The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1913-09-13

"
Justice, operating ship terminals ana
supplying canal employees with fbe
necessaries l6f life through commits.
saries and hotels. a3.
While Secretary Taffa and chief In.
gineer Wallace; were working in tlieir
spheres. Governor Davis was institut.
ing the various departments of civil
government. which today are noted
with admiration by the tourist. cliief
of Police Stanton wnS engaged in fiti-
ding0 the canal zone of lis lad men
and3bringtns Il population long without
restraint under the control ofrregilia:
tons TINT. the AMERICANS considered
essential to orderly existence.
: From the first Mr.. Wallace had kent
close tab on the cost OF exravnting dirt
In the euIlbra nut The tyne to he
CHOSEN 6eing sun an unknown factor.
he was In some measure working in
the DARK except that the material re-
moved would be useful for any type.
provided the dumps were selected so
as later not to get in the way of any
route chosen. In 1912 the Americans
had to remove Il French dump near
Culebra to prevent Its slipping down
Into the cut He finally announced a
unit cost OF SO cents cubic yard for
either a sea.ievel or lock type canal.
Messrs. Parsons and Burr. the engi-
neering committee Of the commission.
after a personal inspection OF the canal
zone and taking Mr.. Wallace's estI.
mate. recommended sea levertype Of
canal. 1t was TO cost. exclusive Of i'm
provemeRts In Colon and Panama and
civil government In the canal zone.
$23o, 100000, Aft, Wallace had caused
surveys to be nade for lock type IL
canal. and he estimated the cost tof
such canal with summit level of
sixty feet elevation. to be S1Ts.Ol3, 4O6.
All estimates missed the reaLcost of
the respective types widely. Mr. wal.
lace's estimate of 80 cents a yard for;
excavation was far too low. AS mat
ter of record, the cost reached;S2 cents
under Chief Engineer Stevens, rose
to 81 cents under Chief Engineer
Goethnls and only once fell below
the fifty cent estimate, in March. 1911,
when 1t fell to AZ cents a yard. The
average for the period from 1904 TO
1911 was IS cents. The mistake was
made because solid rock underlay the
surface, necessitating continuous blast
ing before it could be handled by the
steam shovels, while the working day,
which had been ten hours under Mr.
Wallace, was cut to eight hours under /
Messrs. Stevens and Goethals, and
wages rose sharply as well.
Persistent and vigorous complaints
from afr. Wallace about the hindrances
OF governmental methods OF doing 4
business found a receptive ear in Pres.
ldent Roosevelt. The executive was
Just as eager to make the dirt fiy as
Mfr. Wallace and readily agreed that
commission of seven members was
an awkward and Ill working manage |
ment for the peculiar conditions of the
Job at Panama. Accordingly drastic
action was decreed.
Secretary Taft on March 20. 1905,
asked the entire commission to resign.
MFR. Wallace was in Washington. and
the president and Secretary Taft fol-
Owed his suggestions almost to the let.
ter, including the one that the chief
be made member of the
/
On April ], 1905. the second isthmian
canal commission to be appointed by
President Roosevelt was announced.
Heading it was a new figure in canal
ltfairs Theodore P. shouts, who play