The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-12-18


struetion, look like The veriest toys when
/ compared with these new steam shOvels
/ Just as the French dumping ears seem
/ Ike 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 ia machinery during the
/ past quarter Of a century. No doubt
4 quarter OF century hence this new ma
! cAlnery. or which we are now so proud
will similarly seem out of date. but 1t is
certainly serving its purpose we'll now
| Tie old French cars had to be entirely
/ discarded. We still have in use a few Of
me more modern, but not most modern
cars. which hold but twelve yards OF
earth They can be employed on certain
lines with sharp curves. But the recent
ears hold from twenty-five 10 thirty yards
apiece, and instead Of the old clumsy
methods Of unloading them, a steam piOw
/ is drawn from end 20 end Of the whole
Vestibuied train, thus immensely econo-
MIXING labor. In the rainy season the
steam sh0ves can do but little in dirt,
but they work steadily in rock. and in
the harder ground. There We're SOME
twenty-five at work during the time I
was on the isthmus, and their tremen-
dous power and efficiency We're most inn
pressive.
New Records for Excavation.
As soon as the type Of canal was de-
cided this work began in good earnest
The rainy season viii 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
I Fn & :.
In September, 81 $50 cubic yards. and in
October $1,000 cubic yards In October
new records We're established for the out
put of individual shovels as well as for
the tonnage haul Of individual locomo-
lives l hope % see the growth Of a
healthy spirit Of emulation between the
different shovel and locomotive crews.
just such spirit as mas grown on cur
battle ships between the different gun
crews IN matters Of craftsmanship. Pass
ing through the cut the amount Of new
work can be seen at glance. In one
place the entire side OF a hill had been
taken out recently by twenty-seven tons
OF dynamite. which were exploded AT
one blast AT another place 1 was given
a Presidential salute OF twenty-one
charges of dynamite on the TOP notch Of
the Culebra cut the prism Is now as
wide as it win be; all told, The canal bed
az this point has now been sunk about
Zb feet below what IL originally was IT
VIII have t. be sunk about 100 feet
farther. Throughout the cut the drilling
blasting, shoveling. and hauling are go
ing on with constantly increasing energy.
the huge shovels being pressed Up. as u
they were mountain howitzers. into the
most unlikely looking places where they
eat their way into the hillsides.
Hallway improvements.
The most advanced methods not only
10 construction, bat 80 railroad manage
ment. have been applied in the zone,
with corresponding economies in time and
cost. This has been shown in the hand
ling Of the tonnage from ships into cars.
and from cars into ships on the Panama
Railroad, where. thanks largely 10 the
efficiency OF General Manager Bierd. the
saving h. time and cost has been note
worthy. Ny examination tended to show
that some of the departments had doubt
less necessarily become overdeyeloped.
and could now be reduced or sub0rdi-
mated without impairment Of efficiency
and with saving Of cost The chairman
Of the commission. Alr. Sh0nts. has all
matters of this kind constantly tn view. /
and is now reorganizing the government
of the zone. 50 as to make the form Of
administration both more flexible and I
less expensive, subordinating everything
10 direct efficiency with a view to the I
work IF the Canal Commission. From
time 90 time changes Of this kind will uu-
doubleday have To- be made, for il must
be- remembered that i'm this giant work OF
construction il lis continually necessary
10 develop departments OF bureaus. which
are vital for the time being. but whicn
soon become useless. Just as II viii be
continually necessary 10 put up buildings. I
and eveh 10 erect towns, which In ten
years VIII once more give place 10 /
jungle, or viii then be at the bottom of 4
the great lakes at the ends Of the canal /
Critics and Doubling ThOmases.
II is not only natural. but inevitable 1
that q work as gigantic as this which /
has been undertaken on the isthmus 4
should arouse every species of hostility .
and criticism. The conditions are so new
and SO trying, and the work so vast. that
it would be absolutely out of the ques-
ton that mistakes should not be made
Checks viii occur. Unforeseen difficulties
viii arise. From time to time seemingly \
well-settied plans VIII have To be changed.
At present $500 men are engaged on the
task. After a while the number gilI be
doubled. In such a multitude il is in
evitable that there should be here and
there a sc0usdrel Very many of the
poorer class Of !aborers lack the mental
development 10 protect themselves against
folly. and it is not possible for human
wisdom to devise a plan by which they
can invariably be protected in "a place
which has been for ages a by-w0rd for
and with so large a CON
gregation of strangers suddenly put down
and set to hard work there viii now and
then De outbreaks OF disease. There VIII
now and then be shortcomings in admin
strati0n; there viii be unlooked-f0r ac-
cidents to delay the excavation of the cut
pr the building Of the dams and locks
Each such incident viii be entirely nat
Iral, and, even though serious. no one of
hem viii mean more than a little extra
delay or trouble. Yet each. when discov-
cred by sensation mongeTS and retailed 10
imid folk Of little faith, viii serve as
an excuse FOR The belief that the whole
work is being badly managed. Expert Z
nents VIII continually be tried in housing.
n hygiene, in street repairing. in dredg-
ng, and in digging earth and rock Now
and then an experiment Will be a failure:
md among those who hear OF it, a GER {
ain proportion of doubling Th0mases
viii at once believe that the whole work \
s a failure. Doubtless here and there |
ome minor Iascality VIII be uncovered:
lut as to this. I have 60 say that after l
he most painstaking inquiry / have been I
Unable to find a single reputable person J
Who had so much as heard OF any SER !
Gus accusations affecting the honesty of
he commission or Of any responsible Off q