Middletown transcript., 1905-11-25
WASHINGTON LETTER

The International Board of Consulting
Engineers who are acting in advisory
| capacity to the Panama Canal Commits
sion voted this week on the subject of the
| type of canal to be adopted. The deci9
sion has not yet been made public butS
| will be early next week. When it is oGce
decided whether the canal is to be of the
lock type or built at sea level, the work
can proceed with more rapidity. But up
to date there has been great deal done,
how much very few people'in the United
States seems to know or care. There has
been great deal OF criticism of tile canal
| commission for not proceeding faster. But
| the fact is that the work has been push. d
as rapidly as possible considering the
number of changes in the commission
and engineers that have been necessary.
~
The decision as to the type Of canal
marks all important period in the work.
| and it is just as well to consider at this
moment what has already been accom-
plished. In the first place the Isthmus
has been cleaned up as it was never
thought possible to do it. In fact the
work of the sanitary corps under Col.
Georges has been as important as the
digging Of the canal ITSELF For the sani-
tation Of the Isthmns has made it habi
table strip. The French tried to do the
canal work without the preliminary sani-
tation and failed utterly. OF course par
tisan critics will profess themselves
skeptical of the amount of work actually
done. But the records of the war De-
partment state the following as some Of
the things accomplished. A sewer sys-
tenn has been advised for the town Of
Panama and is half completed. The town
is being paved with brick for the easier
cleaning and policing, and there has been
installed complete system OF water
works go that for the first time in three
centuries the inhabitants will have good
drainage and pure drinking supply.
There will be three other water systems
necessary, one for the Culebra, one
Empire and third for Cristobal and Colon.
All these are under way. By cleaning
the towns and killing the mosquitoes, the
yellow fever cases have been reduced
from 81 in June to 8 in October. There
are now 1900 iaborers on the ground
and the rate of sickness is only % per
! 900 which would be considered moder-
ate in northern climate.
~
In the line nf actual construction the
United States inherited the unfinished
French work which consisted Of fifteen
miles OF sea level canal at the North end
and FIVE miles at tile South. The work |
has eaten into the great Cuebra Hill to
point 140 feet above sea level. This hill |
is $40 feet high and ten miles wide and |
has been the great bugbear Of canal
line at Panama. There are 20 steam
shovels now on the ground and sixty
more ordered are OH their way to the
scene OF the work. The Panama railway
has been double tracked with the excep-
ton OF nine miles which will soon u
doubled also. This is not bad showing4
for the work up to date. There has been
a great deal OF opposition to the railroad
interests which will Of course be affected |
by 1t and there probably win be great
many more calamity hewls to the effect
that It is an engineering ianpossiblity.
But one can consider the progress made
with great deal nf Satisfaction and the