New-York tribune., 1907-11-03
PANAMA CANAL WORK.
D1ight L. ELmendOrf Tells of the
Great Ditch'S PROGRESS.

In what he calls his workshop" Dwight L.
Elmendorf, traveller and lecturer. was found one
evening last week by a Tribune reporter. With
coat off and sleeves rolled above his elbows. Mr..
Elmendorf presented a great contrast TO his ap-
pearance when the platform.
Come right in and take a seat in that easy
chair" said he genially. so you want ne TO
talk about the Panama Canal? Well, my boy
you could not ask me about anything that IS
closer TO my heart and mind al the present time
Why, when I stop to think of the contemplate
criticism and faultfinding that have made their
way into print-knowing as 1 do, from personal
observation, how splendidly the work down
there has been done-it makes my blood boil,
and l have an ardent desire to thrash those re-
sponsible for the Misrepresentation Do YOU
know, it looks TO me like deliberate attempt to
dlscredit the administration as well as the brave
fellows who are digging the great ditch And it
IS 50 mean. unfair" And Mr.. Elmendorf
brought his clenched right hand down hard
upon the table.
why, do you know just what has taken place
in the conduct OF the work in the canal zone?
DO you realize that before stroke Of work was
cone by our men our sanitary commission went
Gown there and labored hard and 10 the best
possible purpose for nearly two years lust 10
make the place habitable for the Workmen9
The French, when they were digging the little
imitation canal planned by their engineers
poured their laborers into that pcstiIentiaI spot
by the thousands-and they buried them by the
thousands, too. Not the slightest effort was
mace 10 make the region in and around the line
Of the canal healthfuI. But our sanitary com
mission went in there. cleared out all the under
bfuSh, eliminated by the most apDroVed scien-
tine methods all the pesthoIes in which the
mosquitoes might breed. and what was the re-
SUIT! Simply this, that when I was on the
lSlhTnus seven years ago the death rate was alb
normally high, yellow fever was almost eni-
qemlc' and killed about ten million mosquitoes
Lasl April during a stay there of nearly a
I,'oHul, killed Just one mosquito, and found
lIlat the death rate was only eight TO a thou
sandwich compares more than favorably with
any one Of our Northern cities
What about the officers in charge of the
work! They are splendid fellows every one of
them There isn't officer, from Colonel Cor
gas and Colonel GOethals down, who isn't inst
the man Tor the work. 1t is all splendidIy sys-
tenatiZed, and the esprit du corps among fhe
men Is such as might be found in an army Thev
are working to make big record and T'lI misc
my guess if they don't accomplish II success
fully Let me add right here that under the
able direction of Colonel William c. GOrgas. the
cnief sanitary officer, the canal zone, once so
health resort.
THE statements made by PouItney Bieelow?
Now. see here All I care to saw about Thai
young mans criticisms is that evervthinp 7
saw down there during my STAY proves that he
has misstated actualties-and that's putting IL
grimly.
AS regards the machinery employed in this
tremendous work. il Is not only up to date but
also Il day beyond that They are usinp the
most gigantic steam shovels l have ever seen
-shovels that take up five cubic yards Of earth
ana Debris at n scoop, that the dirt trains
are ioaded with the utmost expedition And
these trains are dragged off to the swanps and
dumped there by means of plough that sweeps
the cars clean in about One-tenth the time that
would be required were human hands and
shoVels put to the task; and after this new
land in the swamps has been tamped down and
leVelied, up comes the track shifter and lifting
ErHpFl Fl~af foot -
gently but firmly puts II down again SO that
the railroad for the dirt trains is always lust an
the edge OF the new made land Even the blast
ing is carefully figured out; and the engineer
In charge actually knows about what explosive
force may be expected from given amount of
dynamite. So carefully this determined
that. in "A great blast which tock place in the
Cu-eDra cut, the Tremendous mass of dislodEed
rocks and earth was toppled over into the cut