Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-01-02

stant dredging to keep open, and full
of danger in navigation. A lock
canal, on the other hand. requires
high dams at the locks, which back
the water up and make the canal an
inland lake for 80 miles or more. out
of the 46 miles Of it's length
The French dug $4,000, 900 cubic
yards and the lock canal requires the
digging of 96, 500. 600 yards mere and
the construction of dams, locks aud
other immense engineering works. It's
estimated cost from now to compile
tion is about l40 million dollars, and
tho time required, eight years.
The canal starts at Colon On the At
lantic side and extends southeast
across the isthmus for AZ miles to
Panama on the Pacific. The French
completed the canal for lU miles and
partially dug the other SO miles.
The canal curves like railroad to
follow the streams and avoid the
hills. 1t ascends the valley of the
Chagres river for thirty miles, then
cuts through the backbone of the con-
tinent for eight miles and descends
for another eight miles the valley of
the Rio Grande to the Pacific.
At Culebra, on the divide between
the Atlantic and the Pacific. the ca
nal will have its great depth, three
hundred feet. 1t is at this point that
one realizes the immensity of the un-
You stand on the canals
brink and see the bottom. 900 feet
wide, far below you, then look at the
opposite side, rising by thirty.foot
terraces to the top Of the opposite
bank. 1t seems like wide and deep
valley. Men look like flies and the
putting engines and train and the
laboring stea.l shovels like mere
toys. You wonder if the canal ever
can be finished.
The twin difficulties of climate and
labor have to be met by the Ameri-
cans, notwithstanding it has been
claimed by old residents of the 18TH
mus that the excavation of Culebra
cut through the continental divide
has changed the climate. The warfare
against disease an the canal zone is
being waged under the leadership of
Colonel Gorgas with force of over
2, 900 men. He is one of the men ON
the isthmus whom everybody speaks
we'll of. Under his leadership the
ground is cleared off in the vicinity
of towns and camps, marshes are
drained, waterworks and sewerage
systems established and garbage dis
posed. The mosquito that causes the
dreaded yellow fever to spread. the
has had her breeding
places dried up or covered with
crude oil and now there has been no
yellow fever for year on the isthmus.
Likewise the anopheles. or malaria
spreading mosquito, is given no rest.
The climate already is as healthful
as in our Southern states. Then the
fully equipped and inviting hospitals
make it, so some of the men claim,
almost a pleasure to be sick. Besides,
the employees pay runs right on dur
ing sickness for month in every
year, and no charge is made for medi-
cal treatment.
The other difficulty, the labor prob
lem, is not being solved so rapidly.
In the first place, white men will
not go to the tropics to perform
manual labor on account of the cli-
mate. There are but 1000 whites
out of the 1000 canal empl owes.
There are 5000 Jamaica negroes, a
class of laborers that are failure on
their own island, and the amount ac-
complished by them decreases as the
square of their distance from home
increases. Chief engineer Stevens
saws that an American white laboTer
does as much work as three Jamai-
cans, and all agree that Mr.. Stevens
is very optimistic regarding the color
ed man. The Jamaicans are all edu.
Gated, they keep posted and are es-
pecially fond of arguing. The con-
ductor of dump train told the fol-
lowing to me regarding Jamaican
fireman in that worthy's presence
"Now George, here, would make a
first rate president of the United
States, but he can't keep up steam on
an engine worth blankety- blank. "
The remainder of the laborers are a
motley lot, West Indian negroes,
Indians and half-breeds from Central
and South America.
1t is undoubtedly true that there are
many weak men among the American
foremen aud superintendents as we'll
as among the machinists and train
men. The effect of so much incom
petence is to take away the esprit de
corps that should exist and make
everybody see how little he can do.
The removal of the incompetents anG
giving good salaries and fair treat
ment must gradually improve the
n