New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-26
THE STATE OF THE CANAL.
W;th Some Pertinent Retrospect
and Prospect.
Panama. December 8.

& e paramount. II was for a canal that we first
are to the isthmus. generations ago, and it is
tor the canal that we are here at the present
,,r,s L is TO thu canal that the average Amer
a.su mind tnstinctvely turns at mention Of
p.rzraa What OF the canal? Are we really to
have one at last2 What kind Of a canal is IL
"a be7 What hope have we OF succeeding where
n Lesseps so disastrously failed? What is act
sally being done upon the great work at the
,-tseut time? These and a host of other ques-
,,cns naturally arise. Upon my return to the
states I suppose shall be asked ten questions
spout the canal for every one any other topic
shall not. then or now. attempt to answer
them all. for there are many which dime alone
osn answer. But there are some fundamental
facts concerning the canal which may now be
sszted with confidence, and which he who has
,ersonaIly gone over the line and investigated
all its conditions at first hand and at close range
sees in a far different light from that Of him
who looks upon the work from afar. through a
mist Of prejudice and more or less fantastic leg
ends
We are then. TO have a canal That is as
Sured TO US and in the near future. as much as
any great human achievement can be assured.
80 far as diplomacy and legislation are con-
csrned. Il Is well known to the world that COM
plete arTaa gements have been made for the
nal The craftsmanship OF Theodore Roosevelt
sud John Hay has comprised the end which Co
lurbus vainly sought. Il may be added that
upcn the engineering and material side the canal
Is 10 less assured TO The skill and energy
n, John T. Wallace and his staff are moving
toward success where Ferdinand de Lesseps met
NTH egregious failure. Such is the conviction
If an olGilrae Nicaragua advocate and oppo-
usnt OF Panama, who came hither still cherish
isg prejudices against this isthmus, but who
szne saw and was conquered" It would. in
Ssd, be difficult for any one 20 visit Panama
ls6 what has been done. what is being
sone and what caI. be done, without being con-
rerted 10 the belief that this is. of all places.
the place for gateway between the oceans.
We used TO hear much about the great Cor
diiera, the mighty mountain wall Of the An
des" the backbone of the continent" which
must be broken through or passed over. De
Lesseps once talked of a ship tunnel through
the mountains as q feature Of his proposed sea
level canal, and remember seeing seriously
meant sketches Of q tall masted ship entering
huge bore with a cIoudcapped Andean peak
towering far above. Now the fact is that if
tunnel were made its roof would be thin
that we should have TO put in rafters to hold
4 ED. Why. the little hills Of Westchester Coun-
" are Alpine heights compared with those OF
Panama. 1 went the other day 20 the top Of
the highest peak OF the whole line OF the canal,
climbing thither upon the back of one OF Uncle
Ssmuers little army ponies. a member OF the
most picturesque cavalcade that ever climbed
sthe steep road Of wide empire" II was worth
while The outlook from Major LIE Jeune's
breezy balconies was extended and inspiring; q
vast arnphtheatre of mountains sweeping almost
around the horizon. Some one in the party muir
INJURED a Renaissance Of Church's Heart OF
the Andes" which was not altogether inappro-
pirate, considering the vast expanse OF wilder
ness before US. and imagining the ever present
eulsures on their untiring wings TO be their
greater cousins. the condors. But if truth must
be confessed. the Andean peak upon which We
stood. the Hottest elevation between the Carib-
bean ana the Pacific. only three hundred
feet above sea level! 1 do not know whether
thar was the very peak in Darien' upon which
stout Cortez-or BaIboa-stood. when his men
looked at each other with a wild surmise."
but I doubt if their amazement could have been
more marked and grateful than that of those
who. after those fairy tales OF mountain walls,
realized that this was all there was Of it. and
that a ridge OF soft earth nowhere more than
three hundred feet high, the only barrier
to sea level canal between the oceans. To
say that such a barrier is insuperabie would
be 10 CiScreQlt engineering science
The French companies failed. it is true. Why
they failed is quite apparent to every observer
upon the spot, as I may presently make clear.
But they did not labor in vain. They did a
great deal Of work. and provided a great deal Of
material which can now be used in our COM
pIetion Of the canal Practically all their ex-
caration work can thus be utilized, whether in
The great cut at Culebra or the tidal flats
where the canal is already navigable No less to
the purpose is it TO observe that much Of the
machinery brought hither by them. even by the
original DE Lesseps company. IS still in service
aole condition. We used 10 hear tales of the
universal rust and ruin that had befaIlen It. It
Is true that some of II has become mere worth
less junk That is chiefly true Of the dredges
and other machinery down In tidewater. But on
the uplsnds the bulk of it is in good condition.
AL through the Jungle amid palm trees and
bananas and orchids, and almost impenetrable
brake. you stumble at random over engines and
what not that have lain there, abandoned and
sorgctten. for years The leather beItings are
gone. Of course and such wooden parts as there
we're have vanished. But If you replace these you
may oil up and fire up the engines. and start
them 70 working as though they were new.
The big machine shops and warehouses, with
their stores of hardware Of all kinds. are also
Practically ready for our There are, of
course some things that cannot be used.
doubt Il L would be worth while TO Turkish up
TIE sectional steamboats, which are lying around
on the hilltops, even for shipment TO the Russian
navy, and am quite that the consignments
Of snow shoveIs which were received here in the
days Of De Lesseps will never be needed. But
IN purchasing the title and plant of the French
esnpauy we secured something far more than
the prcyerbial right Of way and two streaks of
rust" We secured millions of dollars worth of
work veil done and of useful machinery and
materials