El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-01-17

I canal will live. They will have houses Of
/ concrete formed after the same style as the
/ administration building, and their little city
] viii be modern and artistically planned 1t
/ viii have all the cOnveniences for tropical
/ living. The houses viii have wide pOrches
ana every opening be covered with a mesh
! Of fine wire. The principal public buildings
I win face central avenue. and this win be
I covered by a continuous roof to keen out
! the sun and the rain. The town viii have
! its tennis courts baseball fields and band
! stands, as well as its clubhouse, concert
There will be other settlements at the Ga
! tum locks, and also at MraflOres and Pedro
Miguel, as well as at CristObal, at the At
iantic end Of the canal The present struc-
lures at these points will probably be left
for some time to come, but they Will even
tually be replaced by buildings Of concrete
Most of the other towns along the line Of
{ the channel will be taken down. and their
building materials will be shipped TO other
along the channel remind one Of a Japan
Sc village. Their houses have the same
somher black and white character, and they
are quite as airy and roomy
Great Warehouses To Be Built
Lhe government has not yet Begun to
build its great warehouses and the depots
for fuel and oil. 1t will probably retain the
cold storage plants now m use. as it viii
carry on a great commercial business here
to the steamers The coaling docks will be
enormous The navy department wants 10O,-
600 tons kept on hand at the Atlantic ter
minus Tor Its own use, and there viii be
another great coaling station at Balboa.
The CristObal cOaling station will hold
100000 tons, and the one at Balboa more
than half that amount This coal will be
stored in basins Of concrete. and One-half Of
1t viii be left under water and untouched
exceut in time of war Tho other hair will
be for the steamers which pass through the
canal, and for our government vessels.
There will also be tanks ROr fuel oil at both
terminals and these viii be connected by
great pipe lines, which viii run across the
isthmus, with pumping stations so that
the OIL can De transferred from one to the
other.
As to the commercial aspects Of the case.
the government is 1nsttuting these supply
depOts for the protection Of the ships which
will go through the canal and also for the
force Uncle sam will keep on the isthmus
It has been successfully carving on a sim
liar business during the construction. 1t
has run the big TivoIf hotel at a Drofit
which amounted last year to S53 1000, and
1t has served food to the men the work
at what is practically cost prices In one
-'VVg'OOO meals at 80 cents each, and in the
height Of the construction it was doing a
business Of about S7.OOO000 per annum-
During that time it supplied about 10000
people with food and household necessities.
L believe the cOmmissary was run at a
profit and have no doubt but that the
coaling and supply business can be made
The Operating Force.
have asked Col GOethals something
about the operating force which will be re-
CURED to run the canal He puts the limit
at 250O but in addition to this there will
be force Of from 6OOO to 5000 troops kept
here at the various stations of the fortifica-
tons and other defences.
The matter Of fOrtifying the waterway is
one that the officials here refuse to discuss
They viii not allow photographs to be made
near the forts, and so far but little accurate
Information has been given outside that in
the proceedings Of congress of what will be
necessary to protect the canal
The evidence, however, is that the work
is going rapidly on. The Pacific islands
have been cut into shape, and the work Of
installing the big guns at the Atlantic en-
trance viii soon be under way. Congress has
already appropriated more than s2,5O0, 900
for the Notifications, and it has been de-
cided to erect them on the islands of Fla
mencO PericO and Macs, out in the Pacific
facing Balboa; and on Toro point and on
Margarita island, in the Atlantic There !
viii also be forts on the mainland There