Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1906-12-20

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ter class, who are to be found as fore
men. as skilled mechanics as police
men, are good men; and many OF the
ordinary day 'aborers are also gooo'
Work Of Construction.
But thousands of those who are
brought over under contract Cat our
eXpense) go off into the jungle TO lVS'
or loaf around Colon, or work so pad
w after tho arst three or four DAYS
as to cause a serious diminuton OF
the amount of labor performed on FRI
Sas ana Saturday OF , eaen Jamaica
laborers as TO the conditions OF tnelr
work and what. IL any changes, they
from them. but as regards most of
these complaints they themselves con-
tradicted one another. In all cases
where the complaint was as to their
treatment by any Individual 1t proved
on examination that this individual
was himself a West India man of color
an assistant storekeeper. Doubtless
there must be many complaints against
Americans; but those to whom spoke
did not happen to make any such COM
plant to me
The work is now going on with. a
vigor and efficiency pleasant to wit
canal are the La Boca dams, the Gatun
dam. and the Culebra cut. The Guile
| bra cut must be made, anyhow; but
of course changes as to the dams, or
at least as to the locks adjacent to
| the dams, may still occur. The La
Boca dams. offer no particular prob
| lem, the bottom material being so
| good that there is a practical certain
| ty, not merely as to what can be
achieved, but as to the time of achieve
ment. The ,Gatun dam offers the most
serious problem which we have to
solve and yet the ablest men. on the
isthmus believe that this problem is
| proposed; although, of course. 1t ne
cessltates great toll, energy, and IN.
teiiigence, and although equally o. Of
in connection with the work. The. risk
arises from the fact that some of the
material near the bottom is not SO
| good as could be desired If the huge
| earth dam now contemplated is thrown
across from one foothill to the other
we, we will hIo, have what is practically, =, q
which will rise the inland lake. This
artificial mountain will probably show
ba is Sn have tS verase
natural mountain range. The exact To-
ccaality Of the locks at this dam-as at
Gsfr IA Apr next 0 seessets de
Taft, with three of thee ablest engin-
GERS of the country-Messrs. Noble,
isthmus, and the three engineers will
make the final and conclusive exami-
nations as to the exact site for each
| ahead without a break
| The Culebra cut does not offer such
| great risks; that is, the damage liable to
occur from occasional land slips will not
represent what may be called major dis
asters The work will merely call fer in
telligence, perseverance, and executive
which most labor will have to be spent.
| The dams will be composed of the earth
taken out of the cut and very, possibly
| the building of the locks and dams will
take even longer than the cutting in
| Culebra itself.
In cuIebra Cut.
The main work is now being done in
impressive to see the huge steam sRoveis
4 in full play, the dumping trains carrying
away the rock and earth they dislodged.
machinery, which often stand little
way from the line of work, though of ex-
cellent construction, look like the veriest
toys when compared with these new
steam shovels, just as the French dump
ing cars seem like toy cars when COM
pared with the long trains of huge cars,
in use. This represents the enormous
advance that has been made in machin-
cry during the past quarter of CEN
fury. No doubt quarter of a century
hence this new machinery, of which we
are now so proud, will similarly seem out
of date. but it is certainly serving its
had to be entirely discarded. We still
have in lise few of the more modern,
but u yards of earth. They can be en-
ployed on certain lines with sharp
| curves. But the recent cars hold from
% to 80 yards apiece, and instead of the
old clumsy methods of unloading them,
a steam plow is drawn from end to end
| of the whole vestibuled train, thus i'm
mensely economizing labor. In the rainy
reason the steam shovels can do but
little in dirt, but they work steadily in
rock and in the harder ground There
| We're some 20 at work during the time i
was on the isthmus, and their tremendous
! power and efficiency were most impress
sive
New Records for Excavation.
AS soon as the type of canal was de-
cided this work began in good earnest.
The rainy season will shortly be over and
then there will be an immense increase in
the amount taken out; but even during
the last three months, in the rainy sea-
son, steady progress is shown by the
figures: In August, $4,000 cubic yards
in September, $4,000 cubic yards, and in
October, $4,000 cubic yards. In October
new records We're established for the
output of individual shovels as well as
for the tonnage haul of individual loco
motives. hope to see the growth of a
healthy spirit of emulation between the
different shovel Welt and locomotive crews WIS
battle ships between the different CUR
crews in matters of craftsmanship
Passing through the cut the amount OF
new work can be seen at a glance. Ir
one place the entire side of a hill hat
been taken out recently by "a tons o.
blast. AT another place l was given 6
presidential salute of Il charges of dyna
| mite. On the top nOtch or the CuleDrt
| cut the prism is now as wide as it will
be; all told, the canal bed at this poin
has now been sunk about 200 feet below
what it originally was 1t will have t.
be sunk about 1870 feet farther: Through
out the cut the drilling, blasting, shovel
ing and hauling are going on with con
stantly increasing energy, the hug
shoveis being pressed up, as if they wer
nguntain howitzers, into the most un
likely looking places, where they ca
their way into the hillsides.
Railway improvements.
The most advanced methods, not onl
In construction, but in railroad manage
ment, have been applied in the zone
with corresponding economies in tim
and cost. This has been shown in tn
handling of the tonnage from ships int
cars, and from cars into ships on tn
Panama railroad, where, thanks largel
to the efficiency of General Manage
Bierd, the saving In time and cost, ha
been noteworthy. My examination tend
ed to show that some of the department
had doubtless necessarily become over
developed, and could now be reduced Q
subordinated without impairment of eff
cheney and with saving of cost TIL
Q chairman of the commission, Mr.. Shont
Q has all matters of this kind CONSTANT