Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-03-25
(Spcclol torrCsp0ndeoc' p mo 7
copyrighted, 1905. by Frank G. car
p1ufcr1

ponter)
ANAMA.-When Uncle Sam bought
u the Panama canal for N0,OOOO0O
he got the right OF way across
the isthmus, the Panama rail-
road, a scratch through the mountains
lot OF old buildings and a scrap heap
This letter deals with the scrap heap
In others may show what he got win
the Panama railroad, the hundred Of
thousands Of acres that came with the
canal. the millions Of dollars worth
Of valuable digging represented by the
scratch through the mountains, and al
no the worth Of the 1900 old buildings
IN the work Of the present, Each
forms separate part OF Uncle Same
bargain, the best he has made since he
bought Louisiana Of Napoleon moro
than a hundred years ago
A SEVEN DOLLAR SCRAP
HEAP.
In order 10 show you Just what the
scrap heap Is worth l have gone with
Paymaster Tobey the chief of the de-
partment OF material and supplies, In
special train over the isthmus visiting
warehouse after warehouse and yard
after yard, examining the material as II
lies upon the shelves and out In the
open. despair of giving you an ade-
quate idea of It's quantity and variety,
There are all told ll5 great store.
houses, fifteen enormous warehouses
and Al parks scattered at different
points up and down 100 square miles OF
territory, reaching from the Atlantic
60 the Pacific,
The contents Of the buildings and
yards are SO great that | venture they
would cover, II they could be spread
out In one place, Il 500-acre farm, as
deep as your waist, and leave plenty
over FOR fence twice that high around
the edges.
These materials have an been nyen-
torled by the French, and I'm their bal
ance sheet they are valued at $50, coo, 600.
This ~ book estimate but our experts
tell me that they are really worth one
fourth that amount to US, for use and
for sale. In the purchase Of the canal
this stuff was not counted; but Admiral
Walker the chairman Of the commits
sion, insisted that0it be thrown I'm for
good measure AS Il result we got Il
for nothing, and the admiral thereby
saved the United states Just $1,0OO,00O.
THE FRENCH ACCOUNT BOOKS.
The idea prevails that the French
kept no accounts of anything, that they
took no care OF their machinery and
that everything we received was rust
ed and rotten. This is not so. The
best OF their machinery was kept under
cover, much OF II was painted with
white lead, while coal oil was squirted
over bolts, nuts and journal boxes TO
Keep them from rusting
AS TO bookkeepers. | doubt whether
the French have their equals. | looked
yesterday over the ledgers which con-
tain list Of these supplies. The pages
are like copper plate engraving and tht
system Of accounts Is perfect. Their,
are eighteen Of these books, each a!
high as a table, as thick as the lbigges
family Bible and as heavy as a ten
year-old boy. Each is bound will
brass plates nj the top and bottom
making Il look more Ike the missai o
monastery than a business accouu
book To give an idea of the size
had Paymaster Jackson hold one Of thu
books open while ! photographed II.
Each ledger contains 500 pages. Their,
are is books, so that they have, all told
5000 pages, all covered with figures
PaymaBter IODey says tnat duplicate
OF these books were kept I'm Paris ant
that the hundreds Of thousands o
items scattered through the store hous
es, sheds and parks are so carefully In
beled to correspond with the ledger
that he can give an order from then
and be sure that the supplies will b
found In the store house as here regis
tered.
The system Of account keeping
much the same as that OF the Unite
States navy. and the books are of grea
value 10 the material and supplies dc
partment, which has to know wher
everything is and be ready to furnis
II at moments notice, whether II b
pound OF nails, or pair OF scissors
steam barge or locomotive.
THE FRENCH BALANCE SHEET
Before take you through the shor