The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-08-16
TELLS OF TIE sic DITCH
Former FairnoGter, Row an Engineer
on the Panama Canal Con-
struCtion, Writes
Z. Z. Mari. AtEorleL.


/ My Dear Fred-Do not think by my
long silence that have forgotten you,
/ for such could not be because I often
think OF You and the little star lectures
that yyu, Bill Rowland and Wilbur
Hennen were prone to give me, Lut I
am quite philosophical and forgive You
all.
/ I promised you in my last letter that
/ would some time in the future give
you some detailed information about
this g At ditch that we are digging
down J. ce. Now, there is So much to
say &.,ut this quaint old country, its
inhabitants, its products and this wen
derfUl piece Of construction work chat
our country has undertaken, that l
scarce know where To begin, but if
/ you'll be liberal critic III try and give
you some interesting facts concerning
this vast piece Of engineering.
There IS no doubt but what the 18th
mus Of Panama is Of volcanic formation
and eminent geologists inform US that
they have indisputable evidence that at
one prehistoric time the two great
oceans We're connected almost exactly
where the canal is now being dug, fer
the truthfulness of this we are obliged
to accept their investiga tons and re-
search as being authentic To bear this
out the soil is of an alluvial nature and
but little rock is found, save in the
backbone of the small mountain range
that necessitates Culebra cut; also we
have evidence Of several severe shocks
that have been felt since the building of
the Panama railroad in 1883.
These facts furnish the foundation
for the argument against the type Of
canal adopted by the commission, but
those opposing the type of canal forget
that the same agencies that would de-
stroy lock canal wouldundoubtedly,de-
stroy a sea level canal. wish to state
right here thata lock canal inmy opinion
is the only feasible proposition for our
government to have entertained, but
we shall not discuss that question at
this particular iuncture
As told you before we have two de-
/ cided seasons, the wet and the dry, the
former lasting about eight months and
the latter four months. There is no
exact time for the beginning and end
ing Of these seasons, but usually the wet
season begins about April 1st and lasts
until December list, with almost daily
rains, with the exception Of what is
/ Hnown as the semi~dry season, which
| usually lasts for ten days or two weeks
/ i'm May, when we have but little rain
/ fall, but after this period has passed it
/ rPins without any effort. I've seen it
rain so hard that you could not see the
outlines Of buildings 100 feet away.
/ THE approximate amount Of rain fall
| per annum is 1870 inches, so you readily
sRe that this feature is q decided handi-
g. p to the construction of the canal
aust imagine "a vast hot-bed like this
country is comparable to with tempera-
tire Of 50 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit
Continuously, and you necessarily will
have rapid growth as we'll as rapid de-
composition of vegetable matter, which
is productive Of a virulent poison in
s me form or another, and you might
take all the quinine from Jamaica to
Guatemala and you viii not stamp out
malaria, and as a gentle reminder that
W. are in tropical country we have
or some occasions had yellow fever,
smallpox and Bubonic plague. | am
in formed that we now have 80 cases of
smallpox in Colon, but they are under
the close supervision Of our more than
pc rfect and vigilent sanitary depart
m int and there is no danger of the dis
ca Sc spreading or reaching the inhabi-
ia pts Of the Canal Zone
| suppose the idea of finding or dig
gibg a connection between the two
ock bans dates as far back as when Bal
boa discovered the Pacific ocean, am
INCLINED to think that this great explorer
WIS trying to find some natural passage
WHY and must have meandered up the
Chagres river until the Pacific hove in
sight.
m informed that the first actual sur
veE was made for a canal in 1881 and
since then some 25 or 80 projects have
been made but the actual execution Of
the proposed proposition began to take
form in 1879 when French scientists
and capitalists headed by NJ. de Lesseps
started active operations Of course
vola are familiar with their history.
! THEY failed in 1890 or 1891 and shortly
/ thereafter the new French company was
formed that purchased all their rights,
privileges and machinery, which in due
til ne was taken over by the United
! SD ates government for the payment of
! 70 rty million dollars. Our government
al 80 paid the Republic of Panama ten
m Iillion dollars for what is now the canal
zcPne, a strip ten miles wide and extend
! inlg across the Isthmus in a north
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