The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-09-02

h .lss t<471|I a / -
- Ill
agesoflexcaYatlon this should be dones
mi twsenf \ months, but is imlos sible5i
60 n1anithin sucll d as the Sdepths
Iincte for the gu pnt necessarily
sdtmfnishe as the led Of peraton3:
narroWss Still, it IS certain atSsueha
a 3eanSb tmafnta lined % senab leS
the worker TO finish the atom
5consid erably IN adyance Of the date
Fixed for opening The canal. Jan. 81
1915. Indeed. gshaII sbe surprised "
tie canal cannot be pened sly months
or eYelS year IN nd vance Of the time time
set. n,
The work has two great feat lures
the Culebra cut. which y have beer
considering md the great dann3a Gas
tuln1. The latter Is 70 tmpriso the
waters OF the Chagres and other
streams into "a lake wit am area of
|1e4 square miles This work rs adsss
yancing steadily and Just .as success
fully aSsthe work on thesG ule bra cut. q n
1.-THE water which 4 IS ultimately to
iii tie lock is now: flowing through the
concrete spillway in the center Of the
dam. the Ghag ress having been divert
ed from its bed and placed under COM
lplcte3 control. The construct don of the
dam has adEanced ssufl eiently ito con-
vince the engineers In charge Of the
work Of It's absolute Stability and Inn
nervousness. The concrete work on,
the lock IS advancing so rapidly that:
the first double set1at Gntun will be.
completed this coming November, and
the engineer in charge has nrounceds
that all the concrete In MI the locks
win be in place two years hence.
The date Of final comple elton and
formal opening Of the canal to the
commerce Of the world will befd deter
mined by the time consumed On $placzs
ing the great steel gates, emergency
dams and all appliance for operating
the locks But those In charge Of the
work announce without hesitation that
everything viii be finished well In I'D
vance Of Jan: 4, 1915.
stupendous Achievement:
This Is IA stupe ndouss record Of
achievement. as a. people we areS
rather fond Of crtticising ourselves
and sometimes with very great JUS
.tice; but even the most;pe ssimistic crit
|icshould, sometimes think oftwhnt is to-
orr credit Among our assets Of the
past ten years will be placed the Sex-,
rnordinary ability. integrity and ssu q:
cess With viii we i've handleds all
the problem III eriteds as the result of
tie Spanish war. thess way we have
handled oursel yes In the Rhilippi In
Cuba, in Porto Rico In San Domingo,
and I'M Panama.
The cruise Of the battle feet around
the world was a striking proof! that we
had made good with the navy. and
what we have done at Panama repre-
sents the accomplishment Of one of the
great fcats OF the ages. It Is "a feat
which reflects the highest honor upon
our country and orr gratitude Is due
to every man who has taken m hon
orable mart in any capacity stp bring
ling about its performance: IL
FortffyB the 4 Canal.
we now have a further duty to per-.
form in connectio ion 5withti It. and that IS
to fortifyit We are in honor bound
to fortifys II. ourselves and only ~ so
doing can we effectively guarantee Its
neutrality and, moreoy lively
guarantee that &c shnll not be used
againstius, 5,.i 4: Y
The chief material vantage GER
.tainly one Of! the chief mnteriai .adYnn-
5tages wlileh we shall gain by It's con-.
,struction Is the way in which Sit will
for defensive spurpo ses q ouble3 the 3pow=.
.erof The United sstates navy.
To refuse to FORTH y 1t and. above ALL
to consider for a moment such ansncts
81! uttergwe kpess and fol lys as to In
wife other nations TO step In and guar.
antee. the neutrality Of this purely,
American work tandg thereby really to
make 1t Scertnin that in the event of
war we should find the canal used
against us. us our fleets would be for:
.bflden to pass through tt or else our
opponents fleets permit ed to-, would
he 10 incur. and quite II ght fully, X the