The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-20
SEA LEVEL PLAN IS NUT ASSURED Future Change Will Entail Llt- Ht Exta Expense MEET NEXT IN BRUSSELS Even With Sea Level Project One Lock Must Be Built to Offset
 the Difference in
 Tides.
MEET NEXT IN BRUSSELS

Washington. November 1s.-(special.)-
 From a perfectly reliable source 1t ia
 learned that one of the principal reasons
 impeling the majority of members of the
 board of canal consulting engineers to recommend a sea level canal was the fact
 that comparatively little expense will be
 entailed by future change of plan If that change Is made before the comple- ton of the summit cut and before it is
 necessary to commence work on locks in order to have them ready for use by tho time the central excavation Is completed. Several years may be consumed on the work of excavation with sea level plans
 before the work has reached point which
 would interfere with the lock canal. There
 is extreme doubt whether the report in
 favor of sea level canal means as much as is expected on It's face.
 At any rate it Is an engineering fact
 that the work on the canal can proceed
 for some time without regard to the type of canal
 William H. Burr, William B. Parsons
 and George w. Davis are understood to have been three of the American engineers
 who took this view of the matter and
 voted for a level canal. It should. of course, be borne In mind that even | with a so-called sea level canal at least
 one lock will be necessary.
 Emphatic for Sea Level. | Last year Messrs Burr, Parsons and | Davis, after an exhaustive study of ths fI.r sea level canal and 1t was therefore sup | posed that they would take similar course in the proceedings of the board of | consulting engineers. In a general sum-
 ming up of their work they passed the
 subjoined resolution which is thought by
 many to be substantially along the lines
 of tho findings of the board of consult l ing engineers: | Resolved, That this committee approve
 and recommend for adoption by tho com | mission a plan for a sea level canal, with
 a bottom width of 15O feet and minimum | depth of water of 3o feet. and with twin | tidal locks at Mirahores whose usabe
 dimensions shall be one thousand feet l long and one hundred feet wide, at total
 estimated cost of s230, ,500.O .O00."
 Messrs. Burr, Parsons and Davis then l believed that such canal could be built l in eleven years.
 | Wlii MccL i0 0TuSSciS.
 The board of consulting engineers of the l lsthmian Canal Commission have decided
 to substitute Brussels for Paris as the
 meeting place of the foreign members
 next January. The reason for this de-
 cision is that Brussels Is more conveh-
 iently situated for several of the mem- | bers. The American engineer who will
 go to Brussels with the documents to bs
 signed has not yet been chosen. During l this week committee of three members
 of the board, with General Davis their
 chairman, will make rough draft of the | final report, which will then have to be | worked out in detail, and 1t Is expected to | be ready about the end of December. | The sea-leve1 canal, which has been | voted on by the members will have 8 width at the bottom of 150 feet. except in
 Culebra where the width will be 200 fess. | This width in the Culebra cut Is neces-
 sary to allow two ships to pass each oth-
 CT safely between the high banks of tho | canal which will be formed by the deep | excavation.
 | The plan as adopted by the board will
 make Llmon Bay one of the greatest har-
 bors In the world. Almost through the
 middle bay a breakwater will be built
 and shorter breakwater will be built
 from San Cristobal, which is American | territory. thereby leaving Colon. which belongs to the republic of Panama. out | side of the American canal works. Under | the plan as adopted by the board San l Cristobal Is expected to become the chief | city on the Atlantic side of the canal. and
 the promontory on which arises the statue | of Columbus will be covered with official | buildings, docks, coaling stations and all
 the works necessary for an important harbor. The canal constructed by the | French began at San Cristoba1. It Ia
 now proposed by the board to build l short. direct canal from Mindi to Limon l bay, thereby making the distance shorter | nd aIu pi1 faf tpD pa xy5pr nd E-
 ing 1t possible for ships to sail into the | canal without having to make any ff- | ficult turns.
 Break Waters Are Expensive. | The breakwaters necessary for the for
 nation of this harbor of San Cristobal | will be an item of great expense. They | were the subject of long discussion in | the meetings of the board. They would have been necessary in case a lock canal l had been chosen.
 On the Pacific side at Panama the plans
 as adopted yesterday are also different from those of the French Canal com-
 pany. The French canal ends at La Boca.
 and 1t was found one of the difficulties that the Rio Grande, with It's many
 branches, csossed - canal and In the rainy season inundated if and caused great damage to the works alr9ady con- structed by the French. Therefore It was decided that the canal should be built nearer to the city of Panama. and should run between two hills, called SNa and the other the weli-known Ancon. Ans con Is the higher of the two. On 1t the | American hospitals are built, and 1t is | one of the most healthy places on tho isthmus At this place one lock. necessi-
 tated through the differences in the tides of the Atlantic and the Pacific, will be
 built This lock. however will not retard
 the progress of ships through the canal.
 In the first place. ships coming from the | Pacific will have to stop some time any,
 way to be visited by health officers and | by civilian authorities. and furthermore during a large part of the day this lock | will be entirely open. as the levels of both l oceans will be equally high. At the Pan-
 ana side no plans have as yet been madc | for breakwaters.
 Compromise Was Never Offered. The plans for constructing lock ca- 1 nal at thirty feet altitude were never | discussed. and from the beginning the | board was divided into two groups of 1 eight and five members. one group iu | >->.->--->----->-->>-- (continued on Second Psse)