The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-08-18
SHONIS REVEALS
DITCH TROUBLES
Continued from First Page.

the higher-paid officials. He found the
latter housed in a government building
in Panama, where they were exposed
to contagion from fever, and the labor
.ers- utterly without houses. There were
practically no mess tents, and the prlce
of food had risen to such a figure that
every penny earned by the laborers
had to be paid out for food.
He found that altho the government
had bought 3,400 houses from the
French, only about 800 had been re-
paired and made habitable. All OF the
! $1,000 men who could not lind shelter
must sleep upon the miasmic ground or
go long distances and pay. exoroltant
rent. He found that the former com
mission, acting under moral timidity,
had bert every energy toward digging
as many cubic yards of earth as possl-
BILE, leaving the comfort and health OF
the force out of consideration. lie
found even that the most ordinary pre-
liminary work undertaken by, every
American contractor to insure the SAFE
tv and completeness Of their work, was
utterly neglected. ~,
He found that the tracks for the
work trains had not been ballasted, per-
hitting the rails, laid upon the virgin
earth, to sink into the canal, in spots,
and the day he started out upon his
first inspection he e~ncountered ,hve
loaded trains with their crews tied up
because other trains had sunk with
their tracks and could not be extrl-
Gated.
He found 10, 900 dispirited men. Sup
niles were scarce and, as has already
been stated, prohibitive in price. He
found machinery rotting for want OF
facilities.
Mi. shonts' Discipline First.
The first thing done was to call his
engineers and heads of Department. to;
gefher and give them a plain, straight
talk. He told them that he understood
there were jealousies and chickering's
He gave them to understand IN rev
words that tho first man who failed te
obey orders instantly would be dis
charged, and let it be plainly under
stood that the slightest infractlon OF
rules would be t~antamount to accept
ance Of the delinquent s resignation. III
emphasized his remarks by discharglns
on tho spot the chief offender.
Then he withdrew all the carpenter
and other constructors from the work
called a halt upon digging, and devoted
all his energies to BODYBUILDING. Thlsde
manded a degree of moral courage o.
the highest kind, for it invited advers'
criticism because it inevitably sus
pended operations for several months
He built mess houses Of every section
and put up hospital huts and looked
after sanitation. Thanks to his ener
getic efforts, the death rate from yellow
fever was kept below thirty, in spit
Of the wild reports Of a raging epidemic
The demand Of MI. Wallace for 10000
men was countermanded until the zon
should be ready to house and care TO
them.
Thus within thirty days order was re
stored out of chaos, and food supple
brought in and prices reduced to norma
, still, and alarmists sent word that tn
l stoppage was due to decentralization.
Zone Will Be Healthful.
"When the canal is built and in or
era%tion,', said Mr.. Shonts, "the healt
Of the zone will be excellent, for a rive
of salt water will be introduced, pei
feet drainage will be provided, an
the government doctors will enforce
most rigid sanitation; While the cana
will not be completed under five years
and all that has been done during tn
year and a half that has passed goe
practically for naught owing to lilac
vised and unbusinesslike inception, MI
Roosevelt will see the greatest engineer
ing difficulties overcome and a larg
part of the waterway actually traverse
by. vessels.
III have left Mr.. Stevens in su,prem
control and he will press the work III
til we are ready for the 5000 men VIII
will earnestly push the canal. I sha
go back in October. Meanwhile I q,
= in daily touch with the work by near
of the cable. I meet with the advisor
: board in September
: 1t is now known that Mr.. Wallac
was cabled by George Westinghouse
9 ma and offered a larger salary to g
' with the air-brake man. 1t is ais
vouched for that he let it he known h
= might consider an offer Of more none
by the government, but that no sue
offer was made. He received 1925, OO'
and his successor SIS 5000 more.
There will be no necessity for a
f issue of bonds for the continued col
struction of the Panama canal, {
/ authorized by congress, until Decembe
at the earliest. The &c. 900 900 whic
was appropriated two years ago fl
the initiation Of the work has been 6
allotted that it will not be exhauste
< until after congress has met in the re.
ular session. The secretary of the trea
ury, by authorization can issue bono
- up to $13O,0O0,O0O to provide funds Fl
the building Of the canal, but tn
money cannot be obtained by the can
n commission except by specific appr
IS priation on the part of congress
a a rnMTD NTnD HnME.