Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-29
Senator Joseph II. Willard.

Senator Joseph n. Willard.
shows that Congress intended that should
be the type, although the authority to de-
eide conferred upon the President.
The minority says:
The President having taken the advice
of competent engineers and of the canal
commission, has recommended that ii Is adj
visable to construct lock canal" The
minority declares that the only question
presented is whether Congress shall annul
the action of the President. or shall simply
hold its hand and allow the President to
exercise the power which has heretofore
been conferred upon him.
The canal type proposed by the minority
of the board of consulting engineers is the
lock canal, which is the type favored by
the minority of the Senate committee The
report argues that the plan is well bal
anced, for II will take just about the same
time to construct the dam, excavate for the
locks and build the locks as II does to make
the needed excavation through the Cuiebra
cut, a period of not more than seven and
a half years Everything else to be done
the three dams forming Lake Sosa the dam
and lock at Pedro Miguel-can be COM
pleted well within this time. The cost OF the
canal is $40, 000O00 This includes every
thing but the sanitation, and it of course
includes the equipment already purchased
and preparation for construction already
made"
The Gatun Dam.
The central feature of the plan is the dam
and locks at Gatun, and the minority says
the evidence is overwhelming that the
dam will be as firm as the everlasting
hills. Testimony of engineers is quoted to
refute the criticisms of the dam.
In answer to objections to the scheme of
having locks placed in fight, the minority
says they are placed Immediately together
so that vessel can move from the water
at highest level in one lock Immediately
into the low level of the next lock Locks
thus arranged In flight or In steps so to
speak are well-known devices In lock con-
struction, and are no more OF an experiment
than a single lock" 1t is argued that the
500 canal demonstrates that IL is entirely
possible to install and maintain a system
of lock machinery which will work with
the utmost smoothness, and that the liza
bility of accident is practically excluded
The criticisms of w. Henry Hunter, chief
engineer OF the Manchester ship canal, are
referred to extreme statements" and
the report charges that the accidents at
that canal were because sufficient pre-
cautions and instrumentalities" have not
been adopted, such as have prevented SINH
lar accidents in the 500 canal.
Change to Sea-Level Canal.
Transformation of a lock system into a
sea-evel one, the report says could be er-
fected without interfering with the traffic
in the lock canal The cost OF such trans
100000. The cost OF maintenance OF the
lock canal is estimated at $500, 900 year.
A large part of the report is devoted TO
objections to the sea-level canal, chief of
which, it says, is the problem OF control
ling the waters of the Chagres river This
is done by the construction of several big
dams, but, in spite of these, said the
minority, current of carrying force would
be made in the sea-level canal between
ODiSDO and the shores IiTDnp h.
sea-level canal, says the report, will have
nineteen curves of 597 degrees curvature,
while the Suez. OF twice the length, has
only fifteen curves of 46712 degrees. The
minority says the length of the curves I'm
the lock canal is only 10 per cent of the
total length of the canal while that of
the sea-level is IS per cent; and while the
degree of curvature is greater in the lock
canal than the sea-level, the curves are
almost wholly In channels, 1000 feet. 500
feet and 800 feet in width in which such
curves have not the slightest effect TO in
crease the dangers of navigation.
Danger From Attempted Destruction.
Concerning the danger TO the lock canal
from malicious mischief and attempted de-
struction in time of war. the minority says
there Is no reason for supposing that neu-
trality will not be accepted by all the
nations of the earth. and that this would
be the most effective way of preventing
injury to the canal 1t is argued that the
sea-level canal with its tidal lock at Sosa
and it's narrow gorge through culebra,
would offer excellent opportunity for de-
struction by explosives.
The danger from earthquakes is not
treated as serious one, the report quot
ing testimony to show that earthquakes
are not Of frequent occurrence at the
isthmus and that violent earthquakes have
never happened at that point.
Incorporated in the report OF the minor
ity are two letters from Frederick p.
Stearns of Boston, one of the American
engineers who signed the report in favor
OF lock canal. and statement by Chas
Derleth jr. professor OF structural engi-
'neering in the University OF California ct
Berkeley, on the subject of earthquake
damage in California recently. The report
saws il was shown that the reservoir dams
and the buildings constructed properly OF
masonry were uninjured; that the many
dams about San Francisco have been exc
anined with the result that Mr.. Stearns
declares that fears expressed for the canal
works at Panama are fanciful in the ex-
IRENE.
Estimates made by the majority as to
the cost of the sea-leyel canal are disputed
by the minority. which declares that the
total cost will be about 72.oo0,00o instead
of STAT ,000.O0Q