The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 9, 1902, Page 4

THE SUNDAY CAL. PANAM B, CAMNAL CANAMA. Cost $240,000,000. ADVANTAGES. | DISADVANTAGES. Storms at Atlantic end. Cal at Pacific end. Keeps choking ap from TOSS currents. 3 3 United States own and truct a great isthmian end of the year 1902 1 e the bodies y still lobby- uses for add- THAE s of delay? for immediate gislation at the f Congress. If this de- a which route will be se- gh the isthmus of ene of so much e and work, but ms to be the most e and the least ex- all it be by the or of which cer- striven and worked for , or sh ell of Ozkland, president of mercial Company, who irned from a trip through where he has large in- good deal into a few w = important matter at v The American ed to have an isth- and selfish. in- fon the of such a accomplished standards of civilization - are United States, is Americans take over rk of constructing use she knows would be fin- ownership makes the following in- concerning the “Work of a merely nom- w going on at the highest ! the Culebra cut, but £ mer the effort of the present retain their rights, and despondency throughout the e subject of these present ever proceeding further with Of course as an engineering alone, such work cannot be standstill without retrograding and expensive degree, and the > plain to be seen all the ama to Colon of the enor- waste of expensive in excavating, much of w and rusted into useless- d steel rust and decay RASILROASD quickly on exposure in this climate. One sees miles of this wasting material on the route of the railroad, representing millions of dollars spent, part of it in con- tracts let but never filled. “The canal as started was to be 500 feet wide and 40 feet deep, but one would scarcely realize it now, so much of the excavation that was partially made be- ing refilled from natural causes. The soil itself is of such character that when acted upon by the heavy rains it readily obliterates work that has been only partly accomplished. “There seems to have been mo con- tinuity in the work so_far done. Spots have been selected where the excuvat- ing could be most easily done and where it would make the biggest showing. The harder work seems to have been left, except in the case of the Culebra cut, where the nominal work is now going on. This is the highest point and where the most expensive work must yet be done. One hundred and fifty-seven feet are now cut through this hill of hard porphyry, out of a total of 360 feet. “Much water is required for the width and depth of this canal, and the inten- tion s to put in locks, though I think if the Panama route is chosen it will uitimately be made a sea level canal, which could be done. But that would take more money and time, and so five artifi- clal lakes or locks are to be constructed to take care of the difference in tides. “One of the principal advantages of the Panama route seems to me to be the fact that not only is the route a feasible one, but the conditions to be met in actual work have been to a very great extent fully determined by work already done. I went from Colon to the Culebra cut by rail. The canal was called finished a dis- tance of twelve miles from the Pacific side and twenty miles from the Atlantic, This work, according to the Colombians, cost $120,000,000; but the commission hag roughly estimated the cost of a sea level canal at not less than $240,000,000 and the tinme required for construction at not Jess than twenty years. So for these reasons, if none others, a canal with locks is pref- erable. “Several questions irelative to the har- bors on the Panama route naturally pre- sent themselves to a person traveling over that route, and one of them which affects LocK BURRELL PHOTO the value of the route Is the liability of the Colon approach to the canal on the Atlantic side to suffer from heavy storms at times. It is almost an open roadstead from the mouth of the Chagres River into the bay, and the north or northeast storms roll in there. “On the Panama side a drawback is the unreliability of winds favorable to the handling of sailing vessels. The long calms in the region of Panama have made it. known as the ‘dumps.’ On the Pacific side the long distance from La Boca, the mouth of the canal, to deep water must be dredged and jettied. it must certainly be jettied, as two dredges are kept busy there and the place seems to fill up as fast as they dredge. Cross- currents seem to rush in and fill it up. This jettying as well as other engineer- ing features is merely a question of cost. “An advantage in the Panama route which must strike any one going over it is its shorter distance—49 miles against 183.66 miles for Nicaragfa. “For South America the Panama route has the advantage of belng much farther south and furnishes a shorter route between North Atlantic ports and the west coast of South America. The Panama route would seem the best also because there are less undetermined quantities in its construction. As to the matter of labor there would be no serious difficulty encountered on either route. At Panama native labor, which is practically the Jamaica negro, would be almost en- tirely used. Any conditions produced by active work on the canal need not neces- sarily interfere with the health of those employed, at least not to a large extent. The difficulties heretofore experienced in that respect had grown largely out of in- difference and lack of proper precautions and sanitary measures on the part of the management, which is often’ the case in any enterprise. Disregard of the laws of sanitation is most often the cause of il health in tropical countries. “Not far away from La Boca, the Pa- cific terminus of the canal, is what is called there the ‘boneyard’—full of steamers and tugs sunken and decayed— a sort of graveyard for all floating craft. At La Boca is a good landing place and wharf, where all freight is landed for the Papama Canal Company. “The Panama route also involves a EMPER & DOR 57 Z»HDP MOUTH OF CA/ANSI. V‘\ O TRE <HRBGRES BURRELL ~'o¥O shorter time in transit—twelve hours for a deep-draught vessel, as compared with thirty-three hours at Nicaragua. “An important question from an en- gineering standpoint, that of taking care of and directing the flood waters of the Chagres River and its tributaries, which encroach unmanageably in the rainy sea- son, Is said to be provided for. I don't regard the question of cost as so far pre- sented between the two routes as being at all determinative. “And not the least of the factors in the case for deciding between the two routes {s the question whether the new Panama Canal Company, which has offered to sell all it has to the United States for $40,000,- 000, has valid titles to convey. Indeed it has not yet been made clear just what rights this second company has to con- vey. This is a serlous question and one on which the United States would have to thoroughly Inform and satisty itself. It is also difficult to know what position Co- lombia would take on such a transfer, and the question of & concession from her is yet to be met. Whether the Senate will Wait to see these things done befors de- clding the matter is a question. Recent 'developments indicate that there is a good hot battle ahead. IDelleve, however, in the ability and disposition of Congress to settle all questions and provide for starting the project during this session. “On the hillside near La Bbea is the French village where the workingmen used to live—a lot of well-bullt houses with high stone foundations. Still, a great many of these quarters are now in a bad state of decay. The hospitals and quarters built for officlals are in a fair state of preservation, but the work- shops need almost complete renovation and rebuilding. The three-story mansion of Ferdinand de Lesseps, about a mile away and overlooking the bay of Panama, 1s now given up to the not very careful occupancy of four native familles, with swarms of children. ““The nearby rallroad is of course a fea- ture of some importance in the consid- eration of the Panama route, and of course there would be more or less change to be made there to accommodate the raflroad to the construction of the canal. “The country from the central part of Mexico to the upper part of South Amer- ica, if it belonged to the United States, would be the garden spot of the world in ten years, but it needs good forelgn in- fluence and foreign blood. I consider it as healthful as any tropical country known. Regarding the conditions of life in Central America the natives all through may be described as quiet, industrious, simple and honest in their natures. “They are very primitive and simple in thelr habits and mode of life, and if left to themselves would probably have gone on just as they were before Cortez in- vaded those countries. But two Influences have beset them—first the Cortez inva- P SURRELL PraoTo RIVER sion, and afterward the invasion by the negro element from the West Indle: such a large element in the French-speak- ing population. Both of these invasions have brought with them much that is to the detriment of the original population. The construction of the canal will be the greatest factor in the development of all the Americas, and especially those near- est to it. Much of the ground along the route of the Panama canal Is now under cultivation by the natives, and some of the spots of land made by the ex- cavations are planted in grain and corn. Towns will spring up along the route of the canal, as in the case of the rallroad through a virgin country, In Nicaragua to San, Jose, now built up on either side. “These countries seem to me to offer every opportunity for capital, and their many products, which are of value, such as coffee, indigo, Wwoods, etc., can be handled by Americans and by American capital without difficul- ty and without risk. A canal will open all these opportunities, for all rubber, various hard- is Heeded are the facllities for marketing these products promptly and cheaply and with such protection afforded by the United States Government to American capital as is given cap trom other for- elgn countries. Personally, my preference is for the Nicaraguan route, for several reasons, one of which Is that the Nica- raguan route i{s practically 1000 miles near- er to our own doors for traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. “The general character of the sea ap- proach on both ocean fronts appears to be more favorable on the Nicaraguan route, and the obtainable rights and con- cessions seem to be more ciearly defined in the case of that route. There are also only the two countries to be dealt with in negotiations—Costa Rica “While politiclans may believe, a jolce in thelr bellef, that the offer new Panama Canal Company at is made for the purpose of rather than advancement in project, I belleve that the matter will b decided within the present ye Congress and the President, the desires of the American pe close a bargain during this Congress in favor of one of the two routes now under discussion.”™ A