The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-02-18
LOCK CANAL THE
FEASIBLE KIND
ROOSEVELT TRANSMITS ENGi-
NEER'S REPORT TO CON-
oREsS WITH MESSAGE.
CATUN DAM ALL RIGHT
President Declares that Attack Here
after on Canal Plans is An At
Attack On Building
Any at All.

Washington, Feb. 17.-Any attack
made hereafter on the lock type of
the nanama canal according to the
opinion expressed by Presid INT
Roosevelt in q message transmitting
to congress today the report made
by the engineers who recently Wis
tied the canal zone with President
elect TAFT sis in reality merely an at
tack upon the policy of building any
canal at ALL" The report. in Mr..
Rooseyelt's opinion, shows In
clearest fashion that the congress
We're wise in the position they took
and it would be an ineXcusable folly
to change from the pronnsed lock
canal tC a sea level canal"
Criticism Out of Order.
II commend to you" he says to
congress, "the most careful consid-
Grafton of the report. They show
that the only criticism that can lie
made of the work on the isthmus is
ihdt lHtiN ildS ObiiltlililNo btNh ar
most an excess of caution in proyid-
ing against possible trouble. AS to
the GatW dam itself they show that
not only is the dam safe. but on the
whole the plan already adoptef would
make il necessarily high and strong
and accordingly they recommend
that the height be reduced by twenty
feet, which change in the plans |
have accordingly directed"
President Roosevelt says that
the engineers who made the report
'are of all the men in their profes-
sion. within or without the United
States, the men who are on the
whole best qualified to pass upon
these very questions which they eX-
aminel."
Engineers Satisfied.
The engineers reports as to the
Gatun earth dam was the central
point of .liscussion they gave 1t, UNI
der instructions from Mr. Taft, first
consideration in the light of all new
evidence" and they add. that the
type of dam now under construction
is one which meets with unanimous
approval"
They say they are satisfied that
there will be no dangerous or obiec
terials under the base of the dam;
nor are they so soft as to be liable
TO be pushed aside by the weight of
the proposed dam so as to cause dan
gerous settlement We are also salts
fed that the materials available and
which it is proposed to use are suit
able and can be readily placed to
form tight, stable and permanent
dam"
Dams and locks, lock gates and all
other engineering structures involved
in the lock canal Project are 'feas.
ible and safe" according to the engi-
neers, and they can be depended
upon to perform with certainty their
respective functions"
Lock Canal the Best.
They report that they do not find
any occasion for changing the type
of canal that has been adopted A
change to sea level plan at the
present time would add greatly to the
cost and time of construction, with
out compensating advantage, either
in capacity of the canal or in safety
of navigation, and hence would be a
public misfortune.
I'VE do find" they say lin the de-
tailed designs that have been adopt
ed or that are under consideration
scme matters where other arrange
ments than those now could be
worthy of study. AS these proposed
changes are of tentative nature and
10 not in any case affect the main
questions herein discussed they are
not taken up in this report"
Gatun Dam All Right.
They declare that the most prac-
tical question in the construction Of
the Gatun dam is the possible sip.
ping and sliding of the materials un.
derneath and in the body of the
dam"
III EtSdIu 10 lulS question In6y
have reached the conclusion that
the design upon which the work
is now being prosecuted abundantly
fills the required degree of stabilitk
and goes far beyond the limits of
what would be regarded as sufficient
and safe in any less important struc-
ture."
In regard to the slips which have
occurred at several times, they assert
that they are "of no serious conse-
quence. either in the practical execu-
tion of the WORK or in the ultimate
stability OF the structures
Having considered the p-orer
height for the crest for the Gatun
dam. they concluded that 1T would
be safely reduced twenty feet from
that originally proposed: namely, to
an elevation of lis feet above sea
level, or thirty feet above the normal