The Grenada sentinel., 1906-12-22


ordinary day faborers are also good
Work Of Construction.
But thousands of those who are
prought over under contract Cat our
expense) go off into the jungle to live,
Hir iv ioat sstar AROUND tba Colon or work SO bad
as TO cause a serious diminution of
Ine amount OF labor performed on FRI
onsstad ons ana Saturday OF each week. l
as maaS to Se Sendoss CT fhsss o her
worn; Work and what II any changes. they
vWlsned. l received many complaints
thm thom them; but as regards most of
tnese complaints they themselves con-
.raaoIcted one another. =. In all cases
where the complaint was as to their
on o,ea atment by any individual 1T proved
Was Was himself West India man of color.
either policeman, a storekeeper. or
an an assistant storekeeper. Doubtless
tnere must be many complaints against
did diHdierlcahs; ; but those to whom l spoke
oid not happen to make any such COM
paint to me.
., The work is now going on with a
vlgor and efficiency pleasant to wit
canal are the La Boca dams, the Gatun
dam, and the Culebra cut. The Guile
~ osa cut must be made. anyhow; but
az az course changes as to the dams, or
~ ieast as to. the locks adjacent to
me oams, may still occur. The La
boca ioca dams offer no particular prob
ennd eea; me. the bottom material being so
~; not merely as to what can be
achieved but as to the time Of achieve
ment. The Gatun dam offers the most
solwe selious pr problem which we have to
lsthmns believe that this problem is
certain OF solution along the lines
proposed; although, of course, it ne
tfeiHISi.ates teiI; great toll, energy. and in
course, there will be some little risk
In connection with the work. The risk
arises al ses,d from the fact that some of the
good as could be desired. If the huge
earth dam now contemplated is thrown
across from one foothiH to the other
ITv Iaw VIII nave what. is practically. a
Wnich Will rise the inland, lake. This
artlhciaI mountain will probably show
Iess seepage. that is. will have greater
resttraining ret capacity than the average
canty or the locks at this dam-as at
the other dams-is now being de-
,rn ,1rerfmined: n In April next Secretary
eeers of the country-Messrs. Noble,
Stearns and Ripley-will visit the
lsthmus, and the three engineers will
make the final and conclusive exami-
nations as to the exact site for each
lock. Meanwhile the work is going
ahead without break.
Ihe Culebra cut does not offer such
occur from occasional land slips will not
what may be called major dis |
isters. The work will merely call for in |
-elhgence, perseverance, and executive |
which most labor will have to be spent |
The dams will be composed of the earth |
AIKEN out OF the cut and very possibly |
he building of the locks and dams will |
axe even longer than the cutting in |
Culebra itself.
In CuIebra Cut.
The main work is now being done in |
he Culebra cut. It was striking and /
to see the huge steam shovels
n full play, the dumping trains carrying
way the rock and earth they dislodged. |
'he, implements of French excavating
nachlnery which often stand a little
client construction, look like the veriest
oys when compared with these new
team shovels. just as the French dump
1g cars seem like toy cars when COM
umped by steam plows. which are now
l use. This represents the enormous
dvance that has been made in machin-
ry during the past quarter of CEN
ence this new machinery, Of which we
re now SO proud, will similarly seem out
T date, but it is certainly serving its
ad to be entirely discarded. We still
ave in use a few of the more modern,
ut not most modern, cars, which hold /
Dyed on certain lines with sharp |
,rves. But the recent cars hold from :
to 80 yards apiece, and instead of the I
d clumsy methods OF unloading them, G
the whole vestibuled train, thus i'm
ensely economizing labor. In the rainy t
ason the steam shovels can do but
tie in dirt, but they work steadily in '
ok and in the harder ground. There +
ere some 2a at work during the time l | r
as on the tsGt-snus, and their tremendous +
wer and efficiency were most impress t
New Records for Excavation. $
As soon as the type of canal was de- '
led this work began in good earnest. Y
he rainy season will shortly be over and i
en- there will be an immense increase in b
e amount taken out; but even during t
last three months, in the rainy sea- V
n, steady. progress is shown by the V
ures: In August, 242, 900 cubic yards; p
September. 291 900 cubic yards, and in C
tober, $4,000 cubic yards. In October a
W records were established for the p
tput of individual shovels as we'll as d
'tves / hope to see the growth of a tt
althy spirit of emulation between the s.
ferent shovel and locomotive crews, a
tile ships between the different gun c;
,ws in matters of craftsmanship | c:
ssing through the cut the amount of it
e place the entire side of a hill had W
I'll taken out recently by q tons OF
namite, which We're exploded at one
st. At another place l was given a
salute of q charges of dyna- CT
te. On the top notch of the Culebra "
the prism is now wide as it will Ell
all told, the canal bed at this point al
3 now been sunk about 200 feet below m
at it originally was 1t will have to e2
sunk about 130 feet farther. Through bt
the cut the drilling, blasting, shovel 81
and hauling are going on with con-
ntly increasing energy, the huge ST
'vels being pressed up, as if they were w
untain howitzers, into the most un- til
ely looking places, where they eat til
ir way into the hillsides. pr
Railway Improvements. at
he most advanced methods, not only 10 10
but in railroad manage ru @
at, have been applied in the zone, ar
cost This has been shown in the lie
ldling of the tonnage from ships into ir'
S, and from cars into ships on the &c, co
lama railroad, where, thanks largely :
the efficiency of General Manager q"
rd, the saving in time and cost has
n noteworthy. My examination tend 4
to show that some of the departments
doubtless necessarily become over of
eloped, and could now be reduced or ; ;S
ordinated without impairment of eff fe
ICY and with a saving of cost. The tb
irman of the commission, Mr.. Shonts | sh h
all matters of this kind constantly b;1
yiew, and is now reorganizing the gov fo,
ment of the zone, so as to make the | 81.
N of administration both more flexible IIrr'
less expensive, subordinating every n on
lg to direct efficiency with a view to a. -
work of the canal commission. From | g.
q to time changes of this kind will un- W