Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-03

the cruise as fraught with any men,
ace of hostility to itself; and yet every
nation accepted 1t as a proof that We
were not only desirous ourselves to
keep the peace, but able to prevent the
peace being broken at our expense.
CRUISE WITHOUT PRECEDENT
''No cruise in any way approaching
it has ever been made by any fleet of
any other power; and the best naval
opinion abroad had been that no such
feat was possible, that is, that no such
cruise as that we actually made could
be undertaken by fleet of such size
without innumerable breakdowns and
accidents. The success of the cruise.
performed as it was without a single
accident, immeasurably raised the
prestige not only Of our fleet, but OF
our nation, and was a distinct help to
the cause of international peace.
"As regards the Panama canal, l
really think that outside nations have
a juster idea than our own people OF
the magnitude and success of the
work. 1 wish our people realized what
is being done on the isthmus. If d
man of intelligence who had never
left this country asked me whether l
would advise him to make a short trip
to Europe, or a trip to the Panama
canal, | would, without hesitation, ad-
wise him to go to the Panama canal.
He would there see in operation the
completing of one of the great feats
of modern times. Colonel Goethals
and the men working under him are
rendering a service to this country
which can only be paralleled in our
past history by some of the services
rendered in certain wars.
six years ago last spring the Amer
lean government took possession or
the isthmus. The first two years were
devoted to the sanitation of the 18th
mus, to assembling the plant and the
working force, and providing quarters,
food and water supplies. In all these
noints the success was extraordinary.
From one of the plague spots of the
globe, one of the most unhealthy re-
gions in the entire world, the isthmus
has been turned into a singularly
healthy place of abode, where the
death rate is small and where hun
dreds of children are now being raised
under as favorable conditions as In
most parts of the United states Inc
quarters, food and water supply are
excellent and the plant the best ever
gathered for such a purpose.
MUCH WORK ACCOMPLISHED
Active excavation on a large scale
did not begin until January, 19OI.
Three years and half have gone py
since then, and three fifths of the total
excavation has already been accom-
plished. The amount taken out has
passed anything which previous ex-
perience warranted us in believing TO
be possible In 1908 and 1909 the
monthly average of rock and earth re-
moved was three million cubic yards,
Notwithstanding the fact that nine
months of each year constituted sea-
son OF very heavy rainfall. There re-
mains to be excavated only about sixty
million cubic yards. If we could keep
I'm the past average of excavation this
should be done in twenty months, but
it is impossible to maintain such
ratio as the depth increases, for the
output necessarily dlminisheS as the
field of operation narrows Stlll 1t Is
certain that such a rate can be main
tanned as will enable the workers 20
finish the excavation considerably IN
advance of the date fixed Tor opening
the canal-January q 1915. Indeed,
shall be surprised if the canal cannot
be opened six months or even a year
in advance of the time set.
"The work has two great features
the Culebra cut, which / have been
and the great dam at
Gatun. The latter is to imprison the
waters of the Chagres and other
streams into a lake with an area OF
164 square miles. This work is ad-
steadily, and just as success
fully as the work on the Culebra cut.
The water which is ultimately to fill
the lock is now flowing through the
spillway in the center of the
dam, the Chagres having been diverted
from it's bed and placed under COM
plete control. The construction of the
dam has advanced sufficiently to con-
vince the engineers in charge of the
work of its absolute stability and I'M
The concrete work on
the lock is advancing so rapidly that
the first double-set at Gatun will be
this coming November and
the engineer in charge has announced
that all the concrete in all the locks
will be in place two years hence.
1.-THE date of final completion and
formal opening of the canal to the
commerce of the world will be deter
mined by the time consumed in plac-
ing the great steel gates, emergency
dams and all appliances for operating
the docks. But those in charge of the
work announce without hesitation that
everything will be finished well in adj
vance of January /, 1915.
roo FOND OF CRITICISM
"This is a stupendous record of
achievement. AS people we are
rather fond of criticising ourselves,
and sometimes with very great JUS
tice, but even the most pessimistic |
critic should sometimes think of what |
Is to our credit. Among our assets |
Of the past ten years will be placed |
the extraordinary ability, integrity |
and success with which we have han |
died all the problems inherited as the |
result of the Spanish war, the way we |
have handled ourselves in the Philip |
pines, in Cuba, in Porto Rico, in San |
Domingo and I'm Panama. The cruise |
Of the battle feet around the world |