The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-01-12
CANAL IS
WORK OF GENIUS
win Require Constant Attention
says Expert, and Never Can
Be Completed a

AT the recent meeting Of the Liver
pool Geographical Society an interest /, /,
ing address was delivered by DIR, vaus
han Cornish, F.R.G.s., on the Panama
Canal and It's Importance TO all tie
nations Of the world. Ii
A. A. Booth, chairman Of the cunard
Line, who presided, said that Doctor
Cornish had recently visited the canal,
and would be able to tell them exactly 4
how the work had been completed. He
Mr.. Booth-supposed completed was
really not the word, because a canal
Of that kind could never be completed,
A. instant work must DC going on. As
they read in the press few days ago,
the work Of the canal had been inter
Fupted by, a landslide Owing to the
VIZ in which III other news was. cut
out Of the newspapers by the war they
had not heard or read nearly as much
Of the canal as they would under ordin.
airy Ncircumstances. Ehl, ssss Af
In the course Of his address Doctor
Cornish dwelt on the eradication of
malaria and yellow fever from the
Canal Zone and the great benefits which
had resulted. IL was matter Of great
significance, he said, for the future OF
the tropical lands and more particu.
larly for South America.
A Great Undertaking
he said that he had visited Panama
last February and March. The water
had been let into the canal, the lake
had been filed and some beginning had
been made with navigation. Al free
navigation of the canal was interrupt
/ ed by land slides, and there was Q
marked ,reticence in the accounts which
were allowed to be published OF those
important oecurrences. He felt II was
quite necessary, ~ he was TO get an
informed and Independent opinion up.
on the immediate prospects of the can
al, 70 90 over and look at the workings
/, himself. The Atlantic end of the canal
was considerably to the west Of the
/ Pacific and running, more or less, north
and south, and not, as frst supposed,
east and west. At Spillway there was
to be seen the great Regulating machine
| cry TO control the surplus waters Of
/ the river and its tributaries. When the
fourteen lock gates at Gatun were open
the flow Of water was actually greater
than the flow Of water over Niagara
Falls, The engineer had been abnsed
/ for spelling waterfalls, but at GatuB
they had one of the finest waterfalls
in the world, 4 After he had seen that
splendid flow Of water he went back
to the power house, distant 1 eonsid,
crnble way from, the great gates, and
i "a ~ - Z ~.
THOSE gates with his hand on. an elee.
came gently sliding down into the river,
j regulating the force. Of, those waves
1T was the most striking example he
lad seen In his life of man : control Of
natural forces. When one thought what
\ that marvel of mechanism had done In
(, the last few years down in the very
4 heart of "a tropical forest in the middle
4 of % wilderness, which was a few years
! ago d hotbed Of deadly fevers, it was
Impossible to restrain one . admiration
4 for the men who had done that work,
and also for the nation that had sup
ported and erconraged, them in the dis.
tant sphere Of their great labors .,
Land Slides Chief Trouble 4 ...,
i ; It isJquite true that Do Lesseps did
not finish the canal, that his money
came to an end, but he (the slecturer)
did not think they should talk Of the
failure Of De Besseps, because he was
the first man who said that there should
he q canal. and that II should DO at
Panama. The great difficulty that they
hRd was, the land slides. When he saw
the canal in February there was As
i feet Of Fresh water maintained, which
was, equivalent TO more than 40 feet
Of, salt water, and the width 81 that
channel WIS about 500 fect, and the
least width was 800 feet, but .hhfortp
lnately there was still considerable DIFF,
iculty met with at the center of the
Culebta Cut. All the dam was finished
and the locks practically finished, and
everything was wofkinR satisfactorily
Iexcept Cd the two sides Of the hill
where two ,landslides occurred within
one and one-half miles Of each other
and that was the only thing that stood
Between, the engineers and the compile
ton Of the canal AL through Septem
Der the canal was considerably used by
vessels Of large dimensions. but un,
fortunately during October there had
been an, increased development Of the
land slides. When he returned 10 Lon
don in March he. gave an account OF
his examination. and his opinion was
that the canal could be made ultimate
j " a complete success. AT Balboa, the
| Pacific terminal, they we're fitting Out
tueat docks and piers. 1t Is to be
the great port on the Pacific Ocean
because, although the Panama Cana
, was TO be great commercial undertak
, ing, II was equally important as :
lstrategie llndertakin W f'il7
Honolulu Key To Position
The strategic aspect was very i'm
, poftant and interesting. He had spok
en- more than once Of the reelection Of
distances as it affected steamers. TIT
distance between New York and Sar
Francisco was reduced by 5000 miles
and between Liverpool and yaneouye
! by 5000 miles, yet the Panama Cana
was disappointing as regarded there
dHction Of distances 70 some Pacif,
Ocean ports. There was a reduction
from New York to Yokohama of, 3S0l
, lmiles and to SYDNEY of 3500 miles Int