Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-03-27
UNCLE SANS HUGE TASK OF
DIGGING PANAMA CANAL
Correspondence Chicago Record
Herald

ditcn from ocean to ocean. have
travelled over the line OF the cana
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. have
talked with the engineers of the vari
Gus sections, and. in company with
Chief Engineer Wallace and Governor
Davis, have walked over the greater
part of the Culebra cut.
sit in the Culebra cut as | write
with thousands OF men at work about
me. with steam drills boring holes
' into the rocks for blasting and with
the new steam shovels putting away
as they load the cars. each doing the
work of hundreds of men.
am in the midst of the mountains.
Ragged, rough and covered with
dense growth OF vegetation. they
rise above the great rocky gorge in
which the excavation is now going on.
Below me the water lies in the bottom
OF the cut, and looking up and down
the gorge | can see The work OF the
French engineers. They labored thr-
s2s000OOOO in gold; but they worked
in the dark. and with boodling and
bad business accomplished only one.
tenth OF this excavation. The French
were fine engineers on paper, but they
never ascertained the cost estimate
Of men, machinery and material
which are absolutely essential TO any
rational deduction as to the time II
will take to build the canal or the
money needed for the purpose
This is what the canal commission.
ers and the chief engineer are doing
today, They are making the tests
which will form the basis of all esti
mates and contracts for the work OF
the future There are now gangs OF
men all along the line of the canal
under the charge of skilled engineers
looking into every cost element of the
canal construction, Some parties are
at the headwaters OF the Chagres and
others at various places along its
course making borings for tunnels
and dams. Others are preparing tn,
way for the harbor excavations at the
Atlantic and Pacific ends of the ca
nal. and others are testing every foot
OF dredging To TO be made through the
lowlands and on the rises to the Guile.
bra cut.
Here at Culebra is a small army at
work. part of it using the old French
machinery and others working the
great steam shovels testing the differ
ent sections of the pass and ascertain
ing 10 a cent and minute Just what
II will cost in time and money to get
each kind OF rock and eartn out. This
work is experimental, but at the same
time practical Every day takes out
and carries away mass of material
which will not have to be handled
again. and this while the work is be
ing organized and tested for the great
undertaking of the future.
In addition to this the sanitation
projects are rapidly going on. TIE
vegetation has been cut away from
the score and more towns which lie
on both sides of the Panama railroad
and drains made off into the bushes
The streets OF Panama City are dug
up for the new sewers and water
works and a great reservoir for sup
ply OF fresh water has been made in
the mountains
The architects and carpenters are
everywhere preparing quarters for the
men. Hundreds of the old French
buildings are being remodeled and the
sound of the hammer and saw can be
heard from one end of the istnmus to
the other. The old French materials
have been chopped out of the bushes
and machine shops have been erected
al Panama. Colon, Bas Matacnin, EN-
route. Indeed, the whole canal zone
has begun to hum, and from now on
ii will be one OF the industrial bee
hives of the world. The employees al
WbThs Americans ana natives, dlTtduN
number something like 5000, and this
force will be steadily increased until
II is three or four times as great
Indeed. the work planned here is so
vast that can only describe 1t by
simplifying the figures for homely
comparisons. In the first place, let us
take a bird's-eye view of the canal
1t is to cross the isthmus through
about the middle of the Panama Re
puD-c, a country which is as long
as from Washington city to Boston.
via New York. and which ranges in
width from thirty TO 1S0 miles. The
canal is TO go through one OF its mar
rowest parts. but 1t winds this way
and that, and the distance from ocean
TO ocean will be about forty-five miles,
and with the dredging necessary at
the entrances in the Atlantic and Pa
cifc, just about fifty miles. Looking
at the map the job seems a chore
in comparison with the Suez canal