The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-12-21

men, are good men, ana many "a w
ordinary dnv inborers are also good.
Work OF Construction.
Hut thousands Of those who are
brought over under contract lat our
rNPcugo) 20 or into the jungle To liNc'
ur loaf around Colon. or work 80 pad
" nft.r ~. Nrst thr"" ~ Tow" daNS
as to cause a serious diminution OF
the amount OF labor performed on FRI.
day and saturday of each week. l
questioned many OF th'S" Jamaica
labOrcrs ne to the conditions of their
work and what. II any changes. they
wished. | received many complaints
from them. but as regards most OF
these complaints they themselves con
tradictcd one another. In all cases
where tho complaint was as to their
treatment by any individual II proved
on examination that this Individual
was himself "A West India man of color.
either policeman. n stOrckccper. or
an assist1nt storekceper. Doubtless
there must b" many complaints against
Americans. but those to whom l spoke
did not happen to make any such com
plant to mo.
Tho work ls now going on with n
vigor and efficiency pleasant to wit
ness. Tho three big problems OF the
canal are the La Bnca dams, tho Gatun
dam, and III" Culcbra cut, The Guile
bra cut must be made. anyhow; but
Of COurs" changes as to the dams, or
At least as to the locks adjacent TO
the dams, may still occur. The La
lem the bottom material being 40
good that there IL practical certain
~ not merely ms to whnt can be
achieved. but us to the time OF achieve
mcnt. Tho Gatun dam offers the most
serious problem which we have TO
solve; and yet tn" ablcst men on the
isthmus believe that this problem Is
certain of solution along the lines
proposed. although OF course, II ne
c"ssitatcs great toll. energy and in
tclligencc. and although equally Of
course, there viii be some little risk
In connection with the work. The risk
arises from the fact that some OF the
material near the bottom Is not so
good as could be desired II the huge
earth dam no" contemplated ~ thrown
across from one fOothill to the other
we VIII have what Is practically Il
low broad, mountain ridge behind
which Will rise the inland lake. This
artificial mountain Will probably show
less sccpnge. that is, will have greater
restraining capacity than the average
natural mountain range. tn" exact los
nIlity of the locks ut this dam-as Mt
the other dams-ls now being de-
tgrmined. In April next Secretary
TAFT, with three OF the ablcst cnEin-
GERS Of tho country cssrs Noble,
Stonrns and Riploy-will visit the
isthmus. and the three engineers will
make the tinnl aud conclusive cNami-
nations as to IN. exact site for each
lock. Meanwhile IT," work Is going
ahead without n break.
The Culcbrl cut does not Ofer such
great risks. that Is, the damage liable to
represent what may be called major dis
astcrH. The work viii merely call for in
tcllgrncc, perseverance,. And executive
capacity. Ii is however, the work upon
The dams Will be- composed of the earth
taken out Of the cut and very possibly
tho building OF the locks and dams will
take even longer than the cutting in
Culcbra itself
In Culebra Cut.
The main work Is now being done In
the Cuiebru cut II was striking and
Impressive To see the huge steam shOvels
in full play the dumping trains carrying
AWAY the rock ana earth they dtslodgcd.
The implements Of French cNCavating
machinery. which often stand "A little
way from the line of work. though Of cX-
ccllent construction, look Ike the vcricst
toys %hCn compared with these new
steam shOypls. just as the French dump
ing cars seem like toy cars when com
pared 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 In maChn-
cry during the past quarter OF cen
fury. No doubt quarter OF n century
hence this new machinery, OF which we
are now so proud will similarly seem out
OF date, but IL Is certainly serving its
purpose well now. rhe old French cars
had to be entirely discarded. We stlll
but not most modern. cars. which hold
but IL yards OF earth. They can be en-
ployed on certain lines with sharp
curves, But the recent cars hold from
% to 80 yards apiece, and instead OF the
old clumsy methods of unloading them,
a steam pillow Is drawn from end to end
Of the whole vestibuicd train, thus i'm
menscly ecOnomizing labor In the rainy
reason the steam shovels can do but
little In dirt but they work steadily In
rock and in the harder ground. There
Il IA
was on the isthmus. and their tremendous
power and efficiency were most impress
sive.
New Records for Excavation.
As soon as the type OF canal was de-
cidod this work began In good earnest
The rainy season Will shortly be over and
then There will be an immense increase in
the amount taken out. but even during
tho last three months. in the rainy sea-
son. steady Irnsr"ss Is shown by the
figure- Ia August. 2i2,001 cubic yards
in september 81 90 cubic yards. and In
October. 10000 cubic yards. In October
new records were established for the
output Uf Individual sEOvcls AS well as
for the tuunIg" haul of individual loco
motives. ! hope To see the growth Of a
healthy spirit Of emulation between the
different shovel and locomotive crews,
just such a spirit az has grown on our
battle ships between the different gun
crews in matters OF craftsmanship.
Passing through the cut the amount Of
new WORK can Dt seen nj a glance. IN
one place the entire side OF II hill had
been taken out recently by q tons of
dynamite, which were exploited at one
blast At another place | was given Il
presidential salute of = charges OF dyna-
mite. ON the top notch OF the Culchra
cut the prism Is now as wide as II Will
be. all told. the canal bed at this point
has now been sunk about 20 feet below
what n originally was II will have to
be sunk about 100 feet farther. Through
out the cut the drilling, blasting. shovel
ing and hauling are going on with con-
stHutly increasing energy, the huge
mountain huWltZcrs, into the most I'M
likely looking places, where they eat
their way into the hillsldcs,
Railway improvements.
Tho most advanced methods. not only
in construction. but in railroad manage
mcut, have been applied in the zone,
and cost. This has been shown In the
handling Of the tonnage from ships into
cars. and from cars into ships on the
Panama railroad, where thanks largely
to tho efficiency Of General Manager
Biprd, the saving in time and cost. has
been noteworthy. My examination tend
ed to show that some of the departments
had doubtless necessarily become over
developed. and could now be reduced or
subordinated without impairment OF efii-
cheney ana with Il saving OF cost The
has all matters of this kind constantly
In view, and Is now reorganizing the gov
eminent OF the zone, so as to make the
form OF administration both more flexible
and less expensive, subordinnting every
thing to direct efficiency with View to