The Washington herald., 1908-07-12

Special Correspondence The Washington Herald
Culebra, Canal Zone, July 1.-The con-
struction Of the Panama Canal is the big
gest enterprise ever undertaken by man.
and the United States is rapidly bringing
It TO a successful contamination. When
II is done II will be the greatest material
accomplishment Of this greatest of ma
tiOns- As an engineering feat II stands
first As to cost in money no one yet
knows how much it win take. but Il Will
be between SS5OO0OO0O and S5OO.OOO 900
much more than any other single work
ever undertaken. It will be the most re-
markable artificial change in geography
ever accomplished The American canal
d!ggers Of Panama. working at the rate
they are going now, could dig the Suez
Canal in one year. The Panama Canal
VIII have a greater effect on world COM
merce and world politics than any other
one work OF man. And above and be-
yond all these great things, it will give
and asure TO the United States Of Ameri-
/ ca the first place among nations
An army OF 5000 men is constantly at
work constructing this giant waterway
that will lift the biggest battle ship over
an eightyfive foot stairway and drop II
/ again on the other side. Another army
keeps the zone healthy. In one year alone
they cleaned a million linear feet OF
/ bitches in Panama. digging 1900 feet
more, and fumigatlng 100000 cubic feet
Of house space as a precaution against
n .
workers Uncle Sam is spending &. zoo. OJ0
a month FOR supplies.
With -four millions e month" FOR their
/ slogan. the workers are making nearly
that many cubic yards Of dirt fly. But
the problem Of digging the canal is not
! so much one Of getting the dirt out. as II
ls of making away with the dirt after
they have gotten II out. In the United
States when a contractor encounters a
piece Of construction work with a haul
Of more than 800 yards. he figures r. on
the basis Of that distance hauled free.
and the remainder he charges for at
whatever the cost is found 10 be On the
canal the average haul OF the excavated
material IS more than ten miles. And
as the work nears completion the prob-
lem Of getting the debris out OF the way
VIII grow more serious. the hauls becom-
Ing longer as the days 20 By.
But Notwithstanding the Increasing dif
hculties that are besettinE the canal
builders. they are continually setting a
new standard. At the y. NJ. c. A. and
elsewhere on public occasions vou hear
the cry. or see projected upon a screen.
four millions a month" A cheer greets
II every time. And therein one sees the
spirit OF the men who are digging the
canal There was rejoicing on the canal a
year ago last March when Il was an
nounced that more than a million cubic
yards Of dirt had been excavated. Ar
home Il was said that II was Just a spur,
az making the dirt fly On the zone. how
ever. they did not view II that war
Steam shovel men. dredge men. dirt
train men-everybody began 10 set ,HeSr
pegs At the two million mark
Through the difficulties OF the rainy sea
son they KEEP, crowdlng the notch closer
and closer, until in December Of last year
they were able 70 orfer Uncle Sam a
Christmas gift Of a ZOO. .o00-yard record.
But even then they did not rest on the
oars Of achievement Three million a
month became the raIlying cry. and att
er two efforts, in both Of which they made
new advances toward their 100000 mark.
IN March OF the present year they wrote
down the highest excavating record ever
made anywhere-nearly 3500Gl6 cubic
yards In a single month. In April they
almost duplicated the record Then the
dry season ended, and during the sum-
mer they Will worry along with something
over 100000 cubic yards q month But
everybody is squaring himself for a dash
at that 100000 mark next December.
Those who know the temper OF the men
believe they viii touch H.
Culebra Cut has long been regarded as
the great task OF the undertaking Il
was here that the French made their first
assaults on the great barrier between the /
Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. It is
the only place along the canal where
work has never been suspended from the
time the first French operations began. /
II was thought until recently that the /
length Of time Il would take to dig the I
Culebra Cut would he the length of time I
II would take TO complete the canal. But
recent developments point 70 the Catun 4
Dam as the determining factor In the
completion OF the undertaking Culebra /
finds herself being eaten away by the /
greedy mouths OF a half-hUndred steam /
shovels AT the rate OF more than I 900 600 /
cubic yards month. At that rate Gu 4
Zebra would yield UP her last yard OF 4
In less than three and a half
years. But as the cut grows deeper. II
VIII OF course grow narrower. and the .
fewer steam shOvels they can operate
and the fewer dirt train tracks they can
lay. the smaller the amount of excavated
material there viii be per month as the
years come and 80.
The most interesting feature Of the
work is that under the present manage
ment each month they manage 10 make
a higher record than they made during
the corresponding month OF the previous
year. For instance. during the month OF
May. IN the Culebra Cut the amount Of
material removed was 30 per cent greater
han the amount removed during the cor
responding month of 1907. although the
rainfall in May. 1907. was less than seven
inches. as compared with nearly thirteen
Inches during May Of the current year.
They do things on a big scale on this
Sulebra Cut. Go through II and you will
zee some two dozen steam shovels in
sight at time. and as many dirt trains
attending them. You will see some twen-
y-tve or more big we'll drills operated !
~ compressed air from an air compressor
liant, perhaps the largest in the world ,
each Of them is boring a we'll Of fair
iiameter. In the course Of a year these ,
wells. end on end, would make one hole !
n the ground about 40 miles deep. Into ,
hese wells they sink tons of dynamite J
AZ noon. or after the force has stopped | ,
work., one hears a roar from these blasts
hat makes him thing OF great artillery
uel A few months ago they set off a
last Of nineteen and One-half tons OF
ynamite. distributed in twenty-five holes
whose depth varied from 95 10 % feet II o