The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-03-12

the jungle, wading waist deep in the
mire Of water and cutting his way
through the tangle of branches
In the middle of the swamp he found
the water black with larvae. Half a
mile away he discovered that culvert
had become obstructed so that the
salt water couldn't enter the marsh
! at high tide and that the harmless
salt marsh had gradually been convert,
ed into a fresh bog and a first class
breeding place for the mosquitoes. A
little sprinkling of oil on the water
and the mosquitoes and malaria rate
began to dwindle.
This is only one of many instances
constantly recurring In the fight that
is being waged by the sanitary depart
ment OF the isthmus. Up TO this time
particularly dangerous mosquito has
bluffed the sanitary department into
refusing to allow night work on the
canal but now efforts are being made
to brave even this night work. Dr..
Gorgas Is experimenting with a gang
of men on night Shift and If they
get along all right work Will be pushed
on the concreteing by night gangs un-
der powerful electric lights.
The labor saving devices employed
on the canal were a surprise even to
some of the engineers who accompan-
led Mr.. Taft on his tour of inspection
The big steam shoyels seem almost
to be things of life-black monsters
nosing around in the cuts, swallowing
whole wagonloads of dirt and rock at
u single gulp.
Regularly every seventeen or elgh-
teen seconds that big black snout dips
down into the bed OF earth and rock.
the monster groans once or twice with
his chains. puffs sharply over the exer-
tion. swings his immense head out
over a fiat car then spits out the load
as If it had suddenly become dIstaste-
full to him.
The largest Of these shovels takes
five cubic yards at each dip, enough
earth and rock to flll a two horse
wagon twice over. In the months OF
December these monsters took out Of
Culebra cut alone 1,334,640 cubic yards
Oh To, lo
of the working day. Since the Ameri-
cans began work on the isthmus
these steam shovels have ripped
out something like 3S,927,664 cubic
yards. The total excavations made by
the Americans amounts to about 62,-
751,924 cubic yards.
Figures compiled by one of the en-
gineers in Culebra cut give some idea
Of the saving In labor represented by
one of these big steam shovels. 1t
was estimated that each shovel in the
cut represented the work of 124 men
and that the forty-four shovels repre-.
sented the work of 5.456 laborers, as
compared with only about 400 men
actually employed In connection with
the machines.
It is estimated further that the
steam shovels require only about one
third as much drilling and the use OF
only about one-third as much dyna-
mite as would be required for hand
laborers. Some idea OF what this
means may be got when it is known
that in January alone the drilling on
the canal amounted altogether TO
something like 70 miles. and that In
the present fiscal year alone II, ,2S3. 900
pounds of dynamite is TO be delivered
on the isthmus.
Next TO the steam shovel the track
shifter is the most awe inspiring "crea-
ture" on the isthmus. He Is a con-
glomeration Of cranes. He picks up
length of track. ties and all. with one
crane as terrier would a rat, then
wise pull that bends the steel rails
like two pieces of llcorIce. When he
drops the track 1t has been shifted
about 9 feet.
One of these track shiters can
move 5.400 linear feet, or 120 feet moro
than mile, In eight hours. With
hand labor II would require a force OF
500 or 600 men The work is done
with a force OF three white men and
six laborers.
Then there is the unIoader. big
plow that is pulled by cable along a
train OF seventeen or more loaded fiat
cars. This machine has a record on
the isthmus of unloading 16 trains in
eight hours. Mr.. Taft and the en-
gineers who accompanied him to the