The farmer and mechanic., 1912-05-14


ltlace / found :. thousand cc4.-o'l
torches tied 10 The rafte.s and near !
them small haystack of amp weeks. +
Along the SIDE walls were bins of
nails and screws and carloads - tooi
handles There were hocSheaas upon
nossneads OF zlnt t<As is to Iut on the
galvanized roofing. and oar expert III
charge al that time estimated that
the value Of supplies in that house
was at least quarter IF q ulIliOn
dollars
At another place / vas shown piles
Of copper plates. each a, big the
top Of Z library able, an9 tons Of
copper bars fer the repair OF the ma
chinery. There were great bales Of
brass and steel wire and tons Of Z.n.
and lead
Fall.
When We took hold Of the work ue
found here 40 s,orehouScs and ware
houses full Of supplies. and also forty
one parks which contained Iuachin-
cry too heavy TO house under cover.
The contents Of the buildings and
parks were 50 great that one of the
engineers estimated that if AL the
machines and stuff could be leveled
down they would have been enough
to cover to the height Of your waist
these parks They were covered with
| structural material Here steel rails
were laid up like cord wood. and
| there sheets of zine and plates Of
iron were piled one upon another,
-At Empire and colon ] saw great
machine shops. and at Empire III"
| buildings covered about fifteen acres.
Some of the French shops were found
in the Jungle. but the brush and
! ,.ia nd "a old
mae hlnerN used. This was SO al
| Bas Matachin, where was unearthed
| 4 machine shop which had entirely
di:s;i ppcared. 1t WIS found to cover
| about = dozen acres, and to coEtal1
q complete equipment Of machine
tools. Il took @Hbou. three weeks for
uur gangs of men to cut down the
Jungle, and within y week or SO later
| the old French machinery was max
ing general pairs Of All kinds OF the
rolling stock Of the trains.
ETcncil Extravaganza and Graft.
Neyert lieless5. With all their care i!
to accountsand the sprirkiine 0f the
machinery with oil, the graft OF tn
French can be everyv here seen
ENerythin. was done by contract an,
the zraftcrs sent their stuff in by tn
, ton. IN many cases the supple
were furnished at go much per piece
the basement of the .dninistratio
building at Panama we found tw
I carloads Of the finest drawing pdpe
> in sheets. each the size Of bed
! spread. There was more Of that pa
: per than could possibly be used TO
q dozen, canals but our draftsme
! consumed what they needed. IN th
! same warehouse there We're six ton
Of steel pens. so rusty that they Ia
IT,, In oh JoI int
, , There We're also bolts made Of WOO
and painted black. to give the impress
. sion that they were iron or stee
) These were made according to san
: pie. but the model sent was of woot
: and the bolts and screws came j
: that form painted black Needles
to say, they were useless
I All along the line Of the canal ar
\ monuments TO the fortunes made b
( the building contractors Take tn
& concrete work. 1t was paid for b
the cubic yard. and little two an
: four room cottages were erected o
costly cement foundations viii
@ warehouses had great concrete wal
d under hem. The monuments Of thes
f buildings the wood haying rotte
y away, are still TO be seen all alon
). the line Of the canal. | counted &c
cement posts in one place.
, Cement Baths for Horses.
9 Among the other costly concret
II construction WAS that connected wit
: the stabes Of the officials Here
/ Ancon they made q bathtub Of c,
IS ment for the horses 1t was fftee
IS feet wide, seyentyfive feet long at
K, four feet in depth and was connecte
i with the water supply. The kren.
as engineers had their racing poni'
IF washed off instead Of currying ther
re ! remember a pig pen that ! 50
when | looked at that horse bat
II 1t has disa ppeared now but | W;
a told that il must have cost at lea
n SIS 900 to make. II covered aOo
n half IN acre and was rooted wi
ig galvanized IRON. The bed Of Il
X buiIdin;s was Of concrete. divided i'll
* pens Zach Of which had its teme
81 trough and il was supposed TO Il
le conlnluuate about 200 hogs.