The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-24
dvIIn
WITHIN

that it may affect the current of the
Gulf Stream and Icfiect H.
f, am assured that this story is true,
{ although at first I could hardly be-
licve IL. The man referred TO is tn.
commander of the British forces in
the West Indies. stationed at ia
maica.
a story somewhat similar was fioa,-
ing upon this Imaginative Caribbean
air when l was herr in iS's, now
fourteen years ago. The latter re-
lated to Yankee sea captain and
clustering son of John Bull. The Brit
isher was Boosting OF the power Of his
government. and sayiug how i; would
wipe out the United states in ease
Of ii war between the two countries
Thcreupon the Yankee ,aI replied:
Indeed, man, II makes me laugh to
hear YOU Britlshers blow. Why II
Uncle sam wanted TO clean out your
tight little island all he need 10 Is 10
dig ditch through the Isthmus Of
Panama and aurn the Gulf Stream into
the Pacific. The next winter after
that England would be as cold as
Labrador and YOU Britishers would
turn into l2skimos."
Man! CT the tourists, and even some
Of the writers about the canal who
come here, show an ignorance which Is
colossal. The other day lady CORE.
spcndcnt from the Middle West was
sent down to spend week and write
Il dozcn newspaper letters Sh. inter-
viewed every one. including the secre-
tary OF the commission, who. during
the talk happened to mention DE
Lcsseps
DE Lesseps?" said the girl. WHO
was De I.esseps, anyhow? Everyone IL
talking about De Lesseps. oil. | re-
member now! He was the man who
discovered the Isthmus of Panama"
\ RaIirond View of the Canal
But let Us return TO the canal proper.
The great ditch. as II looks to-day. is
far different from anything one can
imagine. Many of you have pictures
of 1t in your minds You see ragged
excavation of dry rock and .ortn cut
here and there by waterways and run
ming across the isthmus from one side
10 the other, with some elevation at
the hills. You may ginc the sides
/ walled with stone. and may even mag
| inc you can see the great machinery
| as il Is working in the Culeora cut. !
You probably conceive big locks oG
concrete here and there and ina ginc
something OF tn. great dam al Gatuu |
All this is haZy. but you think you
know how the canal looks as II is /
now. You are mistaken. The eyes OF !
your brain are, mctaphorically speak !
ing. a thousand miles on; of the way
the wild ducks which ny over It you
would be greatly disappointed. tn: !
most OF the canal does not show the /
work done upon II. and you cannot rea-
HE that more than enough earth 20 |
make wall nine feet high and three
feet wide clear around the world ha. !
been moved. You are told that upward I
OF quarter of q billion OF money
! has been spent. and you look in vain
for the marks OF the dollars You !
VIII understand all better later on .
when take you through the canal.
Let me tell you in simple words how
the undertaking struck inc is [ cams
In to-day. As we approached Colon !
saw no sign OF canal. There was n ,
brcakwaicr away off to the right, but
no evidence of any interior waterway 1
In fact. all my ideas We're turned up
/! Side down. l thought I was looking
toward the west and our steamer was
really facing the Pacific Ocean which
lay beyond a rang. of low mountains
only nifty miles off. But 10. the sun
rose there right in our faces and out
OF the Pacific. and it seemed 10 me IL
perceptibly winlSed as it squinted at
| me over this the lowest range OF the
Andes.
had 10 stop ana think a momen I !
before | knew why this was. The 18th.
! mus here runs east and west, instead
of north and south. and the canal itself
runs north and south instead of east
and west. | hav. a room facing the
east at Uncle SANS big hotel here at
Panama, and I sec the sun actually rise
out of the Pacific Ocean every morn.
ing. This part of the isthmus is the
only place / know Of where. standing
on our hemisphere. you can note this
J geographical fact.
The Canal mt Colon.
The entrance to the canal al Colon
! is now invisible from the steamers. |
| looked in vain for dredges and exca-
waiting material. There were no piles
| OF dirt and rock. Everything is of
! the greerest OF green. The shore is
! fringed with cocoanut trees. and thu
green grass grows all around
| Tho steamers land you at Colon, o
! ragged, shabby town of low, two.story
/ frame houses with galleries running
| along the first stories and shading the
streets. The town Is hordered at one
! side with cocoannt trses, and stand
| ing on the steamer at the right YOU
sec great cocoanut grove In which
lies Christobai. Colon's big American
| sister This has some OF the canal ad-
: ministration buildings and the homes