Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-10-05

ment This remarka BILE line, fifty miles
long. has had a most unusual history
OF the French project, it carried an i'm
mense freight and was veritable gold
nine on wheels. Then came the great
Failure and the railroad was left a
streak of rust through the Jungle
Uncle Sam again made it a profitable
push business proposition Now that the
road Is no longer allowed to compete
with it; that is, 1t carries no through
freight but only the domestic business
on the tsthmus. Its operations show a
profit of about $4,000, but If deteriora-
ton Of rolling stock. and other, factors
aaed ape t9kem IL nn into to- consideration the rail
The Panama Railroad Steamship
EGtmRpany stRmpaay and oRRerstng Rew Hngy between the
of s2,76O,0O0 and made about $500, 900
profit. The cost of conducting the zone
government was about 100000 more
than Its revenues.
Uncle Sam Ahead
Thus the financial status of the
canal, so far, is seen to be record of
proftts and losses. with Uncle Sam a
the game. But 1t is in the growth of
canal business that the great promise
lies. The big waterway was opened in
year tolls to the amount of. $26S,OO
s%Sq%ted s53S 1SS i to r $oS January e
v
June to s541,O00 In word. the busi-
ness of the canal showed a steady
growth which doubled its income be-
tween August and June. There is every
reason to believe that this growth will
steadily continue. ,,and there can be no
doubt but that the making of peace
IN Europe VIII be a tremendous stimu-
Though T 81 it. tno commerce 'n"' passes
Up to the end of the fiscal year, when
business of s4,343,000. total business
OF $lO,000,O00 is. confidently estimated
for the present fiscal year The. conf
ness will grow is shown by the fact
that they asked for a million dollars
with which to purchase new equipment
Al How long it will take to pay off the the
sowed % for Gpt are qnestoRs mest
mates. high offieiai eiy Of the eS canal anal
years, at, the utmost, the receipts from
the canal will be. paying the interest
upon the loan, and amortizing the debt.
per annum. No man can now say how
long long It & viii take to pay this immense
started, the financial stability of the
canal is assured.
The other unknown element is the
durability of the canal itself. 1t is es-
timated that the locks will last about
200 years; the terminals, including the
wharves and dry docks from fifty to
100 years. There is very little ma
chinery that will last more than
twenty five years. Frame living quar-
ters are assigned life of from twelve
to twenty-five years, and concrete quar-
ters of 100 years.
Upon many miles of cut and chan
mel, It is estimated that there is prac-
tically no depression, and these
permanent features represent about
about S125,000,000 of the total invest
ment.
Roughly averaging these rates of
wear and tear, 1T is estimated that the
depreciation of the canal will not be at
the rate of more than or 3 per cent
a year. This is admittedly a very low
rate, but 1t must be remembered that
never before has a great project been
so thoroughly and permanently con-
structed. Everything about it is built
of steel and concrete and founded upon
bedrock. 1t Is reasonable to expect
long life from construction of this char.
acter.