The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1906-12-22


recent cars hold from twenty-five to thirty
yards apiece and instead OF the old clumsy
methods OF unloading them, steam plow
Is drawn from end To end OF the whole yea
tiDuied train, thus Immensely economizIna
labor. In the rainy season the steam shoy.
els can do but little In dirt, but they work
steadily In rock and In the harder ground.
There were some twenty five at work dur.
Ing the time l was on the isthmus, ano
their tremendous power and efficiency were
most Impressive.
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. Tnis
has been shown in the handling OF the
tonnage from ships into cars. ana from
cars into ships on the Panama railroad.
Critics and Doubling Thomases.
1t Is not only natural, but inevitable,
that work as gigantic as this which mas
been undertaken on the isthmus shouio
arouse every species of hostility and criti'
cism The conditions are SO new and Sc
trying, and the work so vast that IL woulu
be absolutely out OF the question that ms
takes should not be made. Checks Will oc
cur. Unforeseen difficulties will arise
From time to time seemingly weli-settled
plans will have TO be changed. Al present
10000 men are engaged on the task. Eftet
a while the number viii be doutSd In
such n multitude 1t Is inevitable that there
should be here and there a scoundrel. very
many of the poorer class of laborers iacE
the mental development 10 protcct the"
selves against either the rascality OF Others
or their own folly, and Ii Is not possible
for human wisdom to devise plan by
which they can invariably be protected. 10
a place which has been for ages byword
for unhealthfulness, and with SO large
congregation of strangers suddenly pun
down and set TO hard work there VIII now
and then be outbreaks of disease dhere
will now and then be shortcomings la ad
minstration there win be unlooked.fOr 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 OK them
will mean more than little extra delay
or trouble. Yet each, when discovered by
sensation mongers and retailed TO timid
folk of little faith, will serve rs an excuse
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 I'm dig
gng earth and rock. Now and then an
experiment will be failure; and among
those who hear of Ii, 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 painstaktng In.
| quiry l have been unable to find n single
reputable person who had SO much as heard
| of any serious accusations affecting the
| honesty of the commission or of any re-
| sponsible officer under It, i investigated
! the most serious charge. that of the owner.
| ship of lots in Colon; the charge was not
| advanced by II reputable man, and is utter
| ly baseless. 1t Is not too much to say that
| the whole atmosphere of the commission
| breathes honesty as IL breathes efficiency
| and energy. Above all, the work has been
| kept absolutely clear of politics. ! have
never heard even suggestion of spoiis 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
L 4 mr. of
| no concern with them. Where they are
| Americans, / feel for them the heartiest
| contempt and indignation because, In q
| 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
| to bring to naught the efforts OF their
| countrymen to put TO the credit of Ameri.
en- one of the giant feats of the ages The
| outrageous accusations OF these slanderers
constitute gross libel upon body OF
public servants who, for trained inteili,
| gence, expert ability, high character and
| devotion to duty, have never been excelled
anywhere. There lis not Il 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 ewn
| personal or pecsniary Advantage
Plans to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we have
| decided to let out most of the work by
! contract, IL we can come to satisfactory
terms with the contractors. The whole
| work Is of kind suited TO the peculiar
genius Of our people; and our people have
| developed the type Of contractor best fitted
to grapple with It. 1t Is of course much
better to do the work In large part by con-
tract than to do 1t all by the government
provided 1t Is possible on the one hand to
secure TO the contractor a sufficient remun.
Grafton to make II worth while for respon-
sible contractors Of the best kind 70 under
N.Iy<x .,Nrlr. AnA 9TH.
hand 1t can be done on terms which will
not give an excessive profit to the contract.
or at the expense Of the government After
much consideration the plan already prom
ulgated by the Secretary Of War was
adopted. The plan as promulgated is ten.
tative: doubtless IL will have to be changed
In some respects before we can come to a
satisfactory agreement with responsible
| contractors--perhaps even after the bids
have been received; and of course 1t Is pos
sible that we cannot come to nm agreement
In which case the government will do the
work itself. Meanwhile the work on the
isthmus Is progressing steadily and with
| out any let-up.
accompany this paper with a nap show.
ing substantially what the canal will be
like when 1t is finished. When the Cute
bra cut has been made and the dams built
| Of they are built as at present prvposedD
there will then be at both the Pacific and
Atlantic ends Of the canal, two great fresh
water lakes connected by broad channel
INNING at the bottom OF ravine, across
backbone Of tie Western hemisphere
those best informed believe that the work
will be completed In about eight years; but
| IL Is never safe to prophesy about such {
work as this, especially In the tropics.
Confident of Success.
or the success Of the enterprise am al
well convinced one can be OF any enter
| prise that is human. 1t Is a stupendou.
work upon which our fellow countrymen ar,
engaged down there on the isthmus, ant
| while we should hold them to a strict ac
counting for the way in which they per
form It, we should yet recognize, with franl
| generosity, the epic nature OF the task OF
which they are engaged and Its world-wid,
Importance They are doing 3 omethia,
which will rebound UNNECESSARILY to th
credit of America, which will benefit all tn