Omaha daily bee., 1905-11-20

gan at San Cristobal. It is now proposed
by the board to build short, direct canal
from Mndi to Limon bay, thereby making
the distance shorter by a few hundred
yards and also facilitating navigation and
making Il possible for ships to sail into
the canal without having to make any
difficult turns. The breakwaters necessary
for the formation of this harbor Of San
Cristobal will be an item of great expense.
They were the subject of lengthy discus
sions in the meetings of the board. They
would have been necessary, however, In
case a lock canal had been chosen.
On the Pacific side at Panama the plans
as adopted yesterday are also different
from those OF the French canal company.
| The French canal ends at La Boca and
It was found one of the great difficulties,
as the Rio Grande. with its many branches,
crosses the canal and in the rainy season
mandates It and does great damage to
| the works already constructed by the
! French. Therefore II was decided the
canal should. be built nearer to the city
OF Panama and should run between two
! hills, one called Sosa and the other the
| well-known Ancon. Ancon Is the higher
of the two. on it the American hospitals
are built and it is one of the most healthy
places on the isthmus
Only Lock in Canal.
At this place the one lock- necessitated
| through the difference in tides Of the
Atlantic and Pacific will be built This
lock, however will not retard the pro-
gress of ships through the canal. In the
first place, ships coming from the Pacific
| will have to stop some time anyway 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, the levels of both oceans
will be equally high.
At the Panama side no plans have az
yet been made for breakwaters
The plans for constructing a lock canal
at thirty feet altitude were never dis.
cussed and from the beginning the board
was divided into two groups. of eight and
Ave members one I'm favor of the sea Level
plan and the other in favor of lock
canal compromise plan was never
brought up at any time.
1t can be authoritatively reiterated thai
none Of the foreign delegates to the board
came here with specific instructions from
their governments. The members OF thu
board came here at the bidding of tn,
United States, and their government
gave them long leave of absence :,
that they might give their services I,
this country, sending them without an,
instructions whatever, They will leav,
Washington by next Saturday and sta,
few days in New York before leavin,
for Europe
On Tuesday night next. General Davis
chairman OF the board OF consulting en-
gineers will entertain. the foreign dele
gates at a farewell dinner at his home.
Estimate of Cost.
The cost OF the sea level canal is esti
mated by the engineers at about $4,000.
COO Although this amount seems nue.
larger than the amount necessary for tn
construction of the lock canal. It is elaine
by the advocates Of the sea level plan L
be in reality only comparatively slight
higher II was pointed out in the meeting
Of the board that lock canal would neces
state between $sO,OOOOOO and SiO.OOO.OOO a
payment for the private grounds and tn
lands belonging to the Republic OF Pan
anna which would be inundated by the cor
struction Of the lock system. This item
in the view. Of the majority Of the boarC
is entirely done away with by the adoptio
OF the sea level canal.
As for the time Il will take TO constru,
the sea level canal. several members {
the board today agreed In the opinion tina
the construction OF the sea level canal wi
not in reality take so very much time NOR
than that OF the lock canal and that II n
unexpected difioulties are met with.
should not require more than two or thre
years additional. The majority Of the eI
gineers take the position that the buildin
Of the sea level canal should not take MOI
than fifteen years.