Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-05-02

senate committee on interOceanic car
ais that he would resign his princely
job if compelled to take his wife TO
the isthmus. has not tended to in
crease confidence in the healthful
properties of the canal zone atmos--
phere, and it is with poor grace that
the carpenters and machinists, and
clerks and engineers are urged by the
commission 10 bring their families
with them.
OF course we may be making noun
tains out of mole hills, but | will say,
as an unembellished statement of fact.
that not ! per cent of the people on the
isthmus believe Mr.. Shonts is a neces-
sary attribute to the canal administra-
ton. He arrived here last Sunday
morning, spent an hour driving around
the best streets of Colon in the hand
some victoria of Mr.. Tubby, chief of
the bureau of materials and supplies,
and then was ushered aboard the pri-
vate car of the Panama railroad and
hurried off to some place where the
mains were not filled with salt water.
Leaving the question of whether or
not Mr.. ShOnts is an expensive luxury.
we will consider some of the other in
stances of apparently ineXcuSable gov
ernmental extravaganza. l made a
second trip to the site for the Colon
standpipe that was TO have been COM
pleted April l. according to Secretary
Taft's statement. found a ragged hole
in the ground, two feet deep and 15
in 10
green slime | was accompanied by
the foreman that had been in charge
of the digging, and from him l learn
ed that the site had been condemned.
'Why?" | asked.
Because when they dug down IS
inches they encountered water and a
shifting coral foundation he replied.
MIR. Stevens personally condemned
the site''
Looking around me | observed bar
rel upon barrel of cement, 40 car
loads of sand, a mass of pipe and va
rious and sundry other material that
was to have been used on this muchly-
advertised standpipe, this grim April
fool joke of the canal administration.
But why did they bring all this stuff
here, if they condemned the Site?" |
asked my friend, the former foreman
"Oh, that was brought here before
we even broke ground" was the
astounding reply 1T cost the gov
eminent about $4,000 to place those
800 barrels of cement and that other
truck here. and it will cost the gov
eminent $4,000 to cart it away
Hero we cnpno RI bavo not Loco
the government of $1,000, just because
some engineer did not think of test
ing his ground for a foundation before
ordering all these supplies. Besides.
1t took % men six weeks TO ascertain
that the site should be condemned.
And | was further informed that a con-
tract had been let with a Chicago firm
for the construction of the standpipe
on that site for $21 1000. Perhaps the
canal commission at Washington will
announce whether this particular S21,-
900 must be forfeited by the govern
ment. And whether it is or not. the
100000 gallons of water that were to
have been stored in the standpipe
have flowed on into the hungry sea.
Another instance: The municipal
engineers in Colon decided TO lay
siX-inch pipe along Bolivar street. one
OF the principal thoroughfares. The
bitches were dug. and the six-inch pipe
was distributed along the line There
it lay for a few days. when the engin-
GERS determined to put down eight
inch pipe in Bolivar street. This ulti-
mately was done, but the six-inch pipe
is still lying on the surface. and the
cost of its distribution and collection.
with the consequent breakage. appears
TO be an unnecessary expense. A lit.
tie forethought, such as would have
been exercised by private contractor.
would have saved the government con.
siderable money.
j. \. Bailey of Amesbury. Mass, a
water works engineer, who was in
charge of laying of Panamas big out
let sewer pipe, is my authority for
startling story, that l verified from
Dtn9r unofficial sources Here is what