Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-02-11
PRESIDENT TAFT ENCOURAGED
BY PROGRESS OF CANAL WORK

canal the construction of the Gatun
Dam ana the locks 10 the extent to
which they are competed has remov-
ed from every impartial observer the
slightest doubt as to the Wisdom of
the decision made and the feasibility of
tie plan adopted, Mud this cpnclusiop.
has b9en further eoiAirmed in the Gu,
Zebra Cut, which, While for a canal of
an S5-fnet level make only additional
excavation thaR can be readily taken
care of, show thbt an attempt TO ssinK.
the canal in the CulebFa Cut of, nine
miles to Il depth so feet below the
present proposed level would lengthen
the time of construction SO as to weary
the patience of the American people,
would make the cost almost prohibi-
tory, ana would leave exceedingly
doubtful the question whether, with
the difficulty of the Chagres River,
such a canal was possible at all
Depth Increases.
THE Gatun Dam and Locks, with
the lake now IS feet deep and slowly
increasing to depth of 50 feet, which
constitute the key of the whole plan
Of the canal are so fals advanced that
taken with the Culebra Cut and the
locks at Pedro Miguel on the Pacific
side they give a definite picture of
what the canal is to be and inspire one
with an eagerness for completion that
makes itself manifest throughout the
entire human organization created and
maintained under Colonel Cocktails and
his assistants.
The reports OF slides and caving in
Of the banks in tho Culebra Cut al
ready referred to, Chat come from time
to time through the press, grow out OF
a peculiar geological formation in
which igneous rock and sedimentary
rock lie in juXtaposition. and the scdi-
mentary rock loses its supporting
quality through its exposure to the
air. or is of such weak structure as to
collapse when the balanced support
given in it's natural position is with
drawn. Such slides, however, can be
easily removed by further excavation
and a widening of the slope where they
occur. and they merely add something
TO the amount of excavation hereto
fore calculated to be necessary and to
the cost. but the percentage thus add
Cd both in time of excavation and
cost. is very small, and not enough to
increase the estimates made by Colonel
Goethals as to either the time of COM
petion or the total cost.
"The work is so far advanced that
| the time has come for the discussion or
plans for the management and mainte-
nance of the canal; for the tolls TO
be charged: for CONVENE noes at ter
minals: for economical disposition of
| the vast plant; for arrangements OF
! peculiar importance to the United
states navy. and the proper means of
policing and defending this greatest
constructive work of many centuries.
THE esprit that one finds among the
canal employees and the enthusiastic,
Intelligent and patriotic leadership that
Colonel Goethals and his assistants
show at every turn and under every
emergency, leave no doubt that the
| canal will be fully completed within
1.-THE time guaranteed, to wit, the first
iof january, 1915, and within the esti-
Innate made by Colonel Goethals in 1908
OF $S75,OO0,OOo.
During this wet season we have
been favored with clear weather free
from rain during our stay of four
days.
| THE government of Panama Is
| peacefully pursuing its course and en-
ioying the prosperity that the invest
ment of $2S,OO0.0O0 or $30,000,000 a year
upon the Isthmus necessarily Involves
| Tor such close ncighl ors as the people
| of Panama, and there Is a political
| calm in the republic. The authorities
| in charge manifest every disposition to
assist the United States in its con"