The Ordway new era., 1906-12-21

ter cisss whe sre 20 b. found 'as fore
men,. men; srs Eood men: and many Of the
Work Of constructlon.
But Thousands Of those who are
brou9ht over under contract (at our
OK esp,snse1 pen, go on into the Jungle to i've.
" ssta- the a~ss iS' ts-ss ~ % fanr ~ davs
as to cause a serious diminution OF
day and Saturday of each week. I
inharan GIhssr1onea many Of these Jamaica
%ork and wba, 10 me cond'sl1ns nY anpes es the they
wished. i received many complaints
from from them; but as regards most OF
tradlcted one another. In all cases
wnere the complaint was as to their
treatment on by any individual u proved
was himself a West India man OF color.
either policeman. "a storekeeper, or
there must be many complaints against
americans; but those to whom spoke
n,a nor happen to make any such COM
,,, The work is now going on with a
n,gor so ana efficiency pleasant to wit
canal are the La Boca dams. the Gatun
anm. and the Culebra cut. The Guile
pra cut must be made. anyhow; but
! ~ least as to the locks adjacent to
1 me dams, may still occur. The La
,,ve" uoiiS biIeT no particular pTOD-
good that there is n practical certain
| ~; not merely as to what can be
ment. The Gatun dam offers the most
serious problem which we have to
isthmus believe that this problem is
certain OF solution along the lines
proposed: although, of course. 1t ne
| telHgence. and although equally, of
course; s there VIII be some little risk
arises from the fact that some OF the
material near the bottom is not so
good as could be desired. II the huge
across from one foothill to the other
we Will have what is practically.
which will rise the inland lake. This
hr,shelai In.s mountain will probably show
r%ss sffepage; that Is wiil have Greater
natural mountain range The exact To-
shaiity OF the locks at this dam-as at
!srmneS qsp In April nDw nex, psseE seeEe,ary are;
TAFT. with three OF the ablest engin-
GERS of the sountry-Messrs. Noble.
isthmus, and the three engineers viii
make the final and conclusive exami-
lock. Meanwhile the work is going
ahead without break.
| The Culebra cut does not offer such
| great risks: that is, the damage liable to
| occur from occasional land slips will not
| represent what may be called major dis
| H' "brh VIII merely Citii Ibr IN
teiliIence, perseverance. and executive
capacity. II is, however. the work upon
which most labor will have to be spent.
The dams will be composed OF the earth
taken out OF the cut and very possibly
the building. OF the locks and dams will
| take even longer than the cutting In
culebra itself.
In cuIebra Cut.
The main work is now being done In
the cuiebra cut. IL was striking and
| impressive To see the huge steam shovcls
IN fuii play. the dumping trains carrying
away the rock and earth they disiodged.
The implements OF French escavating
! way from the line OF work. though OF ex-
eellent construction. look Ike the vericst
steam shovcls, Just the French dump
ing cars seem like toy cars when COM
Jumped by steam plows. which are now
in use. This represents the enormous
idvancc that has been made In machin-
cry during the past quarter. of n cen.
tury. No doubt a quarter OF century
hence this new machinery, OF which we
OF date. but II is certainly serving Its
purpose well now; rhe old French cars
mad to be entirely discarded. We stili
have In use "A few of the more modern,
bu. not most modern. cars. which hold
but i2 yards of earth. They can be em-
siifves: But the, recent ears hold from
2 10. %. yards apiece. and instead OF the
old .csumsy methods OF unloading them
OF the whole vestibulcd train. thus I'M
mcnscly cconomizing 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
were some % at work during the time
was on the isthmus. and their tremendous
slvc.
New Records for Excavation.
As soon as the type OF canal was de-
clded this work began In good earnest.
The rainy season Will shortly be over and
then there viii be an Immense Increase In
the last three months. In the rainy sea-
son. stendy progress Is shown by the
October. ss5.oco cubic yards. In October
new records were established for the
for the tonnage haul OF Individual loco
motives. ! hope to see the growth OF n
diiierent h shovel and ioeomotivs eelr crews. S
battle ships between e,,y the Different gun
Passing through the cut the amount OF
new work can be seen at a glance. In
been taken out recently by q. tons OF
dynamite. which We're exploded at one
blast. AZ another place 1 was given a
cut the prism Is now wide as II will
has now been sunk about 800 feet below
what 4 originally was; !, will have to
s be sSs sha eas sd S
Ing and hauling are going on with con-
stantly increasing energy. the huge
shovels being pressed up. as II they were
mountain howitzers. Into the most un-
likely looking places. where they eat
their way into the hllsides.
Railway improvements.
The most advanced methods. not only
in construction, but In railroad manage
sffient. 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
Bierd. the saving In time and cost has
been noteworthy. My examination tend
cd to show that some of the departments
had doubtless necessarily become over
developed. and could now be reduced or
subordinated without impairment of efil-
cheney and with a saving OF cost. The
chairman of the comfuission Mr. Shonts