The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-28
THE PANAMA CANAL
(By Robert Newton Blakeslee.)

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 advantages, which would be derived from connecting the Pacific with the Atlantic oceans, the attention of the | whole engineering world has been
 centered on this enormous project
 As early as the time of Columbus, men were seeking a straight passage | to the East across the Atlantic and the then unknown Pacific oceans. Co., 1umbus, himself, was not looking for a new continent but rather a route to India Numerous attempts have been made to cut away this barrier but all, thus far, have been in vain.
 | In May, 1878. a concession was granted Lieut.. Lucien Wyse and oth- | CTS by the United States of Colombia, to construct a canal across the 18th mus of Panama. Immediately, an in | ternational congress was called and, | in two weeks time, it had decided that a canal should be built between Colon l and Panama. It was to be a sea- level canal without locks The Pana- ma Canal Co. was organized under the laws of France, with M. de Lesseps as president. Plans were drawn up and the company set to work excavat- | ing along the route. It waws calcu- lated to cost $127,000,000 and was to be finished in eight years. So confi- dent was de Lesseps of his success and the accuracy of his calculations, | that he even invited men of promi- hence to attend the opening which he set for 1888. But financially the af- fair was managed very poorly and large part of the money was spent in bribes. So, after 1,300,000,000 francs had been spent and only S0,000,000 cubic yards had been taken out, the company was declared bankrupt.
 An international congress in 1899 reported, that the work was two-1fths
 
 more would be needed. President Mckinley was authorized to appoint a commission to investigate the whole canal question. They decided in favor of the Nicaraguan route, because of financial reasons but. on receiving an offer from the Panama Canal Co. to sell it's property and franchise for SAC, 100000, they decided in favor of the Panama route. After warm dis cussion in congress, it was determined to purchase the Panama Canal Co. if the title was clear. This was fnvesti- gated and found to be all right SO, the government bought out the French company with all it's equipment.
 Numerous treaties were made with Colombia and everything was settled satisfactorily Then the government were passed; officials and judges were appointed, for the United States was to have full charge over the land for five miles on either side of the canal, and the president was given control of the whole canal. President Roosevelt ernment-and sanitation; John F. Wal lace, chief engineer, and Theodore Shonts financial secretary.
 While the department of sanitation may seem, at first glance, to be unim- portan, it is really just as important as the other two. The sanitary condi- tions on the tsthmus were wretched. Yellow fever and malaria. yearly, claimed a large number of victims Col Gorges experimented repeatedly until he found that the yellow fever germ was carried by a certain specie of mosquitoes. Those mosquitoes were, fortunately, unable to fly any considerable distance. so that by en- closing the patients in screens, this plague, has been stamped out. Next he expertmented with malaria and found that this, too, was carried by mosquitoes. To eliminate ths dSease was a much larger problem. He drained all the pools and wells, in which stagnant water rested; cut all the vegetation away for a few hum dred feet from each dwelling; con- structed water works and paved the streets of the cities. By doing all this, he has solved the problem of malaria.
 There has been great difficulty in se- curing labor, for, owing to the climate, none from the United States will serve and the negro laborers from Jamaica are inefficient and too few in numbers. Secretary Taft suggested that coolie labor be imported but this has not been tried to any extent. It is lawful, however, since the United States does not actually own the canal strip and therefore would not violate the Chi nese Exclusion Acts. A large number of Spaniards, Italians and Greeks proven themselves good workers and are not given to strikes.
 Then the question as to which kind of canal arose. Not until 1906, was this important discussion closed and thus progress was delayed somewhat Congress decided, that the Panama canal was to be a lock canal with three locks in series at Gatun, two at Miraflores and one at Pedro Miguel
 The advantages of the lock canal are: CD it will cost $200,O00,000 less money, CD it will not take within five or six years as much time, (3) the channel at it's narrowest part will be nearly twice as wide as that of the sea-level canal and consequently the time required va ship to pass through will considerably less.
 A great earthen dam at Gatun will hold back the waters of the Chagres river and form Gatun lake, whose sur face is ,S5 feet above mean tide So that, when yes el enters the harbor of Colon, it will be taken in charge by the ectrieaengi4eSa and~cond