary agent in the operation of the canal or simple disturber easily rendered in- nOcuous.
 If a lock canal, with a maximum ele- vation of 50 or so feet, ultimately is adopted, the Chagres river is the only feeder at all available which is large
 enough to furnish the water necessary for filling the locks, and no difficulty
 will be experienced in impounding it's
 flood waters during the rainy season.
 If, on the other hand, a sea-level canal | is adopted as the ultimate plan, the | recent investiga tions show that, by
 means Of a tunnel through the high
 lands between the Chagres and the Pa
 cific, the river may be diverted to that
 ocean and made to disappear forever from it's present bed and contiguity to | the canal. The discovery has involved
 most difficult and constant efforts on
 the part of the engineers now serv-
 ing the United States government, and
 was a condition utterly unsuspected by
 the French engineers who spent twen-
 ty years in surveying the territory | through which the route of the canal lies. It is a testimony to the initiative
 and devotion to their work which is
 characteristic of professional men in
 this country. It took place under the
 most adverse conditions of climate and
 environment, and should a sea-level
 canal be adopted will save at least
 score of millions of dollars to the peo
 pie of the United States.
 This work of investigation was per-
 formed by young men, graduates cf
 the technical schools of the United
 States, many of them uninured to the tropics, who carried their clothes and ] supplies, as well as their instruments. frequently upon their own backs, while
 making surveys of the most difficult character. Incidentally, they discover ed that rivers plotted by the French engineers ran in exactly the opposite direction to that shown on the maps:
 that rivers supposed to be in one place actually were several miles distant; and that recorded attitudes were in er-