The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-12-17

ment should do the main work. Any
thing done for the welfare Of the men
RGds to their efficiency, and money de-
voted TO that purpose is therefore prop
erly to be considered as spent In build
Ing the canal | call the special atten
ton OF congress to this need
This gathering. distributing and car
ing for the great force or laborers are
among the giant features Of the work.
The astonishing thing Is that the work
has been performed so we'll and that
the machinery runs SO smoothly. From
my own experience / am able to say
that more care has been exercised Ia
housing, feeding ana generally paying
heed to the needs Of the skilled me-
chanics and ordinary laborers in the
work on this canal than is the case
In the construction Of new railroads or
In any other similar private or public
work in the United States proper
The Work of Contraction.
There remains to consider the actual
work for which these laborers are
gathered together. This IS under the
direct control Of Chief Engineer Ste
vens, who has already shown admirable
results and whom we can safely trust
to achieve similar results in the future.
The three big problems OF the canal
are the La Boca dams, the Gatun dam
and the Culebra cut.
In Cuiebra Cut.
The main work Ii now being done In
the Culebra cut 1t was striking and
impressive TO see the huge steam shov-
els in full play, the dumping trains
carrying away the rock and earth they
dislodgcd, The implements Of French
excavatIng machinery, though OF ex-
cellent construction, look like the verb
est toys wien 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 which
are now In use. This represents the
enormous advance that has been made
in machinery during the past quarter
century. The old French cars had to
be entirely discarded. The new cars
hold from twenty-five to thirty yards
apiece, and instead Of the old clumsy
methods Of unloading them steam
pillow Is drawn from end to end Of the
whole vestibuled train, immensely
economIzing labor.
AS soon as the type OF canal was de-
cided this work began Ia good earnest.
The rainy season viii shortly be over,
and then there win be an immense in
crease In the amount taken out. but
even during tie last three months
steady progress Is shown by the fig
ures: In August, 242 900 cubic yards;
lin September 2a1 900 cubic yards, and
In October, 325.o00 cubic yards. hope
TO see the growth of healthy spirit Of
emulation between the different shovel
and locomotive crews. Just such q
spirit as has grown on our battleships
between the different gun crews IN
matters Of Workmanship. Passing
through the cut the amount OF new
work can be seen CT a glance. In one
place the entire side Of hiIl had been
taken out recently by twenty-seven
tons Of dynsmite. which were exploded
at one blast On the top notch of the
Culebra cut the prism Is now as wide
as Il will be- All told, the canal bed
at this point has now been sunk about
200 feet below what 1t originally was.
It will have 10 be sunk about 1870 feet
farther Throughout the cut the drill
Ing. blasting, shovellng and hauling
are going on with constantly incrcas-
Ing energy, the huge shovels being
pressed up as IL they were mountain
howltzers into the most unlikely look
Ing places, where they eat their way
into the hllsides
.4-@..A
Plaa 60 Guild by Contract.
After most careful consideration we
hsve decided to LET out most of the
work BY contract II we can come to
satisfactory terms with the contract
ors. The whole work is OF a kind
suited TO the peculiar genius OF our
people. and our people have developed
the type OF contractor best fitted TO
graphic with It. After much consid-
Grafton the plan already promulgated
By the secretary Of war was adopted
This plan was drafted hy Chief Engi-
neer Stevens, was submitted to the
chairman OF the commission, Mr..
Shonts. who went over II with Mr..
Rogers. the legal adviser OF the com
mission, ard copies were then sub
mltted to both Secretary Taft and my
self. Secretary Taft submitted it to
some Of the best council at the New
York bar. and afterward I went over
IT very carefully with Mr. Taft and
Mr.. shonts, and we laid the plan be-
fore Mr. Root. My conclusion Is that
Il combines the maximum Of advan-
tage with the minimum Of disadvan-
tase. Under It premium win be put
upon the speedy and economical con-