Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-09-29
A LETTER FROM
THE CANAL ZONE
LABoCA, CANAL ZONE, Sept. IA, 'O5.
WOOD COUNTY REPORTER
Grand RanidS. Wis.

WOOD COUNTY REPORTER
Grand Rapids, Wis.
l have received four of your papers
read and re-read them ads. and all,
then wrapped them up again and
mailed them to Gust Franks who is
located at Colon, where he is in the
Sanitary Department. He is giving
Colon sample of hell on the INSTALL
ment plan, that is he burns the
sulphur or in other words FumigateS.
His address IS ChriStobal, (the Ameri-
can end of Colon) 1 saw him at lBohio
last Sunday, he was on the train but
did not see him until he got off, it
was salute and hand shake for the
richest railroad in the world don't
waste any time by letting their cars
hang around railroad stations, it is get
on quick or stay where you are, get
Oft quick or walk back from next sta
tion; happily there are stations about
every mile which compels the con-
ductOr to move in order to collect
fares; some thirty stations in forty
seven miles::::and a heavy passenger
traffic and all the blacks have big
bundle of something to stumble over.
The cons don't have to go through
any gymnastics at their quarters; get
all they need along the line to keep
them in training.
Bohio is where it proposed to have
a dam built to make an artificial lake,
but it will lie an imaginary dam and
lake from my view point for a found
alton. for dam can't be found with
out going down eighty to one hundred
feet or my eyes and judgement are
failures. At Culebra Cut it is about
one hundred feet to solid rock forma-
tion, all rock above this is either
bOulders or a rock that slacks when
exposed to the weather and here at
LaBoca my quarters are on rocky
hill, but within stones throw our
plant is located in the valley where
mud and clay is the only foundation.
Holes were dug deep down for engine
beds but no rock found, so a rock of
concrete had to be built for the beds
and out in the stream two dredges
work day and night moving mud from
S, S. Channel. There is large
English tramp steamer un-
loading lumber in the stream.
l saw by her water mark that
she draws twenty-four feet. She was
on the mud yesterday at low ebb and
from my observations, land l have
tried to Observe,) there will never be a
lake at Bohio until God puts it there.
The canal will be sea level or no
canal at all. Those who read this
and live to see a cana! across the
iSthmuS can then say that 1 was
right about this. If Uncle Sam has
the grit that l think he has there
will be canal there. There will be
many difficulties such as sliding mud
and clay, but engineers will be found
or made, who will surmount them.
Thls:may be true in regard to the dam
at Bohio, but the expense will exceed
the cost Of sea level water way and
many men would fail before the right
one is found. This letter is not to be
construed as advice for the COM
mission, but is written as l promised
to write just as see things and what
l thought about them. 1 am not
digging the canal, am here to make
light and power to help it along, and
hope to be here making these COM
modities for some time to come.
Talk about electric:light machinery
my eyes feasted on some today in an
old store house; there were four old
generators with Dynamo Crane on
the name plates, also $50 turns or
some French words similar which I
took to be speed $50 revolutions.