The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-04
THE RATTLE or TINE LEVELS.
The Best Canal IL the straits OF Panama,
says Mr.. Bunau-varina-why.

Styb VIZ buhssE
To THE EDITOR OF The SuN-Sf: MAY
the Intrusive Gaul be allowed to ente
once more the battlefield Of the l~evels'3
Ihave read with great interest the argu
.nents pro and con set forth in favor o.
the sea level canal and CT the lock plan
with a dam at Gatun under the heading
"The Battle OF the Levels
The sea level party says: AYour Gatur
dam and your Gatup looks are dangerous
from the point OF view Of construction
and Of operation The Gatun lock cana
party rstorts: .You are another. Yor
will have also a tide lock at Panama ane
a dam at Gamboa higher than at Gatun.
The debate becomes confusing for th'
layman. The relative qualities Of an eartf
dam seated on soft blue clay at Gatur
compared to q masonry dam seated or
hard rock at Gamboa appeal but little te
him. but he gathers from the discussion
that looks andeiams are perilous.
II the layman were consulted he would
say: we are the richest country In the
world; we have undertaken for the worlds
use and our own the most gigantic enter
prise; we must faithfully accomplish our
trust; we must give the world the best
canal; the best canal cannot. any more
than the wife OF Cesar. be exposed to rea-
sonsble suspicious; tho best canal must
be- free from any lock, from any dam; ii
must be an open. wide, deep cut between
the oceans"
In speaking thus the layman would
not be alone.
Since 1t wa proposed in September,
1905, before the consulting board to q
oavsts by now, powerful and economic
methods an open, tide level> canal 900
feet wide at the bottom, Is feet deep at
the lowest tides, everybody in authority
has admitted that It was the best possible
type Of canal.
President Taft, then Secretary Of War,
wrote in the report recommending the
actual lock plan in 1908: We may well
conoede that II We could hsve a sea lev el
canal with a prism 800 to 400 feet wide,
with the curves that must now exist re-
duoed. IL would be preferable to the plan
Of the minority Secretary Of State
Knox, then Senator Of the United States,
carried the vote Of the Senate IN favor
OF tho lock plan by allowing it could bs
got rid Of. He said: Because the look
type Of canal can u necessity ever arises
be transformed into a true sea Ievel canal,
one Of five to six hundred feet In width
and fifty feet or more In depth Of water
The commanding figure among the spon-
scrs Of tho lock plan, Mr.. Alfred Noble,
said before the alumni Of tho Stevens
Institute Of Technology: .Suoh . broad
channel at sea level a. the ono advocated
by Mr.. Bunau-vsrilla and BY him appro-
priately designated a. Straits Of Panama
would Afford . quicker and safer naviea-
ton than any possible look or sea level
CANAL In his lecture in Chicago last
month Colonel Cocktails. speaking Of the
Straits Of Panama. called It the ideal
sea isvei canal
These various and authoritative OK
prs~ions Of opinion, against which not
an antaSonistio expression can b Z
hibited, show that the layman 4 right in
his conception Of tho best canal: It 10 the
Straits Of Panama"
The layman. oomforted In his oonoep-
ton by such eminent authorities, would
Immediately investigate tho way Of carry
ing IL out.
He would be plunged into q deep aston
ishment II he learned that all the authori-
ties who have eulogiDed the Straits Of
Panama have condemned 1t also az i'm
practicable on account Of its cost without
studying the method by which IL becomes
the most economical Of all the plans.
In this grand question where everybody
ought to thirst for the truth and strive
for the best result acrimonious epitheta
are thrown ut the most obvious teachings
OF experience.
The ordinary method Of excavation
consists in dis~integratins the rock by
blasting, in digging IL by steam shovsls
and in transporting it by cars to the
dumps.
The average experimental cost OF blast
ing for the works In 1904 and 1905 has been
published in the report Of the consulting
board Of January, 1905. 1t is II cents a
cubic yard. The average experimental
cos Of excavation in the dry (blasting
inoluded) has been given in the Canal
Record OF january Q last. 1t is rs cents.
Therefore the digging Of loose material
and the transporting to the dumps costa
o. oants in the dry. The same Canal
Record gives the cost Of digging in the
vet and transporting on water at IL cents
q cubic yard. This Allows that actually
with a plant on waite largely consisting
OF the old De Lesseps dredges the exoava-
ton and transportation on water Of loose
material il actually on the Isthmus about
slI times cheaper than on rails.
The old De Leeseps ladder dredeeA have
buckets Of about half a cubic yard
capacity. At last q modern ladder dredee
has been ordered with buckets Of two