The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1906-12-19

bltdh.
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.
Tor 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 Culebra cut. 1t was striking and
impressive to see the huge steam shov.
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 l
was on the isthmus and their tremen-
dous power and efficiency most
impressive.
AS o 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
V en during the last three months. in
the rainy season, steady progress Is
chOu,~ nv. %ho GupVoc. In A,,uuct On.
900 cubic yards. In September 100000
cubic yards and in October $4,000
cubic yards. Passing through the cut
the amount Of new work can be seer
at a glance. In n place the entire
side Of a hill had been taken out re.
Gently BY twenty-seven tons OF dyna-
mite. which were exploded at one
blast. On the top notch Of the Culebra
cut the prism is now as wide as it
will be: all told, the canal bed at this
point has now been sunk about 200
feet below what 1t originally was. 1t
will have to be sunk about $50 feet
farther. Throughout the cut the drill
ing. blasting. shoveling and hauling
are going on with constantly increas-
ing energy. the huge shovels being
pressed up. as If they were mountain
howitzers, into tho most unlikely look
ing places, where they eat their way
into the hillsides.
Critics and Doubling Thomases.
1t is not only natural. but inevita.
bic, that a work as gigantic as this
which has been undertaken IN the
isthmus should arouse every species
of hostility and criticism. The condi-
tons are SO new and SO trying and
the work so vast that it would be alb
solutely out of the question that mis-
takes should not be made. Checks
will occur. Unforeseen difficulties will
arise. From time to time seemingly
well settled plans will have to be
changed. AT present $4,000 men are
engaged on the task. After Il while
the number will be doubled. In sucn
a multitude it is inevitable that there
should be here and there Il %scoundrel.
Very many of the poorer class of la
bOrers lack the mental development to
protect themselves against either the
rascality of others or their own folly
and it Is not possible for human wis
dom to devise a plan by which they
can invariably be protected. In Il
place which has beer for ages a by
word for unhealthfulness and with so
large a congregation Of strangers sud
denly put down and set to hard work
there will now and then be outbreaks
Of disease. There will now and then
1n ShncfOntN{V 90 In njyyini tIn ian .
there will be unlocked for accidents
to delay the excavation of the cut or
the building of the dams and locks.
Each such incident will be entirely
natural and. eve though serious. no
one of them will mean more than a
little extra delay or trouble. Yet
each, when discovered by sensation
moniers and retailed to timid folk of
little faith. will serve as an excuse for
the belief that the whole work Is be-
ing badly managed. Experiments will
| continually be tried In housing, ny
| gione. In street repairing, in dredging
and In digging earth and rock. Now
and then an experiment will be a fail
ure: and among those who hear of it
a certain proportion of doubling
Thomases will at nee believe that
the whole work Is a failure. Doubt
less here and there some minor ras'
cality will be uncovered; but as to
this | have to say that after the most
painstaklng inquiry I have been un
able to find a single reputable person
who had so much as heard OF any
serious accusations affecting the hon
esty OF the commission or Of any re
sponsible officer under It. I append
letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that OF the ownership OF lots
In Colon: the charge was not ad
vanced by a reputable man and Il
utterly baseless. 1t Is not too much It
say that the whole atmosphere OF thu
commission breathes honesty as l
breathes efficiency and energy. Above
all the work has been kept absolutel.
clear OF politics. | have hear(
eve a suggestion Of spells politics II
connection with 1t.
ovn vt{~nt~1 o,o~, oo,,,loin