The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-24

This boundary is a more important mat ter than may appear at first sight, for the United States government assumes entire control over the narrow strip en- closing the line of the canal A com plete government, legislative, executive and judicial, has been established, and the Republic of Panama has been divest- ed of all authority in the district
 I nthe various departments of sanitary preparation and construction there were 400 men employed at the time of my visit Most of these were engaged on the Atlantic slope of the divide, as the work at the Panama end Is much further advanced. The improving of drainage, establishment of water supply systems, and sanitary housings for the workmen Is still the most important work on the isthmus, and, I am convinced, is receiving the careful and energetic attention it de- mands.
 The pay rolls of the commission con- tained 13,3S0 names in September. The actual duties of these employees are, be- side the clerical and official work nec- essary in the establishment of the work Ing organization and the government of the canal zone. confined to the task of laying temporary railroads, improving the wharves and docks at both sides of the isthmus, putting the machinery in condition and getting everything ready for immediate operation as soon as the
 
 canal they are going to dig. Some new machinery is arriving, and a small force is employed in setting up, housing and caring for this.
 Some 2600 men are now at work in the Culebra cut, the bete noir of the canal scheme, preparing, for the most part, for the real work which is to follow. SIX teen stea mshovels are in use smoothing off the sides and shaping up the walls of the cut for the installation of the new and larger shovels. Here trouble has been made by the apparently aimless work of the French company; great holes have been gouged in under the hillside, and pits have been dug in the bottom of the ditch which must be filled up and smoothed over before serious work can be undertaken.
 The workmen now employed on the job constitute but a fraction of the total that must eventually be employed, as when op- erations are in full blast about 250oO men will be required. The principal source of labor supply thus far has been Jamaica but the commission intends to draw upon Cuba, and to as large extent as possible, the United States as the efficiency of the labor employed in these warmer climates is as low as 25 per cent, taking the average laborep in the temper ate climates as a unit, and the supply far from equals the demand. The en- gineers are also of the opinion that mistake has been made in introducing the eight-hour day on the lsthmus. The abor cost of the work has been increased at least 20 per cent by this step, although with such labor as is obtanable in the northern states. and under improved con- ditions, the eight-hour day would doubt less make for more expeditions and eco- nomcal work. Whenever a foreman at tempts to get anything like a fair days work out of one of the negroes, the latter simply moves sullenly off to the next camp.
 Sea Level or Lock Canal.
 The engineering problems involve a de- cision as to whether the canal shall be at sea level, or whether it shall have locks, and if so, how many. Cutting through the swamp land at sea level is practica- ble enough, but the strip of elevated land at Culebra is 320 feet high at places, and better adapted to locking. The control of the Chagres river Is another serious enigma, as yet unsolved, but just now is receiving more earnest attention than any other problem on the isthmus, with the exception of the sanitary arrange ments. The sources and drainage area of this river are being carefully explored by expert surveyors and engineers at the present time, and several plans for the control of the stream are ready for sub mission to the board of engineers
 The question of locks is foremost at this time The suggestion for a sea-level canal seems to have come from De Les seps, who strongly favored the idea. The engineers now the spot are divided in opinion: possibly a small majority op- pose the sea-level plan-in fact, 1t is known to be impossible to build the canal without at least one lock on the Pacific side, since the tide rises and falls there twenty feet on an average as against less than two feet on the Atlantic side. twenty-foot tide could not be allowed to flow in and out of any canal. And since there must be one lock through which all vessels will have to pass, it is no great hardship or delay for them to go through few more. and the ques- tion Is, how many?
 The building of enormous canal locks has become an exact science and there is nothing in the way of constructing them of any required capacity. One ob jection to the use of locks is that they prevent the subsequent enlargement of the canal, but against this 1t has been pointed out that If the canal be dug B feet deep the locks can be made 70 feet, so as to be ready for the time when the deepening of the canal Is obligatory It seems as if a reasonable sense of econo- my would decide the commission In favor of a system of locks. and so permitting the canal to pass through the higher sec ton at a level of say 90 feet above the sea- If such level is decided on, the next question is the means of keeping this high area filled with water. and in- cidentally of taking care of the surplus waters that the streams discharge in times of flood. There has been exhaust i've study of these points, and the plan most favored seems to be the establsh- ing of two or more great dams on the Chagres river, the sites proposed being at Bohio, Alhajuela and Gamboa. The s..- -f &1rzr rxrf 1.r oh ft- to carry all the waters of the largest flood. and as there are records of these extending over fifty years, and very ac- curate and complete records of the con- diton of the water for twenty-five years, the requisite capacity is well known.
 All these questions are being taken into serious consideration by the force of em-
 All RNG 0E0Dl E.