Gilpin observer., 1906-12-20

ter class. who are to be found as fore
men, as skilled mechanics. as police
men men: are good men; and many of , the
Work of Construction.
But thousands of those who are
brought over under contract (at our
exp,ense) go off into the jungle to live,
" aff"r th" first three or f"nr davs
as to cause a serious diminution of
the amount of labor performed on Fri
day and Saturday of each week. l
questioned many of these Jamaica
laborers as to the condto ons of their
work and what. if any changes, they
from them. but regards most of
these complaints they themselves con-
tradlcted one another. In all cases
where the complaint was as to their
treatment by any individual 1t proved
on examination that this individual
was himself West India man of color.
an assistant storekeeper. Doubtless
there must be many complaints against
Americans; but those to whom / spoke
did not happen to make any such COM
plant to me.
The work is now going on with
vgsr vigor and and efficiency pleasant to wit,
canal are the La Boca dams. the Gatun
dam. and the Culebra cut. The Cuie-
bra cut must be made. anyhow; but
of course changes as to the dams. or
at least as to the locks adjacent to
the dams may still occur. The La
Boca dams offer no particular prob
lem. the bottom material being so
good that there is a practical certain
ty. not merely as to what can be
achieved. but as to the time of achieve
ment. The Gatun dam offers the most
serious problem which we have to
solve; and yet the ablest men on the
isthmus believe that this problem is
certain of solution along the lines
proposed; although. of course. IL ne
cessitates great toll. energy. and in
flIl loo -
course. there will be some little risk
in connection with the work. The risk
rises from the fact that some of the
material near the bottom is not so
good as could be desired. If the huge
earth dam now contemplated is thrown
across from one foothill to the other
we Will have what is practically a
low. broad. mountain ridge behind
which Will rise the inland lake. This
artihcial mountain will probably show
Tess see page. that is. viii have greater
restraining capacity than the average
natural mountain range. The exact To-
cality of the locks at this dam--as at
termined. In April next Secretary
Taft, with three of the ablest engin-
Stearns and Ripley-will visit the
sthmus, and the three engineers will
make the final and conclusive exami- :
nations as to the exact site for each
iock. Meanwhile the work is going
ahead without break.
The Culebra cut does not offer such
occur from occasional land slips will not
represent what may be called major dis
isters. The work will merely call for in
eilsence. persev verance, and executive
-apacity. 1t is, however, the work upon
which most labor will have to be spent.
The dams will be composed of the elrth
taken out of the cut and very possibly
The building of the locks and dams will
AXE, even longer than the cutting in
Culebra itself.
In cuIebra Cut.
The main work iS NOW beiru doDa IN,
the Culebra cut. 1t was striking and
Impressive to see the huge steam shovels
way the rock and eIrth they dislodsed.
The implements of French eXcavating
machinery. which often stand little
way from the line of work though of eX-
cellent construction, look like the veriest
-oys when compared with these new
steam shovels. just as the French dump
ng cars seem Ike toy cars when com
Jared with the long trains of huge cars,
Jumped by steam plows, which are now
n use. This represents the enormous
| tdvance that has been made in macnin-
\ cry during the past quarter of a cen
| -ury. No doubt quarter of century
hence this new machinery, of which we
| ire now SO proud, will similarly seem oui
II date. but it is certainly serving its
purpose well now; rhe old FRENCH cars
lad to be entirely discarded. We still
have in use few of the more modern
but not most modern. cars, which hoe
out l2 yards of earth. They can be en-
ployei on certain lines with sharI
surves. But the recent cars hold froI
25 TO 80 yards apiece. and Instead of tn,
| old clumsy methods of unloading them
/ 4 steam plow is drawn from end t. eu.
| Of the whole vestibuled train thug IN
| mensely economizing labor. In the rl.ny
little in dirt. but they work s,eatly in
| rock and in the harder ground There
were some % at work during the time l
| was on the isthmus. and their tremendous
| power and efficiency were most Impress
| sive.
New Records fer Excava.T~.
As soon as the type of canal T-s =.
cided this work began in good S-.,hes,; :, !;
| The rainy season will shortly be 0,Sr afia
;hen there will be an immense ir'c1'S-ise, IN IN
| the amount taken oIt:. but even terIns
the last three months. in The rain: sei, the
| son, steady progress is shown l.y tic c
| figures: In August, 2i2,Cuc cubic ya-dS'
| IN September, 2sl,0t0 cubic yards, ana =
| October. 325.0o0 cubic yards. In October
output of individual shovels well a.
| for the tonnage haul of individual loco
healthy spirit of emulation between tn.
| different shovel and locomotive crews
just such spirit as has grown on OIL
crews in matters of craftsmanship
| Passing through the cut the amount o.
new work can be seen at a glance. II
one place the entire side of q hill hat
been taken out recently by q tons o.
| dynamite. which We're exploded at on,
blast, At another place l was given {
| presidential salute of q charges OF dyna
mite. on the top notch of the Culebrs
cut the prism is now as wide as it viii
be: all told. the canal bed at this poln
has now been sunk about 200 feet below
| what 1t originally was. II will have L
| be sunk about 1870 feet farther. Througn
out the cut the drilling, blasting. shovel
| ing and hauling are going on with con
| stantly increasing energy. the hug,
| shovels being pressed up, as If they wer
| mountain howitzers. into the most un
| likely looking places. where they ea
| their way into the hillsides.
Railway improvements.
The most advanced methods. not onl'
in construction, but in railroad manage,
ment have been applied In the zone
| with corresponding economies in tim
| and cost This has been shown In tn
| handling of the tonnage from ships int
| cars, and from cars into ships ON tn
| Panama railroad. where, thanks largel
TO the efficiency OF General Manage
| Bcrd. the saving in time and cost hu
! been noteworthy. My examination tend
ed to show that some OF the department
| had doubtless necessarily become over
| leNelnped. and cnulI NOW he rnlurDI n