Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1906-12-27

their treatment by any individual II proves
on examination that this individual was
himself a West India man of color. either
a policeman, a storekeAper, or an assistant
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. j was struck by
the superior comfort and respectfully OF
the lives of the married men, 1t would, in
my opinion, be a most admirable thing il a
much larger number of the men had their
wives, for with their advent all complaints
about the food and cooking are almost sure
to cease.
One of the greatest needs at present Is
10 provide amuseaents 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
ready. Anything done for the welfare Of
the men adds to their efficiency and money
devoted to that purpose Is therefore prop
eriy to be considered as spent in building
the canal. 1t is imperatively necessary to
provide ample recreation and amusement
il 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
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
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 18TH
mus believe that this problem is certain of
solution along the lines proposed although,
Of course, it 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 so good as could be
desired. II the huge earth dam now con-
templated 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 dams-is now
being determined. In April next Secretary
Taft. with three of the ablest engineers of
the country-Messrs. Noble, Stearns and
Ripley-will 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 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 repre-
sent what may be called major disasters.
The work will merely call for 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 CulGbra itself.
The main work is now being done in the
Culebra cut. 1t was striking and impress
sive to see the huge steam shovels In full
play, the dumping trains carrying away the
rock and earth they dislodged. TIL imple-
menus of French excavating machinery,
which often stand a 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 OF
huge cars, dumped by steam plows, Whlch
are now in use. This represents the enor-
nous advance that has been made IN ma
chinery during the past quarter OF a cen
tury. No doubt a quarter OF a century
hence this new machinery, of which we are
now SO proud, will similarly seem out Oh
date, but it is certainly serving its pur-
pose well now. The old French cars hau
to be entirely discarded. We still nave IL
use a few of the more modern, but not
most modern, cars, which hold but twelve
yards Of earth. They can be employed on
certain lines with sharp curves. But tne
recent cars hold from twenty-five 10 thirty
yards apiece, and instead of the old clumsy
methods of unloading them, a steam Pho"
is drawn from end to end of the wnole YES
tibuled train, thus immensely econonllzihs
labor. In the rainy season tne steam snoE-
els can do but little in dilt, out they moLh
steadily in rock and in the harder GROUND.
The most advanced methods, not only III
construction, but in railroad management
have been applied in the Zone. with CORE
spending economies in time and cost. Inns
has been shown in the handling OF the
tonnage from ships into cars, and from
ears into ships on the Panama railroad
Scores the Critics.
1t is not only natural, but inevitable,
that a work as gigantic as this when nag
been undertaken on the isthmus should
arouse every species of hostility ana CRU
cism. The conditions are so new ana SO
trying, and the work so vast, that 1t "ouiu
be absolutely out of the question that HIS
takes should not be made. Checks Will oc-
cur. Unforeseen difficulties Will arise:
From time to time seemingly Well-settleu
plans will have to be changed. AT present
%, 900 men are engaged on the task AFTER
a while the number will be doubled. In
such a multitude it is inevitable that tnere
should be here and there a scoundrel. very
many of the poorer class of laborerS lack
the mental development to protect tneih-
selves against either the rascallty OF otIers
or their own folly, and it is not possiole
for human wisdom to devise a plan Dy
which they can invariably be protected. In
a place which has been for ages a byWord
for unhealthfulness, and with so large a
congregation of strangers suddenly put
down and set to hard work there will now
and then be outbreaks of disease. Ihere
will now and then be shortcomings In al
miniStration there will 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 of them
will mean more than a little extra delay
or trouble. Yet each, when discovered by
sensation mongers and retailed to t1m1d
folk of little faith, will serve as an excuse
for the belief that the whole work is being
badly managed. Experiments will c%ontinu-
ally be tried in housing, in hygiene, in
street repairing, in dredging, and in dig
ging earth and rock. Now and then an
experiment will be a failure and among
those who hear of it, a certain proportion
of doubling ThomaSeS will at once believe
that the whole work is a failure. Doubt
less here and there some minor rascality
will be uncovered but az to this, / have
to say that after the most paiDstaking in
quiry | have been unable to end a 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. | investigated
the most serious charge, that of the owner
ship of lots in Colon the charge was not
advanced by a reputable man, and is utter
ly 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
kept absolutely clear of politics. 1 have
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 l have
no concern with them. Where they are
Americans, I feel for them the heartiest
contempt and indignation: because, in a
spirit of wanton dishonesty and malice,
they are trying to interfere with, and lam
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 gut to the credit of Ameri-
ca one of the giant feats of the ages. The
outrageous accusations of these slanderers
constitute a gross libel upon a body of
public servants who, for trained intelli-
gence, expert ability, high character and
devotion to duty, have never been excelIed
anywhere. There is not a 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 fa laf ont r1acf of +ho Wv nv