The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-19

.,an,a. r. p, Dec. 2S, 19O3.-When
-. french, under the leadership of
'.ainand De Lesseps, began the work
,+ting a canal across the isthmus
Vi. Intentions were undoubtedly hon
That the whole enterprise should
. been converted into heyday and
harvest for the most constituencies
~ of grafters that ever infested exc
.,,+ion of a great project is due to a
-~ocess of evolution. The mistake of
+,o much haste was made in the be-
shining. to develop afterwards into a
s,e of which the thieves were not slow
~ avail themselves; but at that same
beginning there was done some most
ovcallent work This work will not
have to be done over again, and it
oreatIv simplifies the task the United
states is now called upon to perform
and at the same time give to the Pan
ANA route for an inter-ocean canal al
most inestimable advantages over any
otber projected or agitated.
This work-except that on the great
rulebra cut, where much of great ad-
vantage has been accomplishments of
q preliminary character. Thieves did
infest the whole undertaking, but, in
spte of their industry, the money of
France held out long enough to enable
the foundation to be laid for a COM
pleted canal. 1t is that foundation
which constitutes the one-fifth part of
the whole work which is deemed to
have been actually done. That one
fifth part is of a varied nature. The
Panal Canal Company, with De Les
seps at it's head, achieved most gigan-
tically when it subjugated the route of
the canal That it did this there is no
doubt.
When it came upon the scene the line
It was proposed the canal should fol-
low had been untouched by shovel or
dregs and uncleared. Fourteen years
OF inactivity have enabled the jungle
to once more encroach upon that line;
but France paid the bill in blood and
treasure for the first overturning of
the soil. Reaching from one side of
the isthmus to the other there is a
ditch actually eXcavated. 1t is not
deep enough for any practical use, nor
is it as wide as present commercial
demands require the United States to
make it; but it is there. It's presence
attests the fact that the immense sums
first required to clear the jungle and
make an unobstructed path across the
narrow neck of land will not again
have to be expended. Neither will men
by the thousands be called upon to lay
down their lives in the effort to remove
the thick layer of decaying vegetable
mold which covers all this tropical
area.
Nature of the Work Done.
That work has been done. and the
excavation was carried deep enough
by the French to now enable the
United States to begin at once the
work or digging in comparatively solic
soil, where, as Surgeon Major Guv I,
Edle, U. S. A., explained in the in.
terview which formed the body of one
OF my recent letters, there is relatively
little menace to health or life. Fur.
ther: From Colon to Bohio. fourteen
miles. and from La Boca northwarC
mel is now actually dredged. Neither
of these present channels is of any
commercial consequence. The flow ot
the tides. which are unrestricted, an6
the currents of the Mindi and Gatur
rivers on the northern side, and of the
Flo Grande river on this side, have car.
Tied into the channels deposits of sill
that make them now almost impassa-
Bile. The banks are once more over.
grown with danCn 10
mon to the country. and the channels
are too narrow, even If they were deer
enough, to permit the passage of a
snip. A rowboat may go up from the
La Boca end, at low tide, as far as
the excavation was carried and at high
tide a heavy launch might make the
trip. On the Colon side there are
places where not even a rowboat can
navigate; a launch will ground when
only two or three miles from the en-
trance, and the way is open to Bohio
only for the lightest draft cayucas.
Ihese channels do exist however, and
Wnen we take hold and begin work. it
VIII be possible for our dredges ia
start from opposite ends and literally
eat their way toward each other, deep
enlng and widening as they go. There
is no clearing to be done on either of
these sections. The dredges need Only
go behind Cristobal Colon Point on the
north. and to La Boca on the south.
and their shovels and scoops may at
once begin actual operations. This Is
an immense advantage. as is the fact
that Cristobal Colon Point was built by
the French. There was as great a bit
of extravaganza as was anything the
French did: but it stands where it is
absolutely protecting the northern end
Of the canal. 1t is not long enough,
nor is there room enough between it
and the mouth of the canal to provide
adequate anchoring grounds. It's ex-
tension for several hundred feet into
the bay will be simple task, however,
and once the dredges start, they can
easily widen and deepen the anchoring
basin, as indeed they must do before
they can properly approach the canal
itself.
The Great Cu1ebra Cut.
On the Culebra- -Emperador cut,
Where the backbone of the isthmus-
the Cordllleras Mountains-is to be
broken, the hardest and heaviest part
OF the work has been done. This cut
tlng aggregates eight miles in length.
Dut except at Culebra it is not an
especially noteworthy piece of work.
1here-at Culebra--it assumes mag
nltude which is appalling. The en-
glneers who projected the canal chose
depressed point in these mountains,
Where the extreme altitude was only
S62 feet. as the proper place to pierce
the obstruction. Beginning at the sum-
NIT the French companies have been
nlting away at the mountain for years,
he i- rAfn with