Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-05-19
Concrete Mlxers

S--e- Ano Erencn DulluinE4 Al
together saved US 100000. and every oil,
French shack that has been torn dow,
has found place In other buildings.
Indeed. i have never seen so muci
care taken In saving the scraps, any
where as right here at Panama. Lumber
Is used over and sover again. Tle build
inss which form q part of the Guam LAX,
basin have been torn down by carpen,
tiers. and all tho material shipped L
other stations In Sthe canal zone. Tn,
windows and doors and even the gai.
vanized roofs were preserved.
Right here at Sulebra they are now
moving the buildings in advance Of o
lsreat slide, which Is expected. taking, il
the ground where the penItentlary stands
1t VIII all be bare by the time the
slide comes. In doing such work the men
save nearly every hinge. nail and every
board and stick that can be used for
new construction, and then set the ia
maica negroes to cutting the scraps into
hndling wood for the employees. Uncle
Sam furnishes free fuel to his men ana
kindling is quite expensive.
Millions saved from Old Material.
Indeed II is wonderful how much Uncle
Sam saves by the sale OF old machinery
and various kinds OF waste material.
The moment he gets through with a
machine he disposes OF IL, ana at the
close Of the work there will be some
mighty sales OF this kind So far more
than 100000 has been turned into
the treasury from the sale ef government
property down here. and an additional
100000 has been received for services
rendered and material supplied to individ-
uals and companies.
Everything Is watched and there Is
nothing too small to be picked IN and
cared for. Going through the culebra
cut Sunday one may see q gang OF men
gathering up the old bits Of iron to be
shipped off and Strengthened out for new
work. The bad joints are thrown away.
and new threads are made on that which
Is left. II Is the same with brass. COP
per and old rubber. III IL all saved ana
classified to be sold az junk. There is
a car filled with rubber hose and rubber
piping on the side tracks here now, and
In this Is a large quantity Of worn rope
and wire cable. and also Of lead pipe
steel chains and other material Of vafi-
Gus kinds. 3 sAyrss 49,. s. -S11.
walking .wftho coidnef Devoi through
someo Of these buildings covered with wire
netting, I asked as to. the effect Of che
climate upon the metal cloth. He'replied:
This woven-wire lasts only about two
years. It then begins to have holes and
we take II Off and replace Il with new.
The old netting we bale up and ship to
New York. where II Is sold at fixed prices.
We made a shipment last week, which
brought In 5000, and we have sold many
lots which brought more
It is the same with the galvanized
roofing. Some Of that on the French
houses built twenty or thirty years ago Is
full If holes. but nevertheless It does for
the walls Of buildings, where such holes
do not matter. It IL the same with every
thing. The machines are cared for as
though they were race horses and every
where economy and efficiency march side
by side. -
Watching the Lahor,
have already written something about
the labor OF the canal. Uncle Sam pays
bigger wages and gives bigger vacations
than any other employer on earth. The
men here get from Is to 30 per cent more
than In the. states. free medical attend
ance and free fuel. They can buy eatabIes
At a shade above cost and each Of them
mas six weeks vacation, with his high
rate of pay during the Year. ~
In return for this Uncle Sam sees that
hey do their work There Is mighty little
oafing on the island. and during work
ng hours every muscle Ii put to its high
st efficiency. There are detectives who
20 about to see n there Is any scamping
The Job or padding the pay rolls, and
The poor workman Is pretty sure to be
iropped.
This l. especially 30 Of the men hand
ing the machinery. A careful record Is
sept Of the amount Of labor thar each
machine performs. and from week TO
week the engineers know just what every
team shovel and every dredge b doing.
There Is great competition as TO which
machines and which gangs do the most
Ind as result we have had some sur
'rising work. The outputs Of the steam
novels have been doubled, and a single
novel has exeavated abou. 400 cubic
ards IN one day while another has a
'ecord Of having loaded more than $500
'ubic yards In one month. That first
hovel did the work Of over 600 men.
Tow whensit Is remembered that we have
ike 100 sfioyels on The isthmus
'ou can see how much II means that
u should work wen. Altogether the
novels alone represent q force equal
o the labor of 900 or 5e.coe men; ana
he sarneis True of other great machines
n the isthmus. such as the track. shift
re- and spreaders, each Of which does
he work Of hundreds.
Machine Efficiency.
Indeed. the amount Of labor saved At
,zuama By the use Of machiaery is enor-
nous Uncle Sam is doing nothing that
% can get steam. electricity Tor COM
'rsssed air to- DO. and he finds that u |
'syS Scientific studies are made Of |
lasting and drilling. and the men know
'sst where 70 use and where to save
ynalnits- In connection with the steam
horsis the government employs 100 or I
. nieu IN drilling and blasting II the
FORK were DOM By hand II would have
> have 700 Or AGO men and would ass
bout three times. the amount OF expso1 |
Ises. me track shifters and spreadsrs
'hich are hsndled by three white nen1
nd ax laborers. eant move more than a /
'ils Of track tn, day.f asd they, canl
prezd down an etghteenfoot dump 20 al
Tfds read OF nine feet It r. estimated
nat tbs assA men 50 working are equal