The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-02-24
MADE
on THE CANAL i.
Commissioners Ind ST Better Than
ESpseted4-S5,ooo Men 50 Be
Il Employed.
Large Steam shoyels Are at Work
and Five More Will Be ~.
El stalled.

49,
and Five More viii Be ln.
stalled. 4 4
NEW YORK Feb SReepforts of
substantial progress b tBe actual
@crk Of digging the great isthmian
canal were brought To this city by!
Canal Commissioners William Bar;
clay Parsons and W. #. Burr, who ar:
rived on the steamer Allianca from
Colon. Professor Burr made the sub.
Joined statement:
The committee on engineering Of
the Isthmian Canal Commission re.
port that they found work generally
in much better and more advanced,
condition than they anticipated. In
the great Cmlebra cut, the detail OF
construction that will take the most
time and money, the chief engineer
has installed and has at work three
large American steam {shovers, and is
erecting five more. Four thousandsla-
borers are now a work on different
portions Of the work, and 1000 more
have already been engaged In the
West Indies and Central America.
Substantial progress Is, therefore, be!
Ing made.
While on the isthmus the commit:
tee was in daily conference with the
.ch!cf: engineer. with a view 10 iformu.
.lating certain plans, contracts for
which can be let at an early date.
These plans and the accompanying
data will be submitted to the com.
mission at Washington. "a
For Sewerage System.
at Panama and Colon the laying OF
sewers and water pipes is progress!
ing steadily, SO that in the near fiji.
ture both Of those cities will for the
first time be furnished with a system
of sewers and water supply with abun.
dance Of wholesome water. The pres.
ence ofyellow fever is 10 be regretted,
but was TO be expected, as this disease
Is always present in tropical coun.
tries in America, unless long.contin
ned sanitary precautions have been
taken. Prior TO the sanitary work OF
the commission no precautions or sci
entiic measures have been$takent on
the isthmus to guard against this dis.
ease. The same medical officers who
succeeded In eliminating the fever
from Havana are now repeating the
crusade in Panama. Beyond any
question equally successful results
will be produced. Attic present time
there is nothing approaching an cpl.
denic,. and the conditions are great,
iy improved over those found in pre-.
vious years. Some of the newspaper
accounts that have reached the 18th,
mus from the, North were much ex.
aggerated.
Preliminary Work Finished.
The committee returned more than
satisfied with the general conditions
or the enterprise, and believes that
completion Gamble attained in less
time thanta8is ~ponularly supposed.
Sometime has Of necessity been de.
voted by the engineering staff to the
study and investigation Of certain de.
tails not fully determined. by the
French. This preliminary work is
now really ended, and the actual work
OF construction 0 II a large scale can
soon begin
Mr.. Parsons attention was called
TO the investigation OF the affairs OF
the Panama Railroad, and in the mat.
ter of fees said:
"These fees are all right-we ali
got them. All corporations pass
them. Ten dollars is handed each
director after each meeting. They
amount TO s15O to s2oo'a year
Judge G. I. Little, who will defend
a lottery company's right to sell lot
terry tickets in the canal zone, also
arrived on the Alliance. The case is
on appeal to the Supreme Court OF
the United States.