The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-07-19
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bitter terms. but the engineers never
changed their plans. and after 1t was
completed III 1873 These same muck,
rakers were loud In their praise,
Others took mp the slides In Culebrs
Cut, and one sent a report to his paper
that the sides Of the cut were smoking
and that volcano was under the
Gold Hi. The report spread over the
country and experts were sent TO the
Is,hmus only to md that no such con-
ditlons existed.
All sorts OF ridiculous stories were
circulated. Even the missary De-
parfment came in for share OF the
criticism, vet every canal employe will
tell you that he has been able TO sup
port his family on food just ais pure
as that sold in tho United States and
at far less cost. The workmen were
well housed-far better than those
VINO are Engaged IN factory labor in
the United States. OF course, once In
awhile a disgruntled workman gave
out story of unfair treatment which
upon investigation was found to be
merely a trifiing disagreement between
the foreman and himself. The women.
too. sometimes perhap7
because Mrs. Brown had better looking
/ dining furniture. or the apart
ment OF Mrs. Jones had larger rooms,
but on tho whole even the women
agree that life on the Canal Zone is all
that could be wished for, and that
everybody was given fair deal.
Every act of the Commission was
4 IA nd 81 u TalDVQa from
the chief engineer to the poorest la
borer WAS given q hearing If he felt
that no was not receiving his Just
deserts Colonel GoeihUls for several
years held open court every Sunday
morning for the purpose Of hearing
complaints Indeed. this court has
gone down In history as one of tho
most remarkable ways OF dealing out
Justice Each member Of the Commits
sion had a special duty--a duty which
was so well performed that one OF its
members. Colonel p. u. GailFard. gave
his life In that line---a martyr to the
greatest work ever undertaken by
man. Whom the Commission complet-
ed their task the canal was practically
ready for small steamers and was
opened 10 them on the tenth day OF
May. Had IL not been for the activity
Of the Cucuracha side the canal as
far as the waterway was concerned,
would have been completed a year be-
fore its formal opening, which has
been set for January LIST, 1915, AZ it
Is, barring accidents. II is believed that
It will be ready for the use OF all YES
sells In September.
Cucuracha Slide Troublesome.
Tho Cucuracha slide has been the
bette noir ever since the work began,
and even Iii the days Of the French
II was the hoodoo of progress. The
channel through Cluebra Cut IS at
present about two hundred feet wide.
one hundred feet less than 1t will be
when completed. The slides there
have already reached the enormous
total of $4,000 600 cubic yards of
earth and still the monster Curcuracha
resists control. Colonel Gaillard, who
was the engineer in charge OF the Cen
trail Division since 1908, believed that
the water would give stability TO the
sides and stop us progress, and per-
haps II has I'm measure. but not as
completely as Colonel Gaillard had
hoped. The, tight against Cucuracha
led to Colonel Gaillards death. Day
and night he planned against its prog
ress, only 20 meet defeat. Finally,
nature could stand no more and the
faithful officer came North for rest
and medical treatment---a physical.
and mental wreck, dying a few months
later.