Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-08

WASHINGTON. March Tho Pam
anna Canal has just broken two OF it's
own records--one for business. and the
othcr for speed. The last month for
W.ich statistics have been complied
January, l3I7-eHceeded any previous
month In the history Of the canal in
point Of number OF ships passing
through the big ditch. One hundred
ana scventyrnine occan-going vessels
made the passage. besides many small
launches and vessels belonging to the
canal service itself The high month
betore this was July, 1915. with ITO
ships Tho steamship balboa broke
me speed record, passing from Pa
t'hc 10 Atlantic in six hours and TWEEN
.lS-hvc minutes. In the absence OF the
canal. q similar trip around tho Horn
would have taken her more than a
month.
~ time like tho present, the i'm
mchse advantage OF Owning canal
through tho isthmus i'm working order
Is obvious. The canal is so important
from strategic point of view that il
would probably be worth the price
on that score alone if not, a ton Of
commercial shipping passed through il.
However, commercial shipping is pass
ing through. and in rapidly incrcas-
ing amounts. The tonnage mounted
steadily until the passage was block
ed Try slides. which rendered the chan
mel impossible for some months "a
little less than year ago. In spite
OF ungroundcds and alarming reports
about the probability of further slides
after clearance had been effected,
world shipping turned back to the
canal as soon as IT rcopened, and the
tonnage passing monthly has been GO
ing un ever since. What is passing
through to-day is no more than an
earnest Of what will pass in the flu
ture. The slides are practically con-
quered.
This is point that deserves empha-
slS rs the FORMER governor Of the
Canal Zone. General Goctha.s. said. the
misleading report about slides did more
harm than the slides themselves All
sorts of wild stories got afioat. from
one in England which reported that
tho bottom Of the canal had penetrated
to - soft oozc which kept bubbling up,
and would continue To bubble up in
definitely and block traffic. to that OF
passing biologists who surveyed tho
situation from steamer decks and de-
cidcd that all the surrounding noun
tain ranges would have TO fall in
and be car,cd away before pcrma
nent canal would he possible. The
English story grew in proportions un-
III IL eventually ran that the United
states was negotiating with Nicaragua
win view L. digging new canal
VIII Continue Doing nusIncss.
All these rumors had their effect on
taken only a few months TO show that
the canal is going t. continue t. do
business at the original stand. Even
sooner than the conservative engineers
IN charge OF the work predicted. the
slide problem has shrunlt until II is
no longer formidable.
In the last six months of 1916. 1853
ships passed through the canal From
the time Of the opening of the canal
up 10 the first of last January ESQ
ships made the passage: the bulk OF
the business has been done in the last
six or eight months. The canal has
been closed for seven months since it's
original opening, hut as these seven
months were equally divided between
1915 and 1916, the fact does not affect
the conclusion that business has been
increasing with time over 100000
tons Of cargo have been carried through
the canal since 1T was opened.
OF all tho hundreds of commodities
carried through the canal from aero
planes To zinc. the first place in noint
of quantity goes TO nitrates, Nitrates
are greatly in demand in war time. not
only as fertilizer. but as the basis of
explosives: the fact that the canal
makes the Chilean deposits more ac-
cessible to the United States is one of
the points where ii is strategically val
liable. Well over 100000 tons OF
nitratcs went from the Pacific 10 the
Atlantic via the canal in the first two
years OF its operation. or those, the
United States got rather more than
half. the rest going to Europe. After
nitrates, the loading commodities in
point OF tonnage were coal and sugar
most OF which was shipped the other
way. from the United States TO South
America.
SimpIiHex Nayy's Problem
From the strategic point OF view. the
principal value of the canal is, of