Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-12-25


storekeeper. Doubtless there must be many
complaints against Americans; but those
to whom ! spoke did not happen to make
any such complaint TO me. There was no
complaint of the housing. / was struck by
the superior comfort and responsibility of
the lives of the married men. 1t would, in
my opinion, be a most admirable thing If a
much larger number of the men had their
wives, for with their advent all complaints
! about the food and cooking are almost sure
I to cease.
One OF the greatest needs at present is
/ to provide amusements both for the white
men and the black. The Young Mems
/ Christian Association is trying to do good
work and should be in every way encour-
/ aged But the government should do the
main work. | have specifically called the
attention of the commission to this matter,
/ and something has been accomplished al
4 ready. Anything done for the welfare of
! the men adds to their efficiency and money
4 devoted to that purpose is therefore prop
4 erly TO be considered as spent in building
/ the canal. 1t Is imperstively necessary to
provide ample recreation and amusement
II the men are to be kept well and healthy.
Work of Construction.
The work Is now going on with a vigor
| and efficiency pleasant to witness. The
! three big problems of the canal are the La
/ Boca dams, the Gatun dam and the Guile
1 bra cut. The Culebra 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 problem. the bot
1 tom material being so good that there is a
! practical certainty, not merely as to what
| can be achieved but as to the time of
| achievement The Gatun dam offers the
| most serious problem which we have to
] solve; and yet the ablest men on the istn-
| mus believe that this problem is certain Of
/ solution along the lines proposed although
| of course. ii necessitates great toll, energy
and intelligence, and although equally. Of
! course, there Will be some little risk in
| connection with the work. The risk arises
! from the fact that some of the material
| near the bottom is not good could be
! desired. If the huge earth dam now con-
| tempiated is thrown across from one foot
| hill to the other we will have what is prac-
| tically a low, broad, mountain ridge behind
| which will rise the inland lake This arti-
| fetal mountain will probably show less seep-
| age, that is, will have greater restraining
| capacity than the average natural mountain
| range. The exact locality of the locks at
| this dam-as at the other dans-s now
| being determined. In April next Secretary
! Taft, with three of the ablest engineers OF
| the country-Messrs. Noble, Stearns and
! Ripley-wil visit the isthmus, and the three
| engineers will make the final and conclusive
| examinations as to the exact site for each
| lock- Meanwhile the work is going anead
| without break
The Culebra cut does not offer such great
| risks that is, the damage liable to occur
| from occasional land slips will not repre-
! sent what may be called major disasters
| The work will merely call Tor intelligence,
| perseverance and executive capacity. 1t is.
| however, the work upon 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 taken even longer than the
! cutting in Culebra itself
| The main work is being done in the
| Culebra cut 1t was striking and impress
| sive to see the huge steam shoyels In full
rft1Cr fhn
! rock and earth they dislodged. The mple-
! menus of French excavating machinery,
| which often stand little way from the line
] of work, though of excellent construction,
| look like the veriest toys when compared
with these new steam shovels, just as the
| French dumping cars seem like toy cars
| when compared with the long trains or
| huge cars, dumped by steam plows, which
| are now in use. This represents the enor-
nous advance that has been made in ma
| chinery during the past quarter OF cen
| fury. No doubt a quarter or century
| hence this new machinery, OF which we are
! now so proud, will similarly seem out OF
date. but it is certainly serving its pur-
| pose well now. The old French cars had
| to be entirely discarded. We still nave IN
| use a few of the more modern, but not
| most modern, cars, which noid put tWelNe
! yards of earth. They can be employed on
| certain lines with sharp curves. But the
recent cars hold from twenty-five TO thirty
! yards apiece, and instead of the old clumsy
J methods OF unloading Ineult steam Pio"
| is drawn from end to end of the wnole YES
| tibuled train, thus immensely economlZlnS
| labor. In the rainy season the steam shov
! els can do but little in dirt, but they Work
| steadily in rock and in the harder ground
| The most advanced methods, not only IN
! construction, but IN railroad management
| have been applied in the Zone. WITH CORE
| spending economies in time and COST. ms
| has been shown in the handling Oh .ne
| tonnage from ships into cars, ana lIoh
cars into ships on TIE Panama railroad
Scores me Critics.
1t is not only natural, but inevitable,
| that a work as gigantic as this when mas
| been undertaken on the istnmus shou .ut
| arouse every species of hostility ana crlu-
| cism. The conditions are so new anu 81
| trying, and the work so vast that 1t would
| be absolutely out of the question that mis-
! takes should not be made. Cheeks Will DC
| cur. Unforeseen difficulties Will ARISE;
| From time to time seemingly Well-Seltieu
| plans will have to be changed. AT present
| $4,000 men are engaged on the task AFTER
a while the number will be doubled. IN
such a multitude it is inevitable thNt there
| should be here and there a Sound e. very
! many of the poorer class of laboters lack
| the mental development to protect them
| selves against either the rascality OF otneFs
| or their own folly, and it is not possible
| for human wisdom to devise a plan py
which they can invariably be protected In
a place which has been for ages Il byword
| for unhealthfulnesS, and with so large
congregation of strangers suddenly put
down and set to hard work there Will now
and then be outbreaks of disease. There
will now and then be shortcomings IN al
mnistration there will be unlooked-tor ac-
cidents to delay the excavation OF the cut
or the building of the dams and locks.
Each such incident will be entirely natural,
and, even though serious no one OF them
will mean more than a little extra delay
or trouble. Yet each, when discovered by
| sensation mongers and retailed to timid
oil Of faf will n
for the belief that the whole work is being
badly managed Experiments will continu-
ally be tried in housing, in hygiene, IN
street repairing, in dredging, and in dig
experiment will be a failure; and among
those who hear of it, certain proportion
of doubling Thomases will at once believe
that the whole work is failure. Doubt
less here and there some minor rascality
will be uncovered; but as to this, / have
to say that after the most painstaking in
quiry / have been unable to find single
reputable person VINO had so much as heard
of any serious accusations affecting the
honesty of the commission or of any re
sponsible officer under it, / investigated
the most serious charge, that of the owner
ship of lots in Colon; the charge was not
advanced by n reputable man, and is utter
~ baseless. 1t is not too much to say that
the whole atmosphere of the commission
breathes honesty as it breathes efficiency
and energy. Above all, the work has been
htpl duSOlulel. tleuI VI pOllllcS. nave
never heard even a suggestion of spoils poll
tics in connection with it,
So much for honest criticism. There re-
mains an immense amount of as reckless
SANDER as has ever been published. Where
the slanderers are of foreign origin / have
no concern with them Where they are
Americans, | feel for them the heartiest
contempt and Indignation; because, in
spirit of wanton dishonesty and malice,
they are trying to interfere with. and ham,
per the execution of, the greatest work of
the kind ever attempted, and are seeking
20 bring to naught the efforts Of their
countrymen to put to the credit of Ameri-
ca one of the giant feats of the ages. The
outrageous accusations Of these snderers
constitute a gross libel upon BODY of
public servants who, for trained intelli-
gence. expert ability, high character and
devotion to duty, have never been excelled
anywhere There is not man among those
directing the work on the isthmus who
has obtained his position on any other ba-
sis than merit alone, and not one who has
used his position in any way for his own
personal or pecuniary advantage.
Plans TO Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we have
decided to let out most of the work by