Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-12-21
CANAL BUILDERS REPORT
Isthmian Commission Tells Secretary Of
War What it Has Done,
sTEGosENA IS COMPLETELY ROUTED
Negroes Are Not satisfactory work
men, but spaniards Seem to Do
the work I'm Better
style.


WASHINGTON, Dec. 20.-The annual re-
port OF the Isthmian Canal commission to
the secretary of wa- under date oof De-
cenlber & was made public today. 1t Says
in part;
During the year the frst stage Of canal
work, that of preparation, has virtually
been past and the commission hnds Itself
IN position to enter upon the second stage,
that Of actual const. uction Of a lock canal
at an elevation Of eight-tive feet. author
lzed by congress in June last.
OF these two stages the hrst was at once
the more dihcult and the more important.
II not done Thoroughly ami ,ntelligenuy in
every part the actual WORK OF construction
would be handicapped from the sJaIt.
The work Of sanitation throughout the
canal zone has been continued with great
energy during the year The most serious
problem that confronted the health depart
msnt when II was organized two yea ago
was the elimination OF yellow fever, watch
had been an important factor in the failure
OF the French company and was regarT ed
as one Of the most formidable obstacles TO
American success. This obstacle has been
completely removed. Although there has
never been SO large a number OF nOn-im-
munes on the isthmus as during the last
year, there has not been a single well-au-
thenticated case Of yellow fever during that
period.
Great progress has been made during the
( last year in providing for the welfare anu
comfort Of the employees. The commission
/ now mas sufficient buildings to provide
quarters for all It's bachelor emplOyes.
/ These buildings are screened and provided
/ almost universally with running water ana
with modern plumbing, and are comt urtably
furnished. In addition TO these buildings,
/ 335 separate houses and thirteen la. ger
, buildings have been constructed for mar led
; quarters. providing accommodations TOR go
families. There are still many married men,
/ however, for whom no quarters al 9 avail
able. but upon the comple icn of the houses
now authorized these Will De provided LOT.
I There are now approximately LOO Ameri-
/ can women and children on the isthmus
In November, 1855, the commissions em-
4 DlOVeg numbered auDrOElmalelE lltUti, ana
1 in November, 1896, the number was pracu-
cally the same. OF these, lisp were under
the department of construction and engi-
neering; liz under the division Of material
and supplies; 2z9l under the department or
government and sanitation and l3i IN the
auditing and disbursinE offices.
OF the 1900 men, about 800 We're on the
gold rolls, virtually all white Americans
and 1880 on the silver rolls, mainly Aliens.
This nJfmber does not include 400 people
employed on the Panama railroad
Negroes Not satisfactory.
Another years experience with negro
laborers from nearby tropical Islands and
OF the impossibilty of doing satisfactory
work with them. Not only do they seem
ity, but their disposition 10 LABOR seems
to be frail as their bodily strength.
Few OF them are steady workers. The ma
jority of them work Just long enough TO
get money 10 supply their actual bodily
necessities, with the result that while the
commission is uuartering and caring for
about 25,000 men the daily effective force
Is many thousands less. Many OF them
settle in the jungle, building little Snacks,
working only a day or Two occasionally
as they see at In this way, by getting
taway from the commission quarters
practical control over them Is lost, anu
Il becomes very difficult for tOremen to
calculate keeping their gangs filled.
/ The most serious question in regard to
this class OF laborers is that OF feeding
them, ordinary methods having failed TO
induce them to take sufficient nourfshmeut
! To trfrv Ia nhvgtral gfrnuurh
I sary to enable them 70 work efficiently.
To such extent is this true that the
| commission is seriously debating whether
| to make the basis OF employment a certain
rate per hour and board, or "A certain rate
per hour and deduct a fixed amount per
The experiment with laborers from north
ern Spain has proved very satisfactory.
} Their efficiency is not only more than
double that OF the negroes, but they stand
the climate much better Since January
,d / there have been about 900 of these al
work on the canal, and OF this number
/ not one has died from disease. They have
malaria in about the same degree the
white Americans, but not at all to the
extent that the negroes have it, and there
has not been single case Of yellow fever
among them. Their general condition is
about as good II was in their homes
In Spain, and they stand the climate very
much better than the negroes The chie1
that 'any white man, so-calIed undeI
the same conditions, will stand the climate
! on the isthmus very much better than the
.
! fIJm practically everything. but who
matter Of fact, are subject 70 almos
% everything"
Work and Supplies.
The report then deals with the engineer
ing work and the railroad. reaching fact
heretofore given, and continues:
The practice established in the spring o
! 1905 OF calling for bids on materials anC
o supplies on the basis OF the price cover
, ing delivery on the istbmus has been con
4 country equal opportunity for bidding 9I
{ the materials needed, so that the manu-
q tacturers railroads ana steamship lines II
each section and through eacu port ma
= figure or the business on a combination
It OF prices and rates.
4 The general purchasing officer is locate,
at Washington, with assistant purchasing
$ and shipping agents at New York. Ney
orleans, san ticl5So &C. Sjo,,, I ac-,s =.
commission inviting bids on materials dis
: tributed from the otfices named, an ar
J. rangement was made early In the year ais
to have them distributed through the OF
1ces OF the quart ermasters OF the army
= Chicago, st LOUIS JeIIefs9hVlle. mo. IN
!. Atlanta, Ga. The advertisements OF IN
= commission show where its circulars IN
a viting bids may be obtained, and he az
n rangement made for distributing them en-
r ables all persons desiring to bid to obtai
i them within a short time after they ar
+ me total amount OF purchases made 70
the year ended June 30 1906 was 1918
y. isa.O5.
II Division OF work
D. The report then recited the plans ar
& proved by congress and work done unde
% them: the decision TO build canal by cor
m tract and the reorganization OF the boar
IT decreed by the president during his recer
e visit TO the zone, saying
~ The work Is now divided among th
- following departments: The department q
III engineering ard construction, the depar
~ ment Of law and government. the depar
y msnt OF sanitation. the auditing depar
=. ueeNr the purchasing department. the dis
bursting department and the department
Iabor quarters and subsistence. The hea
z ~ each department il rendered directl
"a respCnsible for the work carried on und'
=, MS direction They are all appointed
and report directly 20 the chairman ot tf
40 commission. who, in turn, is responsible
81 tFa president through the secretary
~ war for the conduct Of the enterprise as
a. whole.
az Included as exhibits Is the report of Il
is Governor OF the canal zone and the reDo
X az the chief engineer. The former, signs
n bv Charles E. Magoon tells Of relation
"a with the governor OF Panama, the restri
don OF immigration, internal Affairs qua
=, aptine. sanitation, revenues and iudiciar
N ON the subject OF schools, after giving q
--r.a ,,,rpfTe az last reuorf as T1g vii