Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-02

fore they settle down to hard work. 1t Is
not likely that the next meeting will be
held before Thursday Friday. The board
will, however soon be hard at work, when
continuous sessions will be held.
Will Meet In This City.
The consulting board of engineers on the
Panama canal met at o'clock yesterday
afternoon The session was largely spent
In discussing the place of holding the ses
sions of the board. A number were in
favor of New York, but others, including
the foreign members, declared themselves
earnestly in favor of Washington, and it
was determined that the meetings should
be held in this city. A suggestion was
made that the meetings should be public,
but this was decided in the negative An
executive committee consisting of Messrs.
Davis Burr and Parsons was created to
have charge of general affairs of the board.
The meeting adjourned until, II o'clock to-
day.
Letter From Chairman Shonts,
A letter from Chairman Shonts to the
board in part says:
I'm accordance with the directions of the
President, dated April l. 1905, the isthmian
canal commission has the honor to lay be-
fore you physical cata concerning the 18TH
mus of Panama, and to solicit your opinion
as to the best plan to be followed in the
completion of the Panama canal within
reasonable limits OF cost and time.
"As you are aware, this question has been
the subject of prolonged and elaborate
SIT dies for many years by numerous able
engineers. vast amount of labor has
been expended In the collection of informa-
ton concerning the physics of the sthmus
and In digestlng 1t and formulating it into
plans for the canal.
During the last year additional surveys
and observations have been made upon the
sthmus. the results of which are laid before
you. 1t may be stated here in general
terms that the information which they
furnish does not involve any radical change
In the plans previously favored. Among
the observations alluded to may be included
the experience of the last year in excavat-
ing the Culebra cut, from which some of
our engineers have drawn unwarranted
conclusions as to the probable cost of the
work There is nothing in this experience
to justify the belief that the unit prices
used in previous estimates were too high
or that the estimate of the time required for
com pleting the work was too liberal Never
theless, this experience has beenj used as an
argument in favor of sea-level canal
which plan had been condemned by the two
commissions mentioned above. 1t becomes
necessary TO consider once more the sea-
level scheme.
The Present Plan.
THE plan described in the first namnb,et
(Which is submitted among other papers)
is the one which was adopted by Congress-
at least by inference-in the act approyed
June 2s, 1902. 1t is the plan under which
the work is now progressing and under
which all work of construction has been
done since the United States acquired the
property 1t closely resembles the plan Of
the comite technique, described in the sec
ond pamphlet, in many essential particu-
lars. but differs from IT in the height of the
Bohio dam and the important results
which flow therefrom. The advantages
which its authors expected to derive from
this change were:
Il. To take fuller advantage of the TO-
pography of the country, by which II was
possible to make the Gigantic spillway au-
tomato instead of mechanical, and ade-
quate for the discharge OF the greatest
foods, with only one channel to the sea in
stead of two.
so. To Increase the distance of lake uayt-
cation from seven to nearly thirteen miles.
"3. To reduce the estimated cost of the
canal by about $15, 100000
THE disadvantage of the change is the
somewhat greater difficulties In construc-
ing the higher dam and the locks of greater
lift-difficulties, however, which are by no
means insuperable.
"A disadvantage which the two plans
have in common is that the rapid develop
ments of naval architecture make it diff
cult to determine the proper dimensions of
the lock chambers. 1t is to be considered
however, that up to the present time such
development has not been greatly ham
pered by deficient depth in the harbors of
the world, and that development hereafter