The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1906-12-22

But thousands of those who
brought over under contract cat our
eNpenS"l go Off into the jungle to live.
or loaf around Colon, or work so bad
" after ~" first t"r." "r '""r daNs
As to cause "A serious diminution OF
the amount of labor performed ON Fri,
day and Saturday of each week
questioned many Of these Jamaica
Iahpr"rS as 10 the conditions of their
work ana what II any changes they
wished. received many complaints
from them. but as regards most of
these complaints they themselves con-
tradlvtvd one another In all cases
wher" the complaint was as to their
treatment by amy individual 1t proved
on yNlmlnntt"u that this ina Fldnal
was himself a West India man of color.
either policeman. st"r"keepcr, or
an assistant storek-cp.r. Doubtless
thor" must h" many complaints against
Americans, hut those to whom | spoke
did not happen 10 make any such com
plant to me.
The work is now going on with
Nls"r and efficiency pleasant to WI
canal are ~" La Boca dams, the Gatun
dam, and the culebra cut. The Guile
bra cut must he made. anyhow; but
ot course changes to the dams. or
At Least as To the locks adjacent to
the dams. may still occur. The La
b"ca dams off"r no particular prob
lem, the bottom material being so
good that there is a practical certain
~. not merely as to what can be
mtnt TN" Gatun dam offers the most
serious problem which we have to
solve. and yet the ablcst men on the
iSthmuS believe that rhls problem is
certain of solution along the lines
proposed; although. of course, ii ne
reSsitates great toll energy. and in
telliGence. and although equally, of
course. there Will be some little risk
III 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, If tn" huge
earth dam now contemplated is thrown
across from one foothill to the other
We Will nave what is practically
low. broad. mountain ridge behind
which VIII rise the inland lake. This
artificial mountain Will probably show
less s""pagc, that is. will have greater
restraining capacity than the average
@altty of the locks at this dam-as at
the other dams-is now being de-
ttermtncd, In April next Secretary
Taft with three of the ablest cngtn
GERS of the country-M Mcssrs. Noble.
St"arrs and RipleN-wll visit the
sthmus. and the thr"" engineers viii
max" the tnal and conclusive eNami-
nations as to tn" exact site for each
lock. Meanwhile the work is going
ahead without "A break.
The tulchra cut does not offer such
great risks; that is, the damage liable to
occur from occasional land slips viii not
represent what may be called ma ior dis
Astors, The work will merely call for in
ielllS"nce, perseverance, and executive
'apaCity. 1t is. however, the work upon
which most labor Will have to he spent
The dams viii be composed of the earth
taken out OF the cut and very possibly
til' bllItIiiH tl li1S ptkS ana lttiIis Will
take even longer than the cutting in
tulebra Itself.
In cuIebra Cut.
The main work is now being done in
impressive to see the huge steam shovels
N fun play, the dumping trains carrying
way the rock and earth they disiodgcd
Tn" implements of French eNcavating
maChinery, which often stand IA little
way from the line OF work. though of eX
celent construction, look like the veriest
a. Z lr1't al hes \ a
steam shuvels. just as the French dump
ng cars seem like toy cars wnen COM
pared with the long trains OF huge cars
iumred by steam plows which are now
n use. This represents the enormous
tdNance that has been made in machin-
try during the past quarter of a CEN
tury. No doubt quarter of a century
hence this new machinery. of which We
are now proud. Will similarly seem oul
ii date, but it is certainly serving its
purpose well now. rne old French cars
aad to be entirely discarded. We still
out not most modern, cars. which hold
but II yards of earth They can be en-
ployed on m, certain na, lines win in, sharp
% to 80 yards apiece, and instead of the
old clumsy methods of unloading them,
steam plow is drawn from end to end
of the whole vesthuled train. thus i'm
! mensely economzing labor. In the rainy
little in dirt. but they work steadily in
rock ana in the harder ground. There
were some 25 at work during the time
was on tlle lSllInuS, ana tnclF tremendous
power and efficiency We're most impress
siEe.
New Records for Excavation.
As soon as the type of canal was de
Cided 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
the last three months. in the rainy sea
SON steady progress is shown by the
figures: In August 2i2,o cubic Yards
IN September, ri 200 cubic yards. and in
nor .il,rr ~ IA IItrt .f.t
new records We're established for the
output of individual shovels as well as
for the tonnage haul OF individual loco
motives. hope to see the growth of II
healthy spirit of emulation between the
Inherent shovel and locomotive crews
just such a spirit as has grown our
battle ships between the different gun
crews in matters of craftsmanship
Passing through the cut the amount of
new work can be seen at glance. In
one place the entire side of hill had
been taken out recently by q tons of
blast At another place | was given a
presidential salute of y charges of dyna-
cut the prism is now as wide it will
be; all told, the cana! bed at this point
has now been sunk about 200 feet below
what it originally was. IT will have TO
be sunk about 1870 feet farther Through
out the cut the drilling, blasting, shovel
ing and hauling are going on with con
shoveIs being pressed up. as If they were
mountain howitzers. into the most un-
likely looking places, where they eat
their way into the hillsdes.
Railway improvements.
The most advanced methods not on1y
in construction, but in railroad mana ge-
ment, have been applied in the zone
with corresponding economies in time
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
10 the efficiency of General Manager
Bierd 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
suboriinated without impairment of eff
cheney and with saving of cost. The
chairman of the commission, Mr. Shonts.
has all matters of this kind constantly
in view. and is now rcorganiZiug the gov
ernment OF the zone. to make the
form of adminstra ton both more flexible
and less expensive. subordinating every
thing to direct efficiency with q NiDN a