Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1909-05-13

priation for and named this work the
'Isthmian Canal Commission, ship
ped machinery and begun work in
1904. There is today something near
45, 600 people employed by the commits
sion, and it isn't easy to imagine the
enormous cost of maintaining this vast
army of workers, besides the cost of
machinery and other equipment, until
you see for yourself the magnitude of
this undertaking.
The French first began operations on
the canal in 1880, and did tremend-
Gus amount of work and excavating,
expended millions for labor and ma
chinery, only to awaken to the fact
that they hadn't taken proper consid-
GRAFTON of the magnitude of the work
and of the millions of money invovled.
Even now you see piles and piles of
the old French machinery, abandoned
and useless, going to decay, monu-
ment to the failure of the French The
United States had already been max
ing surveys and about the time the
French begun to see that it was a
hopeless case, the U. S. had gotten
wise to the state affairs, and began ne
gotiations for the possession of the
claim, which was ultimately perfected
for the small sum of million dollars.
The U. S. then paid the Panama Gov
ernment 10 millions for 10 mile strip
from ocean to ocean, the strip now be-
ing called the Canal Zone. After the
completion of the canal, the U. S. will
pay the Panamanians $3.50, 900 royalty,
yearly. This may seem exorbitant,
but when it is considered that an
enormous revenue will accrue from
tolls of the hundreds of ships which
will pass yearly, the advantage will be
seen. The United States will receive
from $1,000 to $50, 900 and more, ac-
cording to the tonnage. The pecuni-
airy advantage is evident Our Uncle
Sam is long headed fellow.
The canal begins at Christobal, a
suburb of Colon, and ends or rather
begins again at Boraca, suburb of
the city of Panama. There are three
sections working, thousands in each
section, one on the Atlantic side, one
on the Pacific side and one in the CEN
ter. therefore it begins at both ends.
The canal will be in actual measure
ments, 40 miles long, 200 to 500 feet
wide and from so to rs feet deep. Ga
tun Dam, another piece of difficult en-
gineering, 1900 feet long and about
l35 feet in height, above sea level,
contains the waters of Gatun Lake,
which permits the passage of ships
coming opposite and to serve as an an
chorage for neutral man-o' war, until
the required length of time since the
passage of some other man-o' war.
This is an international law. Ships
pass the dam by entering a series of
locks operated by electricity. What a
saving of time and money this wonder
ful canal will afford the world, and
aside from the enormous toll rates to
the United States.
The city of Panama doesn't amount
to much architecturally, but it is very
picturesque, with its green background
of foliage-covered hills and mountains,
waving cocoanut palms and banana
trees and flowers, its plazas, quaint
low buildings, and an occasional relic
of the Olden days in the shape of the
tumbled walls, grass-grown and rusty
from age, some place of worship or
hall of justice, probably battered down
by Henry Morgan, the English Buc-
Gamer, in the latter part of the 18th
century. Whatever they were, doesn't
matter much now, for some poor ma
tive has patched up an abode for him
self, and lives contented and unmolest-
ed, rent free, in the very heart of the
city. 1t is queer sight to see an old
withered native woman, squatting on
the stone steps, in the doorway of one
OF these old ruins. You don't notice
her particularly. but you do note the
lines of the high arching threshold,
upheld by massive columns and men
tally draw conclusions that the people
in those days had higher ideas of ar
chitecture than is practiced here at
present.
There are no electric cars in Pan
anna, coaches and hacks fill that cap
acity and the people make general use
Of them. The climate is excessively
hot aud ,-ar,- a,,...-.-. .,.... -. 4 -. -