The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1905-11-24
FOR A SEA LEVEL CANAL
Decision Reached By the Board Of
Experts.
THE AMERICAN MEMBERS DIVIDED.
A Majority Of Them Favored the Lock Canal
on Account Of the Smaller Cost and Shorter
Time Needed to Complete It-.The Foreigners,
However, Could Not See the .Practicabillty
Of Any Of the Lock Plans Suggested.

Washington (Special) By a vote OF
eight to five the Board of Consulting
Engineers of the Istllnian Canal Com
mission, composed of the best engineering
talent in the world, placed itself upon
record as favoring the construction of
the Panama Canal on the sea level. This
decision represents the outcome of nearly
three months hard work. Early in Sep
TENDER the engineers gathered from all
parts of the world, for the President, de-
sirous to avail of the best talent as
well as to avoid adverse foreign criticism
in the future, had called upon the gov
ernments of five great nations distin-
guished for the successful construction
of great hydraulic works to send each
one of their best engineers 10 assist the
American engineers in the decision of
the momentous question of constructing
the Panama Canal at sea level or at a
greater altitude involving a system of
locks.
The foreigners came TO Washington
absolutely without instructions from their
own governments and without bias, de-
termined to be guided to their decision
solely by the facts to be presented to
them in the shape of great mass OF
physical data and supplemented by sew
eral projects, notably that upon which
the French Panama Company worked SO
patiently for more than decade; that
of the First American Panama Commits
sion; that of NJ Bunau-Varila, the
French engineer who was in charge of
the canal works in the last days of the
French administration, and that of Lindon
w. Bates, the Chicago civil engineer who
was connected with great enterprises on
the Nile and elsewhere The Americans
for their. part were acquainted with the
main featurs of these projects before the
board of engineers met in its first session.
Nevertheless they joined in the study OF
physical data, and with their foreign col
leagues went over countless blue prints
and maps, went to the isthmus and
scanned every inch of the route of the
proposed canal, and had made up their
minds when the board reconvened in
Washington, about the beginning Of this
month, as the type of canal they favored
1t was not until last Tuesday, however,
that anything in the nature of decisiev
vote was taken; and that, after all, was
an lHQlIeCt test. JUST vital tHdt PloPo-
sition was cannot be stated with absolute
certainty, but it is conjectured that the
issue was whether or not a lock canal OF
a certain type should be constructed.
AT any rate, the vote disclosed the fact
that a majority of the eight American
members, under the lead OF General Abb
bolt, was strongly in favor of lock
canal. The foreigners were against the
particular type mentioned in the PROPOSE
ton, but it was not clear THAT at that
moment they were opposed to the whole
proposition of lock canal The real
test came Saturday, and the time between
Tuesday and the meeting Saturday was
consumed in some very strong presenta-
tons on the part of the majority OF the
American delegates to influence their
foreign colleagues to accept one of the
other lock propositions. The Americans,
however, were not unanimous, for there
is reason to belive that three of their
number probably General Davis and Mr..
Parsons and Mr. Burr joined the foreign
delegates in this last vote, which recorded
the board as favoring the sea-level canal.