The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-12-03

engineer. resigned. and the commis-
sion was rcorganizcd and constituted
as follows: Lieutenant Colonel George
" Gocthals. corps ~ engineers, Unit.
ed States army. chairman and chief On
ginccr Major Il. u. Gaillard. corps o.
engineers. United States army; Major
william l.. Sibcrt. corps Of engineers,
United States army; civil Engineer IL.
II. Rousseau. United States navy; J.
&. :. Blackburn; Colonel W G.. Corgi is,
United states army. and Jackson
smith. commissioners. This change Of
authority and direction went into 81.
feet on April without causing 81 per.
ccptih'c check 10 the progress of the
work ia March the total excavation
in She Culehra cut, where effort was
chirly concentrated, was Sl5.21o cubic
yards. I'm April this was Increased 10
SO 81 cubic yards There was q con.
siderable decrease In the output for
May and June owing pur,ly 20 the AL
vent of the rainy season and partly to
temporary trouble with the steam shoy-
81 mon over the question Of wages
This trouble was settled satisfactorily
to all parties. and In July the total eN.
cayatiln advanced materially. aud iu
August the grand total from all points
In the canal prism 10y steam shoyc.s
aud drcisrs exceeded all prcyiuu"
United States records. reaching l,2Ii.-
IOi cubic yards. In September this
record was ecllpscd, and "a total Oi
1,5l1.l .ll2 cubic yards was removed. or
this amount .iSi .3O7 cubic yards were
from the chnnl prism aud 36. 100 cubic
yards were from accessory works
These results were achieved In The
rainy soason with rainfall In August
Of iiSg inches and In September %!
i1.G5 inches Finally In October the
record was again ccllpsed, the total ev.
caVation iring SIS. I'D cubic yards. o
truly extraordinary record. especially
~ view OF the heavy rainfall. which
was IL inches. In fact, experience
during the last two rainy seasons dem
onstrnics That the rains are II less scri
Gus obstacle to progress than has hith-
crto been supposed
Work on the locks and dams NJ Ga
/ tun. which hcgan actively In March
I last. has advanced 80 far that it J.
| thought that masonry work on the
! locks can be begun within iiltC.H
months Ia order 10 remove all doubt
as To the satisfactory character of the
foundations Tor the locks OF the canal
the secretary OF war requested three
eminent civil engineers of special cN
pcricncc In such construction. Alfred
Noble. Frederic l.. Stcarns and john
/ H. Freeman. to visit the isthmus Hul
make thorough personal investigations
of the sites. These gentlemen went In
the isthmus In April and by means of
test pits which had been dug for the
purpose they inspected the propo c'
foundations and also examined tht
horiugs that had been made. In thcil
report to the secretary OF war under
date of May .. 1907 they said, "N,
found lint all of the locks of the III
mcnsious now proposed will rest upon
rock of such character that 1t will iur
nlsh safe and stable foundation.
Subsequent new borings conducted hj
the present commission have fully cor
tirmcd this verdict. They show thu
the locks will rest on rock for thci
entire length The cross section of IA,
dam aud method OF construction vii
he such ns To- Insure against any S,i,
or sloushing or. similar examination
of the foundations of the locks au.
, dams GA the Pacific side are In pro"
S rcss. | believe that the locks should IL
{ made Of width OF 100 feet
Last wintrr bids were requested am
received for doing the work of cams
' construction 10y contract, None q
~ them was found 10 be satisfactory. am
, all were rejected II Is the unnuimou
opinion Of the present commission th1
10 the work can hc done better. NOR
81 chcaply aud more quickly by the 60
% crnmcut than 10y private contractors
, Fully ~ per cent of the entire plan
needed for construction has been pun
chased or contracted for NHrh.u
shops have been erected aud cquipp,
. for making all needed repairs to %
plant many thousands Of employee
. have been secured, an effective orgu
izatlon has been perfected, n rccu''u
system Is In operation which Is cap.
l'lt W l'II llNAltli- lll''. a. l.lA'ft fAAfNf 20
Z hc used adyantngcously. employees uy
70 well sheltered aud well fed. salnr,r
, paid are satisfactory ana the work
r not only going forward smoothly, hy
{ II is producing results far i'm adyanu
=. Of the most sauguluc anticipation
4 Under these favorable conditions
change i'm the method Of prosecute
, the work would be- uuwisc and uuiu
unlmp. FOR It would inevitably di'
g1ui,c existing conditions. check pro.
rcSs and increase the cost and lcng'hr
the time or completing The canal
d The chief engineer and all his pr
fcsslouol associates are firmly cor
vluccd that the eighty hyc feet ley,
lock canal which they are conslructm
r the best thut could be- desired. Sor
, of thcm had doubts ON this point whu
they went 10 the lsthmus, As III
, plans have developed under their q