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

Justice, operating ship terminals and
supplying canal employees with the
necessaries Of life through commits.
saries and hotels
While Secretary Taft and Chief En-.
Glneer Wallace were working In tIleir
spheres. Governor Davis was Institnt.
ing the various departments OF civn
government, which today are noted
with admiration by the tourist. CHEF
of Police Stanton was engaged IN rid
ding the canal zone Of ifS lad men
and bringing Il population long without
restraint under the control of rertlla.
lions TINT the AMERICANS considered
essential to orderly existence.
From. tho first Mr.. Wallace Ind kent
close tab on the cost OF ext,lvnting dirt
in the cul'bra cut. The tyne to he
CHOSEN being 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 q sea level or lock type canal.
Messrs. Parsons and Burr. the engi.
neering committee Of the commission.
nfter a personal inspection of the canal
zone and taking Mr.. Wallace's estI.
mate. recommended sea levelStype OF
canal. 1t was TO COST. exclusive of i'm.
provemeRts In Colon and Panama and
civil government In the canal zone.
$230. 100000. AFR Wallace had caused
surveys TO be made for lock type Of
canal. and he estimated the cost of
such canal, with summit level of
sixty feet elevation, to be S1Ts.Oi3,4o6.
All estimates missed the real cost of
the respective types widely Mr. Wal.
lace's estimate OF 80 cents ward for
excavation was far too low. As a mat
ter of record, the cost reached 50 cents
under Chief Engineer Stevens. rose
to 81 cents under Chief Engineer
Goethals and only once fell below
the fifty cent estimate, in March, 1911,
when it fell to Al cents n 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 1t could be handled by the
steam shovels, while the working dny.
which had been ten hours under Mr..
Wallace, was cut to eight hours under
Messrs. Stevens and Cocktails, and
wages rose sharply as well.
Persistent and vigorous complaints
from Mr.. Wallace about the hindrances
OF governmental methods of doing
business found a receptive ear in Pres.
ident Roosevelt The executive was
just as eager to make the dirt fly as
Mr.. Wallace and readily agreed that
a commission OF seven members was
an awkward and Ill working manage.
nent for the peculiar conditions of the .
Job at Panama. Accordingly drastic
action was decreed.
Secretary Taft on March %. 1905.
asked the entire commission to resign.
Mr.. 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
anal commission to be appointed by
President Roosevelt was announced.
Heading it was a new figure in canal
lfrairs, Theodore P. shonts, who play.