The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-11-23
Prediction Of French Engineer
That lsthmus Never Would
Be Success Recalled
THEORY IT WAS AN ARCH
BETWEEN TWO CONTINENTS
Said Slides viii AppaI Human
ity': Government Has Option
On Other Route


earth slides, which has affected tire
mendously the maritime interests OF
honolulu, has revived discussion Of q
Eicaraguan canal, which ceased to be
considered at all when President RoOse-
welt definitely committed the United
states to the Panama waterway.
Justis w. Parker of Philadelphia tells
Of his acquaintance with Fernaud
Schmerber, French engineer, who be.
lived that Panama never would be q
good canal. Schmerber was living In
the mainland when the location of the
ANAL was under consideration. He had
been with the de LesseIs engineers, and
.'arker describes him rs an engineer OF
eminence, tutor of John Nays Ham,
mnnd n university and Swiss technical
school graduate, authority on air con
ptessor machines, thoroughly familiar
with all parts of the world
Landsiides Were Predicted
"Such an equipment was his when
the American Government took up the
canal question. Mr., Roosevelt and Mr.
Taft heard Of him and he was invite,
to Washington, said Mr.. Parker, in
part. Discussion was then rife OF
the sea level or lock systems. Mr.
Schneider Rgain went to Panama, and
came home and wrote up n report. II
was not especially long, but We y point
ed. Mr.. Schmerber made use OF the
words, the landslides will appall hu
manity.' He told them canal could
not be built across Panama and made tC
stay that If attempted at sea level il
would be an utter failure, for the bot
tom would continually rise; if lock
canal, that the slides even then would
be perpetual.
Panama Is A Keystone
81 have talked with Mr.. Schmerbcr
for | knew him well, and his theory
was: Panama is keystone between
North and South America, and is the
result of natural causes, one of which
may be the earth s inclination to the
plane of the iechptic. 1t cannot be dis
| turbed without almost an immediate
replacement, and the very nature of the
rock and earth formations there prove
this, for they are broken layers Of earth
and stone, crushed, so to speak, and
always ready to move. Geologically
when compared to the earth's size
these movements of million or AZ
yards of ear m yand stone are infnitesi
NAL but they are bsohitely stupen
dous to man. We can dig for a hun
dred years and replacement will al
ways occur in bulk sufficient to para
lyze humanity, yet Gcologically incon
sequential.
Mr.. Schmerber died seven or eight
years ago, but Mr.. Parker says he re-
1lls the prophecy that canal never
could be built successfully at Panama
and that he believes that the count y
finally will abandon lunanla and tina,
general GOethaIs is coming to the same
opinion.
Nicaraguan Recalls Pans
At the recent session of the Intcrna
tiOnal Engineering Congress the dele
gate from Nicaragua recalled the sur
vey of the Nicaragua location made
thirty years ago and the estimate Of
Sl2u ,nOO,0uO to dig the ditch. He said
TINT the lock plan finally adopted ror
Panama was that made in 1888 for the
Nicaragua canal by engineers of the
American company owning eOncrssiOn
from the Nicaraguan government; that
nature had placed in the center of the
country the two lakes and their navip
able outlet, covering 10000 square miles,
ITO feet above the sea, leaving only
about fifteen miles to be excavated, on
firm ground, without "any bottomlesg
mass Of clny.'' The Nicaragua routo,
he said, was 500 miles north of PAM
ma on the Pacific side aud 500 on the
Atlantic side, shortening the time he
tween San Francisco and New York by
two days TINT via Panama, even with
longer time in the Canal
Nicaraguan Route Available
lie closed by expressing the hope
that some of the enNineCrs would come
to Nicaragua to hmild the Canal there,
and with this statement:
As things stand Mt present and for
the outlook of the development of the
commerce Of the world, it is sensible
to believe that the Nicaragua canal
proposition has yet some future. The
government of the United States has &C.
cured from the government Of Mica
ragua an option to construct that canal
whenever it is deemed convenient.