Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-10-14
NUMBER Al

derfully varied. the birds are In Infinite
variety and most beautiful, while wild
flowers Of dazzling colors are in pro-
fusion. The canal zone, where occu.
pied In the canal operations, long since
was freed Of dangerous animal LIFE
Distinct but inconsequental earth
quake shocks have been felt In Pana-
ma for centuries. The San Francisco
earthquake In 1906 was not recorded
on the canal zone seismograph. In the
seventeenth century a violent shock oc-
Cured, but none In the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, nor has any been
recorded in the twentieth century, al
though In Costa Rica, the republic ad-
Joining Panama, a severe shock in
1910 caused considerable loss Of life
ard property. So far as past perform.
ances can indicate, the canal should
net suffer from earthquakes.
The Atlantic and Pacific oceans are
Oh the same level, but the tide on the
Pacific side has maximum lift OF
twenty-one feet, while on the Atlantic
side the maximum lift is only two and
one-half feet Allowance for this va
rtatlon was made by providing deep
er channel for the canal on the Pacific
side, so that the passage Of ships will
not be affected by the tides. The shape
Of the bay of Panama causes the high
tide on the Pacific side.
As there is not favorable geographi-
cal arrangement at either end OF the
canal in the way Of harbors the de-
fects have been supplied by breakwa-
tiers. At the Atlantic entrance a break
water more than two miles long runs
from Toro point to shield ships lying
In the entrance from the violent north
ers that occasionally sweep the coast
Another breakwater q half mile long
running out from the Colon water front
will protect shipping in that harbor
from storms on the east At the Pa
cifc entrance storms are not danger
GUS, but the currents deposited silt In
the channel in such quantities as to
make q breakwater advisable, and this
one runs from the mainland to Naos
island, three miles out In the bay, and
connects with the Notifications. 1t
was built from material excavated In
the Culebra cut, whereas the Atlantic
breakwaters were built largely Of rock
quarried at Porto Bello
Panama and Colon are cities Of great
Interest to the tourist. The former has
about $4,000 population and the latter
10000. Panama is the capital Of tho
republic and has handsome national
theater and institute, street car syS-
TEN, and number Of old cathedrals
are interesting sights. The canal en-
ployees travel for half fare on the
railroad and are often In evidence In
the quaint little victoria carriages that
handle the street traffic ut 10 cents
ride In the,two cities.
"What tAs nation will insist upon Is
that results be achieved" wrote Presi-
dent Roosevelt in his order creating
the first isthmian canal commission
that he appointed, on March s, 1904,
and that remained the keynote OF his
attitude toward the canal. He an
nounced its full personnel rs follows:
Admiral John G. Walker. U. S. n,
chairman; Major General George w.
Davis, U. s. A.; William Barclay Par
sons, William II. Burr, Benjamin N.
Harrod, Carl Ewald Grunsky, Frank
j. Hecker.
This commission held its first meet
Ing in Washington on March %. when
preparations were made for visit to
the isthmus, which 1t reached on
April s. After three weeks OF inyes-
tIgations 1t decided that such en-
gineering records as the French left
must be supplemented by fresh ex-
ploratlons and surveys, that the santa
ton Of the canal zone and the cities OF
Colon and Panama was Of the first i'm
portance and that a period OF prepara-
tion generally must precede effective
construction operations. Surgeon Colo
rel W. G. Gorgas accompanied the
commission on this trip and made the
preliminary plans for cleaning up the
isthmus which. when worked out.
were to make him famous. The COM
mission returned to the United States
on April 90.
At meeting between representa-
tiyes Of the United States and the
French Canal company In Paris on
April 10 the sale Of the company's
property for S4O.OO0.0OO was signed
and was ratified by the shareholders