The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-07-15

plans for the Isthn1au Canal Commis-
sion call for & total excavation Of H.
2S8.o96 cubic yards. Of which 1o2, 40, oo9
cubic Yards are for the canal prism
Dredging at the entrance TO the old
canal al Colon for wharf purposes and
IN aid Of the construction Of the Gatun
dam is calculated to require 1000. coo
cubic yards Of excavation. With this
information as q basis, the long task
ahead Is apparent, as Mr.. Bishop ap-
ponds the record Of excavation work
since July. 1864. when this government
began 10 make the dirt fly. Last
March S15.270 cubic yards Of dirt and
rock were taken out, the biggest days
work Of that month being on March
Il when s. 5000 cubic yards were re-
moved. IN July. 1904, 1889 yards were
taken out; in July. 1905, 1850; and in
July. 1906. IS. 093 yards. Up to the
first Of April the Commission had ex-
cavated a total of only 5,7S7,9s9 cubic
yards. If a force can be gotten upon
the isthnus capable of excayating a
million cubic yards a month there IS
los months Of work ahead of them. or
almost nine. years. OF course, the Com
nissi0ners expect 10 excavate much
more than a million a month. when
more machinery is installed and more
laborers are employed. There is now
at work thirty-two 95-ton steam show
els. twenty-eight 70-ton shovels. and
three 45-ton sh0vels. Fifteen 95-ton
shovels and seven Aston shovels win
be delivered on the isthmus between
July and December Of this year. In
the last year and a half 1S4 new loco
motives have been delivered on the
isthmus. rs steam or pneumatic drills,
and g machine Or well drills. fifteen
unloaders. with fifteen more under
contract
Mr.. Bishop marshals the figures Of
cost for the canal in a manner which
indicates that the ultimate total will be
far in excess of what Congress orig
inaIly thought II would be, Outside OF
the $50. 000 00a to the French Company
and 10 Panama, the canal, by the act
Of June IS, 1862. was TO cost sl45, 600. eco.
OF that sum s79. sos. 1855 have already
been appropriated by Congress. al
though the appropriation Of So 1871
$3.50 March 4 last is expected To keep
the project under execution till June
50, 1908 But by a year from the end
Of this month there viii have been ex-
pended in round numbers ISL, 600, 600 out
Of the original estimate of s145.00o 600.
OF course. the canal at that time
will be nowhere near half done, as far
as the American work is concerned.
Probably not a quarter Of the excava-
ton win then be completed. so that
the current talk that the canal viii
easily cost half a billion dollars does
not appear TO be far out Of the way,
and no one can yet tell whether the
cost viii not be nearer a billion.
A twenty-five page manual of infor
nation about the canal has recently
been gotten out here. It is full of in
teresting reading about the employees
and the rules and regulations govern
ing life on the canal strip The labor
ers work bat eight hours a day, start
ing al in the morning. quitting at II
o'clock for two hours, and then COM
pIeting the last half Of the day be-
tween l o'clock and 5 O'Clock. There
is all sorts OF information for the
guidance Of those seeking employment
on the canal Here are a few Of the
civil service positions axle turner,
blacksmith car carpenter. car wheel
borer, clerk and dispenser, copper
smith. drill runner, ostIer, inferno, san
itary inspector. telegraph operator and
typewriter repair man. Possibly there
is no other single enterprise under
the sun where there is such variety
Of employment as on the isthmian
canal. ERNEST G. WALKER