Omaha daily bee., 1910-11-21
Colonel GOethals Makes Annual Re-
port to War Department Of
Present Conditions.
SECRETARY DICKINSON PLEASED
Vast Machinery Employed is All
Working Smoothly.
HEALTH CONDITIONS BETTER
Maximum Of Laborers Since Begin.
ming Now at Work.
BETTER
SLIDES, BREAAs AND FLOODS
More Than million Yards of Earth
Had 10 BE Moved Because of Acct
dent-NearIy Forty Thou
sand Employees.

WASHlNGIONt NOV. EO.-NSpecldi'J-
Summarized in phrase satisfactory
progress all along the Panama canal zone
is the gist Of the annual report OF the
Isthmlan Canal commission made to Sec
retary Of War Dickinson by Colonel George
Goethals. chairman of the commission and
chief engineer in charge of the work on
the canal, and made public today by the
former.
With the work Of excavation and of con-
struction progressing favorably at all
/ points along the line; with health condi-
tions better than ever before; with a cen
/ tralization and consequent economy in GER
tain parts Of the work, and with maxi
mum Of laborers since the United States
/ began to dig the canal Colonel Goethals
report was decidedly pleasing to Secretary
/ Dickinson.
The chief engineer reports, however that
| 1t was not all smooth sailing during the
! past year, slides, breaks and floods hinder
ing the work to certain extent. He men
tons four slides, covering, respectively, a,
! 7.S, 4.6 and II acres, and requiring during
the year the removal Of more than a mill
ion cubic yards OF material. 1T was ex-
pected," he says, that slides would occur,
and in the estimates provision was made
for them, but it now appears from crooks
/ that show in the upper surface, adjacent
I to the faces of the cut, that sufficient al
/ lowance had not been made, and the esti-
mates were corrected to meet the new con-
ditions."
Three had Breaks.
! Three bad breaks, he reports, occurred
during the year, one at the town of Guile
! bra covering an area of more than ten
acres and requiring the removal of more
than a million and a half Of cubic yards
Of dirt and stone. The second largest break
! covered an area of more than eleven acres
and required the removal Of more than
10000 cubic yards while the. third hreak
aggregated about 1900 cubic yards
/ The floods seriously interfered with the
progress Of the work. says Colonel
Goethals, referring in particular to that Of
the central division and the Culebra cut.
'and the one OF December % overflowed
the dixie separating the cut from the Cha
gres river, cutting a channel through Il
about 200 feet long and twenty-one feet
deep"
The total amount Of material removed
from slides and breaks in the central ii
vision OF the canal during the year was
more than two and a half million cubic
yards, or about IS per cent Of the amount
removed during the year from the Culebra
cut the principal part OF the central di-
vision.
More than S65OO,OOO cubic yards of ma
terial were removed from all parts OF the
canal during the year, OF which 1900, ,OOO
were from the Culebra cut and almost
100000 from the Chagres section. About
100000 cubic yards remain to be removed
from the Culebra cut before this section
of the canal is completed.
Reports from various points along the
varied from "a cents per cubic yard at one
place to as high as S2.61 at another. There
is no such divergence Of price in the cost
per cubic yard OF concrete work. the low
est average being $500 and the highest $3.50
More than 100000 cubic yards OF concrete
were laid during the year.
Four Thousand Men In shoDs.
Economy has been sought by the com.
mission in various directions. ITO reduce
J to a minimum delays on account of break,
down of machinery plant and equipment
which reflect largely in the unit cost OF
work" says Colonel Goethals, "and to pro
vide proper facilities for overhauling plant
and equipment, as well as manufacturing
necessary repair parts. large shops have
been provided at certain points on the
isthmus in which are employed a total Of
i,Sg1 men.
In general" he adds, ''the repair shop,
and equipment on the isthmus are adequat,
to meet ell requirements during the con.
struction period. Nothing as yet has beer
done toward permanent shop facllitie.
which will be needed after completion oj
the canal
During the year special attention wa
paid to reducing the cost OF maintenance,
and operation Of equipment In the shops
Including the Standardization Of salaries
! and wages and OF material and supplie,
necessary In construction repair work" II
this same connection he reports a centrali
cation Of repair work TO rolling equipmen
: other than steam shovels at the Gorgan,
shops
In the division OF bookkeeping" the re
port says, Improvements have been mad,
In the classification OF expenditures and IN,
compilation OF statistics. distribution o
r the accumulated plant charges, formerl,
4 carried as one item was made. so that tn
I plant Is now shown In the expenditure &C