THE PANAMA CANAL.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12903, 7 September 1907, Page 4

THE PANAMA CANAL.

A GIGANTIC UNDERTAKING. (SFECIALI/V WRITTEN FOR "THE PRESS.") (By an Ex-Resident of CmusTCHURcn.) It is impossible, by means of an article, to convey an adequate impression of tho magnitude of tho task undertaken by the United States Government in constructing a waterway across tho Isthmus of Panama, connecting tho waters of tho Atlantic and Pacifio Oceans. Only by ;i personal visit to tho scene of tho undertaking can a fair realisation be obtained of the difficulties to bo overcome. Tho masterly and ablo manner, however, in which the United State? has gone about tho work leaves no room for any doubt of its successful outcome, and the canal will unquestionably be in operation well within the time set, namely, by tho year 1915. In this article I will endeavour to convey a general idea of tho undertaking by means of information collected on a personal visit to the Isthmus from responsible officials of the Isthmian Canal Commission.

The Canal Zone, as it is called, comprises a strip of land across tho Isthmus of Panama, ten miles in width, being five miles on either side ol the projected route of tho canal, and has been leased by the Government of tho United States from the Republic of Panama, tho terms being 10,01)0,000 dollars cash, and an annual rental ol 200,000 dollars, which yearly payment will commence nine years after the rati. ncation of the treaty of 1904. This Canal Zone is entirely under the jurisdiction of tho United States, and is in no way subject to the laws of the Republic of Panama, having its own police, courts, post offices, etc. By an express stipulation of the lease, the Republic of Panama agreed that the towns of Colon and Panama, at either end of tho canal, would comply with all tho sanitary measures necessary to the health of tho Canal Zone, and that il the Republic could not maintain this desired sanitary condition, the United States were empowered to enforce the necessary measures. A similar cliuse also gave the United States tho powei to regulate tho Police Departments ot Colon and Panama. One of the first actions of the American Government upon entering on the construction ot tho canal, was to enforce these con tlitions of tho lease, and make such sanitary improvements in Colon and Panama as would not only ensure a healthy condition in tho Canal Zone, but would also make tho towns themselves habitable for white men, a con. dition which hns not existed since they were built. Tho outlay expended for this purpose by the paving of the streets and the installation of a firstclass sewerage ami water system, will some time bo repaid by the Republic of Panama. Tho water system will bo maintained by the payment to.tho United States of reasonable water rates. The towns of Colon and Panama are today clean, honlthy, and well kept, and there has not.been n single rase of yellow fever in either town for over twelve months. Th« scoursje of mosquitoes, responsible hitherto for the infection of yellow fever and malaria, is fast dying out, owing to tho efficient drainage of the swamps and low-lying ground adjacent to the towns. The beneficent influence of tho United States Government is manifested by the increased progress throughout the Republic, and the lorge yearly increase of population in .the towns of Colon and Panama. Their" population to-day is respectively about 12.000 aud 40,000. Evidences of the work accomplished by the French abound all along the

route of the canal. All kinds of machinery end oars are. to be seen everywhere, and at one place I counted no less than one hundred and twenty locomotives which had been abandoned These locomotives are still in first-class order, and are being utilised by the Americans as required. Many of the old French camps are also being renovated end made habitable, . among them being the one in the vicinity of MatachinT where, during the f rench occupation, between seven and eight hundred Chinese labourers, suffering trom yellow fever, grew so despondent that they committed suicide by joining hands and walking dchboiately into we adjacent River Chagres, where xnoy were all drowned. The Atlantic terminal of the canal will be the town of Cristobal, adjacent to Colon. From Cristobal to Uatun, a distance of little over seven mike, eea level will be maintained, the channel of the canal for this distance being 500 ft wide and having a depth of 42ft bolow mean tide. At Gatun an immen.se dam of earth will be constructed, which will be 13oft above- sea level, or 180 ft above the bed ot tlio canal at Uatun. Tms dam will be 7700 ft long, having a wmth at its boxrtorn of and 100 ft at its sumrait. The object of this dam will o<? to form, with the aid oi the side hills, an artificial lake between Uatun and Bas Obispo, a distance of 25 miles, to be fed by the waters of the Chagres River, k a comparatively small stream in the dry season, but a raging torrent in the rainy season. The area of the lake will bo about 110 square miles. The courso of the canal through this lako will require very little excavation until it reaches San Pablo, 16J nines from Gatun. The depth of the channel through the lako is to bo 45ft, and in consequence of the greater amount of excavation which will be necessary to maintain this depth from San Paolo to Bas Obispo, the channel between these points will be gradually narrowoii, until at the latter point it will not bo over 300 ft. • The water in tho lake *il bo 85ft above the mean tide of t:«e Carribboan Sea, and vessels will bo lifted to'its level by means ot a flicl.t of three locks of 28 l-3ft ordinary lift each, erected at Gatun.

From Bas Obispo to a point near Paraiso, a distance of 42 miles, is tne most difficult portion of the undertaking. This portion of the canal i« known as the "Culobra Its magnitude can only faintly be imagin+u when it is stated that although seventy five million cubic yards of earth and rock have already been removed by the Fiouch anil Americans to date, the.** still remain thirty million cubic yards to be removed, fcipeakiiig from a personal inspection of this part of r!if> work, I may say that its immensity j.< awe-inspiring. It practically mc ins making a cut through a solid mountain, 200 ft wide, about 400 ft deep, and 4i miles long.

From a point near Paraiso to Pecln Miguel, a distance of nearly two mi'.cw the width of the canal will bo 300 ft, and this section will not present much difficulty. At Pedro JJiguel a lock will bo constructed, ■which will have a fn.il of 30ft, and a short dam from the lock to the hill to tbo northward will t>o constructed to retain the water at the summit level. From the Pedro Miguel lock, the channel will have a widtli ot 500 ft lor a distance of nearly two miles, and will then increase to a width of 1000 ft for a distance of a little over 3J mles, to n point near Sosa Hill, on the shoro of Panama Bay, whore the Sosa locks will bo constructed. ■ Most of the excavations in the sect' -r between the Pedro Miguel lock and the Sosa lock is soft earth, and can k» easily handled with dredges. TheSof» locks will consist of two ? with a rail of 27ift each, which will crinec I' l ** canal to sea level on the Paci3c Occ-'iii. From Sosa locks to the deep water at La Boca, in Panama Bay, the final rection of the canal, is a distance of about four miles. The canal channel will here have a width of 500 ft, ana a depth of 60ft below mean tide. The excavation for this section is all eo't. and presents no difficulties. The oanal will be 50 miles in length, and will have an average dei/.:i oj 45ft.

Such is a brief outline of the manner in which the long-projected Panama Canal will be carried to completion: an engineering feat such as the world has never soon. The Culebra-Cut presents tho most interesting features, as it it* here that the greatest *york is being done. In January, 1907, 0GG.760 cubic yards of material woro removed from this cutj which ia more than double tho amount removed during their beat month by the French. It ia estimated that the excavation for February will exceed that of January by over 100,000 cubic yards. In iact, as new dirt oars are constantly arriving and being put to work, the number of cubic yards romoved will increase- every month. When it is stated that at least 75 per cent, of the material removed from tho Culebra Cut is solid rock, some idea will bo givon of the enormous progress which is being mado. Ninetj tons of black powder and dynamito were used for blasting purposes during the month of January, in a district 8 miles long. The expedition with which tho dirt and rock is dumped from the trains of cars upon which it has been loaded, is another feature of interest. The cars are only built up on one side, and are connected together by means of iron platforms. When the train has been loaded and has reached the dumping ground, r.n immense plough is drawn from end to end ot tho train, sweeping the contents of fifteen or eighteen cars on to the dumping ground in something like fivo miuntes. There are at present 48 ateain shovels at work, and this number will be increased to about one hundred, as fast as it is presible to us© additional shovels to advantago, until the full complement m in eervico. New locomotives and dirt oars are constantly arriving from the United States, and within the next twelve months, the capacity will be sc incroaeod that tho work now bein;Z done will be doubled.

There aro at present 30,000 men working on the canal, and this number is being constantly increased. All skilled labour conies from the United States, American citizenship being necessary to obtain a position. It is also necessary to paes an examination for all civil service and clerical appointments, and a medical certificate of health has also to be secured. The wages paid aro naturally higher than in tho United States, as tno cost of living is so much more expensive. .Steam shovel men got 185dol. per month, and free quarters. Thoy work eight hours a day, and cix days a week. Time and a half ia paid for over-time on week days, and double time on Sundays. Carpenters got odol 20 cents a day, acd are th-» hardest to secure. Iresli ones are always being sent out from the States, but for some reason or other, they very rarely stop more than two or three months. The Isthmian Canal Commission provides free quarters for all these men, and board them for 2"dol. a month, or thirty t'Piits a meal. No money has been sparry] in fitting up comfortable and sanitary quarters for the men, 'and there is Ifttlo or no eickness.

In my opinion, the climntt* of Panama has been much maligrxxi. I atn told that the temperature does not vary more than five or six degrees all through tho year. I have now been here a week, and it has not boon above 80 d-egrees Fahrenhe't in tho shade. From about 10 am. to 4 p.m. the heat is greatest, but owing to the comparative absenro ol humidity, is not oppressive. Tho bala-nco of tho day leavos nothing to be desired, and the nights nre delightful. Tho maximum temperature averaged through the month of January was

86 degrees, and tlio roimimum o* degrees. ,Tho great decrease in the fever conditions will be lealised when it is stat<sd that out of the 3000 labourers working in the Culebra Cut during January, only fifteen per week contracted malaria, and these only to a slight degree. There was not a single case of yellow fever. I was told by a prominent official of the Canal Commission that tho death rate on the Isthmus will now compare favourably with any country in the 1 world. Spanish and Italian labourers are arriving on the Isthmus at the rate of about one thousand a month. They are paid Idol. 30 cente a clay, and free quarters. The Commission coll them throe meals for 40 cente per day. To-day over one million meals a month are being served to labourers alone. It was originally intended to construct the Canal with Chinese labour, but this }den had to be abandoned on account of tho intense antipathy of the people of- the.United States

Although the present Trork on the canal is being c*' ,, led by the Government of the Ui il States, and under its direct supervision, the question is now being considered at Washington &c to the advisability of letting the work to a contractor. Hie letter course, however, does not appear to meet with popular favour, and, considering the excellence of the work elready done under direct Government control, I think things will probably remain as they ere. Thie matter will, however, be decided within the nert month.

The new era of prosperity upon which the Republic of Panama has entered, is furthered illustrated by the erection of a magnificent.hotel by the Canal Commission at Ancon, the portion of the City of Panama which is within the canal zone. The hotel is known qs the "Tivoli," is charmingly situated on the cre6t of i% hill overlooking the city and the ocean, and is up-to-date in every particular. It will compere favourably with any tourist hotel in the world as regards its appointments. Ono wonders at first how such a splendid hotel can pay in such a email place as Panama; but I am > informed that since the health conditions havo been co materially improved, Panama is beginning to rank ns a winter resort, and is securing numbers of tourists who formerly visited tho islands of the West Indies, until scared away by the earthquakes. In conclusion, it may be stated that tho recently organised little Republio of Panama, under tho protection and fostering influence of the United States of America, free as it will be from the disintegrating effects of revolutions, has before it tho destiny of a prosporous future. There are to-day numerous opportunities for the investment of capital in legitimate enterprises, and these are gradually being taken advantage of. With the epirit of American progress, which is now pervading* them, the cities of Colon and Panama will rapidly forge ahead.