Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-24
NAY Be DUG BY 1915
Preparatory Work on Panama
Canal Going Ahead.
AN ENGINEERS VIEW
PRECISE STATEMENT OF Diff
CULTIES AND EXPECTATIONS.
Demand for Labor Greater Than the
Supply-French Machinery
Found Worthless.

/
work of preparation. he says, is going on
speedily, and when the equipment is on hand
and the organization perfected at least "a
600 men will be required on the canal. Much
of the present labor is worthless because
the demand Is larger than the supply. The
application of the eght-hour system to the
canal he regards as lamentable mistake.
| and will add about % per cent to the cost of
labor. Mr.. Randolph says the whole line
Is 'cluttered up with abandoned French ma
| chinery," which cost about $4,000 600 and is
| now valueless. He declares that any state
| ment foreshadowing the report of the con-
sulting engineers can be set down as the
| manufacture OF news monger."
Completion Before 1915.
The isthmian canal commission made the
letter public today, SO 1t may be accepted
| as expressing the approved official view of
| the subject. In his letter Mr.. Randolph
says:
Dear Mr.. Carter: AS you share In that
interest which attaches to the Panama
| canal. will tell you things which 1 feel
| sure you will be pleased to hear This
interest Is widespread, and has its spring
IN various causes. For the commercial
| world that interest attaches to IL as a
| needed highway for marine commerce. and
thence we hear the pressing question
| How soon will 1t serve the purpose for
| which 1t was conceived? There is no
authority short of ommiscience competent
| to answer that question with certainty,
| and from that high source the answer has
not been vouchsa fed. What We do know is
| that 1t can be done; that Americans can do
1t, and that In short time so stu
| pendous an undertaking can be put
| through. We do know that almost limit
less resources await the demand of the
| builders; that the builders represent the
| highest grade of American engineering
talent, led on by man whose record of
| accomplishment is but the earnest of the
things that he shall do
Hence we may reasonably look for the
| passage of the great ocean freighters from
| the Caribbean to the Pacific before our
calendars are headed 1915. How much be-
| fore, this deponent sayeth not. This is no
easy triumph for the builders, who must
| contend with and overcome difficulties not
| encountered in our temperate zone.
| The Climatic Difficulties.
First there are climatic difficulties
| which my investigations force me to be-
| lieve have been magnified, exaggerated.
| This I have learned through, correspond
ence and personal intercourse with the
men who are doing the engineering work
le-men who hail from various parts of our
l.union-and their words are backed by the
fact that they have endured the climate
tfor periods of from nine to fifteen months
without sickness or any other disability
| resulting therefrom. A prudent foresight
| on the part of the authorities, gives these
men vacations at intervals or twelve
months, and reduced transportation PACK
| to the invigorating climate of the land
from which they came. 1 journeyed with
some of these and found them returning to
| their tasks In high health and with that
! devotion to duty which is a distinguishing
| characteristic Of the American engineer.
| met many on the isthmus, and no word OF
| discouragement escaped them. AS to the
| dread scourge Of yellow fever: During
| the time Of my stay there was but one
| case on the zone and when death ensued
| in that case there was not another left
| behind. / give the official record Tor the
June, 62; July AZ; August. 81; Sep
| TENDER, 6; October, Q.
| Origin of the Complaints.
1.-The luxuries and many of the comforts
| of life are missing from the allotment of
| those men, and of this l heard so much
| complaint that l caused letter to be
| written to one of my former assistants
| months ago. In reply he said that these
| complaints did not come from the engi-
| neers who were used to doing the frontier
| pioneer work of our country; they went an
| ticipating conditions no better and no worse
| than those with which they had contended
| in the temperate zone, and 1t was even as
| they expected. l mingled with the white
! men who are there in minor positions of
| trust, and to one of these l remarked that
| 1 was pleased to find that much that had
| read in the states about discomfort and
discomfort seemed to be exaggerated. he
said that large proportion of these ad-
verse reports were due to the fact that the
| men who came down there were not prop
| erly advised as to what they had to meet
! or how they should be equipped for living,
| and that for q time the facilities for hous-
| ing the men were altogether inadequate;
| that they would arrive without proper
,.la -
needed save from the Chinese shopkeepers.
who DID not neglect any opportunity fer
eXtortion. 49,
'"Then he said for a time there were no
| fixed quarters assigned. The American,
you know. is a creature who likes to gather
little home comforts of his own about him;
he likes his own nail on which to hang his
coat; his own corner shelf on which he can
place his Bible or his whisky bottle to
whichever of these he most inclines, and
he resents it when he is Ltold to move on
and relinquish these comforts to Others
THE question of proper housing has been
a problem, but its solution is progressive,
| and 1t has had to wait upon lumber which
must come from the states. The lumber is
arriving. I saw In the bay of Panama two
great ocean freightess laden with cargoes
OF the imuch-needed lumber, which was be-
ing unl0aded sonto lighters and taken to the
railroad for distribution. This was in
square logs, which are sawed at a mill
provided for that purpose, into the thick
nesses needed for the work. The French
left behind them some $3.50 buildings, little
and big. which are being made habitable.
But many more must be built to house the
thousands whose fabors are required to ac-
complsh the work.
Demand for Labor.
when the equipment Is on hand and tho
organization perfected at least $4,000 men
will be required in the various departments
of industry. The source of supply for labor
so far has been Jamaica. The efficiency
of this labor Is low. as low as Is per cent.
taking an average laborer in our latitude
the unit. This Is due In part to the fact
that the supply Is not now equal to the de-
mand. and an independence is thereby in
duced which tends to worthlessness Thsre
is no pressure which can be applied to these
people which will make them do their best
under existing conditions If foreman
undertakes to make them do fair days
work they quit and move on to the next
| camp. where they know that a job awaits
them. 1t is reasonable to Believe that this
condition will improve when the fmporla-
49, Lab Sau ta oY-