The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-12-18

business Is to dig the canal as effi
GENTLY and as quickly as possible;
provided always that nothing is done
that Is inhumane to any laborers, and
nothing that interferes with the wages
or lowers the standard Of living of our
ovn workmen. Having in view this
principle. have arranged to try sew.
eral thousand Chinese laborers. This
Is desirable both because we must try
to find out what laborers are most
efficient, and, furthermore. because We
should not leave ourselves at the
mercy of any one type Of foreign la
Dor. At present the great bulk Of the
unskilled labor on the isthmus Is done
by West Indian negroes. chiefly from
Jamaica. Barbados and the other Eng
fish possessions One of the govern.
ors OF the lands in question has shown
an unfriendly disposition to our work
and mas thrown obstacles in the way
OF our getting the labor needed; and 1t
Is highly undesirable tn give any out.
sfders the impression. however Ill
founded. that they are indispensable
and can dictate terms to us.
The West India laborers are fairly,
but only fairly, satisfactory. Some Of
the men do very well indeed; the bet.
ter class, who are to be found as FORE
men. as skilled mechanics. as police
men, are good men; and many of the
ordinary day laborers are also good.
But thousands Of those who are
brought over under contract Cat our
eXpense) so off into the jungle to live,
or loaf around Colon, or work so badly
after the first three or four days as to
cause a serious diminution of the
amount of labor performed on Friday
and Saturday of each week.
The negroes generally do their own
cooking in sheds provided by the gov.
eminent. but believe that ultimately
the government itself must feed them.
Work Of Construction.
have now dealt with the hygienic
conditions which make it possible to
employ great force of laborers, and
with the task of gathering. housing
and feeding these laborers. There re.
mains to consider the actual work
which has to be done: the work be.
cause of which these laborers are gath
cred together-the work of construct
ing the canal. This Is under the di.
rect control Of the chief engineer, Mr..
Stevens. who has already shown ad.
mirable results. and whom we can
safely trust to achieve similar results
in the future.
The work Is now going on with a
vigor and efficiency pleasant to wit.
ness. The three big problems Of the
canal are the La Boca dams. the Gatun
dam and the Culebra cut The Guile.
bra cut must be made. anyhow: but of
course changes as to the dams, or at
least to the locks adjacent to the dams,
may still occur. The La Boca dams
offer no problem. the bottom material
being so good that there is 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 that we have
to solve; and yet the ablest men on
the isthmus believe that this problem
Is certain Of solution along the lines
proposed; although, of course, it me-
cessitates great toll, energy and intelli-
gence, and although equally. of course,
there will be some little risk in con.
nectioI with the work. The risk arises
from the fact that some Of the mate.
rial near the bottom is not so good as
could be desired. II the huge earth
dam now contemplated Is thrown
across from one foothill to the other
We will have what is practically low,
broad, mountain ridge behind which
will rise the inland lake. This artif.
cial mountain will probably show less
seepage, that is. will have greater re.
straining capacity than the average
natural mountain range. The exact To-
callty Of the locks at this dam-as at
the other dams-is now being deter
mined. 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 ia 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 represent what may be called ma.
lor 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 COM
posed of the earth taken out of the
cut and very possibly the building Of
the locks and dams will take even
longer than the cutting in Culebra
itself.
Main Work at cuIebra.
The main work is now being done In
the Cuiebra cut. 1t was striking and
impressive to see the huge steam show.
els in full play, the dumping trains car
rying away the rock and earth they
dislodged. In the rainy season the
steam shovels can do but little in dirt.
but they work steadily in rock and in
the harder ground. There were some
twenty-five at work during the time
was on the isthmus and their tremen-
dous power and efficiency were most
impressive.
AS soon as the type of canal was de-
cided this work began in good earnest
The rainy season will shortly be over
and then there will be an immense in
crease in the amount taken out; but
even during the last three months, in
the rainy season, steady progress is
shown by the figures: In August 240;
900 cubic yards, in September 291, 900