The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-07

y r J 80. -. ! I
the situation. 1t is standing joke in
nothing else to do, he goes out in the
bush and finds few boilers, or loco
motives, or perchance a dredging ma
chine. s. h s..
That the French company has main
tanned a force Of workmen at Panama
in spite of the overwh Ginning defeat of
the plan is another Of the marvels, but
the fact remains that ever since the
partial abandonment of the scheme
over 4, 1000 men have been employed In
the digging, inSWhat seems like an
almost ain1less fashion. The later work
has been confined to the Gulebra cut,
the highest land on. thesgisthmus, and
up to within ten months of the time.
the United States formally took over.
the franchise and property of the COM
pany at a. cost Of s$40,00O,O0O, an. aver
age Of $4,000 cubic yards ofxearth
month MOI has been excavated ; during the
last ten months the work fell OFF grad.
uall " and when the commissions took;
hold Of st but 25,000 yards per month
were being removed. This earth was.
dumped a short distance from the ditch
at point which is within the possible
limits of the projected canal. and may
all have to lbe removed a second time..;
7 The charter Of the New French COM
pany which took over the property Of
the De Iesseps enterprise, and the ar
rangement with the receiver, whereby
40 per cent of any profits from the un-
dertaking were to accrue to the operat-
ing company, and the remaining 60 per
cent should go to hquidate the obliga-
|: ton of the original company, is prob
ably responsible for the continued work
in the face Of such hopeless obstacles
as confronted the workers, and the. lack
/ Organization indicates that the s.ex-
cavation' was being kept up more as
a matter Of form than anything else.
Difficulties Of the Task. z4s=
In order to present clear view. of
the magnitude Of the undertaking, let
Jus make a comparison with. the three
| next largest canals in the world:
I, Earth Removal Length
! Vi. ~. Cubic Yards. Cost. Miles.
level5 .:275, ooo, 900 $3.50, 900 900. 80 !
suezs -. 99I4Oo, 900 s 90, 100000 80 !
North sea-. .1o4 ,60o. coo 80, O0e 600 291s;
Manchester. 53.O0O,C0O IS. 100000 = 26
i Chicago drainage. 4o.o0o,ooo 2s,4o0,ooo % !
I : Estimated III, Ut 3E. h
The estimated total Of 275;000,O0O
| cubic yards of earth and rock from the
/. Panama cut would be sufficient to build
"a wall ten and a half feet high and six
feet thick encircling the earth; or q
/ eauseway a little more than one yard
in cross section reaching from the earth
! to the moon. These figures show that
/ the Panama canal, as an engineering
enterprise, outclasses anything ever be-
fore attempted by man. Even the work
/ Of retaining large portion Of the
/ Zuyder Zee from the ocean to dykes
and pumping, at costa $4,000 900,
! sinks into insignifcance before the
I gigantic task Of severing North from
South America.
AS difficult as it may She for one
born and bred in the temperate climate
/ of this country to fully understand the
i difficulties presenting themselves in
tropic Panama, it is still more difficult
to pick out any one difficulty among
j the host of those arrayed against the
] enterprise and declare it paramount.
! The writer was impressed, and de
pressed, by the magnitude Of the OBJ
/ stacles on his first sight of the ground
and understood at once the discourage
4 ment which has sent many official in
4 vestigators back to Washington with
j pessimistic reports. First, possibly
comes the problem Of housing the work
ers, for the best of care must be taken
] Of the men upon whose shoulders the
great undertaking rests. Adequate
4 quarters must be provided, with every
possible convenience, and all modern