THE ISTHMIAN CANAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1629, 21 December 1912, Page 8

THE ISTHMIAN CANAL.

PANAMA VISITED. MOSQUITOES AND OTHER PROBLEMS. .

(By G. H. Scales.)

Colon is flat and at an elevation of only a few feet above sea-level, it is a small town, with streets 33 to -10 feet wide, laid out at right angles to each other. Tho town-is situated at the north-western end of the Canal on ho. Bay of Limon, a small inlet on tlio Caribbean sea; at tho mouth of this inlet, tho I.C.C. are spending something over ,£1,000,000 sterling in the construction of a breakwater 6omo 11,000 feet in length, mainly, it is said, for tho purposes of protecting the wharves and ' shipping. The population is mostly Panamanian, with a largo assortment ■of West Indians, a few Chinese, littlo or no evidence of tho negro from tho States, and a small sprinkling of United State officials. It boasts and properly so, of a very complete and perfect refrigerating plant kept perpetually filled with supplies of fresh meat and fruit from the States, and butter, large quantities of the latter from Now Zealand. From these works daily, in the early morning, a largo train is dispatched to Panama, distributing food supplies to tho twenty-two commissariat departments of the Canal Zone. The population of Colon is a little under 18,000. Although distinctly tropical thero is nothing of particular interest in the town itself. Thero is none of tlio delightful charm that renders a stroll through the streets of a town in. the Orient so' interesting, tlio shops aro small and the goods displayed have mainly come from European or United States manufacturing centres, varied only by the occasional display of linen and other goods imported l from Colombo or Canton, whilst the style of dress adopted is up to the required standard of western civilisation, the colouring only being a little more pronounced. The heat is intense, but tho usual concomitants of such climatic conditions, viz., mosquitoes and flies, aro conspicuous by their absence, the reason being that whilst tho ' words "Colon" and "Canal" are inseparable, the Canal and mosquitoes cannot exist side by side. The latter have, therefore, disappeared, and the former is; making giant strides towards completion. Panama.

The city of Panama, at tho Pacific end of the Canal, is distant from Colon about fifty miles, and lies to tn« south-east of it. It is an old Spanish, town, with crooked streets, stuccoed buildings, plazas dotted here and there with a band rotunda in the centre, and quaint little shops, of which almost every alternate one is either a tobacconist's or a wineshop. ' There is neither railway nor railway station, the terminus of the Panama railroad boing 'some two miles distant from the centre of Panama city. The railway station, or "depot," is in Ancon, which is thb name given to what is known as the American quartor, and lies between Panama city and the Canal. Here the I.C.C. kayo built a really firstclass hotel called the Tivoli, where you are done very well for about £1 per-day. Whilst Panama is mainly on the Mat, Ancon is built on the hill-side, or perhaps side 9 would be more correct, as the land itself consists of, besides the base of a fairly high range, a large number of small hills. The houses are, all of wood, and raised above the ground oil piles from three to ten feet. There is a large hospital here, as well as at Colon. Several lines of steamers make Panama a terminal, chief amongst them being the Pacific Steam Navigation Company (now the Itoyal Mail Steam Packet Company), the Chilian Steam Navigation Company, and. the Peruvian Steamship Companyall these operating between Panama and : ports on tho Pacific Coast of South America—whilst to the northward the Pacific Hail Company run a lino to San Francisco, calling at many ooastal ports. Some other lines run through Panama between North and South America,' but aro mainly cargo_ services. Ancon, like the rest of the Canal zone, draws its supplies through the Colon Cold Storage Company from va-rious parts of the world; mutton and butter largely from New t Zealand, beef from tho States, vegetables and fruit from tho States and Jamaica. New Zealand mutton is worth about Bd. per lb. for prime joints. Practically no food supplies are grown on the Isthmus itself, although the population of the city of Panama is between; 37,000 and 38,000; the people are too lazy. ' The Panama Railroad. The Panama railroad is 47 miles ■ in length, and there are' about twelve stations. The present tTack is. new for the most part—the old road having been in the way of the Canal works—and runs through jungle country for many miles,' and without habitation, a portion .of the old "road," however, is still in use, and this runs through many villages which are all more or less quaint, if_ not quito coming within the definition picturesque. The guage is five feet, and the travelling comfortable. Three daily trains run, ono with; an observation-car at the tail-end, during the week, but on Sundays tho time-table, or schedule,, is materially increased by the addition of six. or seven trains, as this is the day on which the local inhabitants mainly travel. The engines are all large locomotives with tendons attached—in some' coal 'is the fuel used, in others oil. Tho lino is, for the most part a single track, but is in process of duplication. The time of the journey from end to end is approximately two and a half hours. On several days in tho week sight-seeing trains are run over the whole of the works (a bird'seye view only of which is obtained from the main line), and although they entail a good deal of waiting and shunting about, dodging ballast trains, and being apparently interminably side-tracked, a traveller by them is able to see absolutely every point and detail of the Works, 'time being given at all the npecß=aryi>oints for passengers to leave tho train and inspect on foot all that is gioing on. In tho Canal Zona. Whilst Panama may bo classed as a mountainous country, that part of it coming with the "Canal Zone" could hardly bo considered so, though its configuration is distinctly hilly, and without ' material area of flat or even undulating land except at the immediate ends. ■ It can hardly be described by the use of the word broken, as there is nothing abrupt in its contour, it' is a jumble of small hills incongruously mixed up without regard tp order, shape, ■ or form. . .There a general rise towards tho centre, or divide, from cither end, the elevation being probably at its lowest point about'3oo feot above sea level. It is largely covered with iunglo, though but little, in the shape of big timber is now standing; the foliage is, of course, tropical, coffee, banana, breadfruit, mangoes, with some coconuts and a profuse undergrowth. Colon, on the Atlantic or eastern side, is longitudinally situate about twenty miles west of Panama, and the direction of tho canal is therefore south-easterly, it being remembered that tho Isthmus runs east and west, thus making Colon, latitudinally, north of Panama. These facts aro emphasised with the idea of making clear the future reference to the eastern and western sides of the canal. The western sido will be understood to be the North American, and Hie eastern tho South American Bide. Tho canal zone forma a kind of basin into which tho higher lands to the east and west of it drain, the highest point of tlnis basin being near Culebra, a distance of about 37 miles south-east of Colon. Thero aro soveral small rivers flowing into this basin on the western side, and one largo ono called the Chagres on tho eastern sido. This rivor enters tho basin a little to tho north-east of tho divido, and then turning towards the'north, emptied itself into Mosquito Gulf, a few miles west of Colon, and may be looked upon as the main foundation upon which tho wholo plan of the canal construction has been based. "Locking" a Canal. Tho procoss of "locking" a water-way, sucln as a rivor or canal, is resorted to when the declivity of tho natural bed is too great to permit of the required navigation, and consists of dividing tho waterway into sections by tho construction of dams, raising the water so that in each Section there is maintained practically a dead level, though thero is a dilferenco in tho levels between the various sections, and it is by the use of locks erected in tho vicinity of these dams that navigation la enabled to bo parried oa. The

lodes consist usually of an oblojn chnmber, tho ends of which consist oi doublo gates closing on tho centre. 'i'lio Rates can only bo opened when tho water m tlio lock is on a level with tho water outside of it, thus enabling a vessel to bo raised or lowered, ns tlio case may be, lroni ono level to the other. Though tho comWnation of locks and dams Ims tho cftcct of both increasing tho 1 depth of water, and checking tho rapidity of tho current, it does not prevent tho normal quantity of discharge, so an arrangement, 111 Amorica called a spillway, in .England a weir, is provided, generally in somo part of tho dam, by which the water, after reaching a curtain level, is allowed to overflow. .For tho continued navigation it is therefore essential ifcat tho iiow of water lrom the higher reaches should bo always sufficient to maintain tho depth oi water required in tho lower .sections, after alloiving for what must pass through tho locks. Now, tho I.C.C. is relying almost entirely for tho maintenance of a suihoiency of water *to ensure navigation through tlio canal, # upou tho UitclKirgc from the Chagres River. Various Difficulties.

A strip of land about 40 miles in width, and reaching an elevation about 300 l'eet, separated two great oceans, and involved a voyage for vessels of something like 10,000 miles. Tho I.C.C. having dccided to connect these two oceans at this point, were face to face with tho question as to whether it would bo better to conlino the i proposition to ono of excavation, only by making a "soa-level" canal, thus necessitating not only cutting through the 300 i'cet of elevation, but a further sufficient depth to allow of the navigation of the largest likely vessel; or,, by a combined process of' utilising tho ltiver Chagres, in conjunction with excavating, by which the waters, and with them tho vessels could bo raised over the existing impediment of high land.: Both propositions presented innumerable difficulties, whilst in tho one case tho cost of excavation would be enormously reduced, untold expenditure in locks, not only in construction, but in working and maintenance for all time, had to Do faced; and again, whilst on tho one hand damming or diverting the Chagres and other streams temporarily for constructive purposes would bo involved, cm the other a similar type of expense would have to be incured for permanent works. And, again, whilst tho overflow of waters during the rainy season from the Chagrea might provo a menace to tho working of the canal, any supply short of tho present estimate during the-dry season might prove to bo. an equally, enormous difficulty. The combination process was decided on, tho Chagres to be pressed inlx> the service, and as much of the French work as possible was to be mads use of; and the connection between these two oceans would go over tho land, and not merely through it, and in 190-1 the 1.C.C., set to work in earnest. ■ It is scarcely necessary to draw attention to the fact that up till that the. Isthmus of. Panama was littlo bf.tter than a deathtrap. . It is said that the labourers who died during De Lesseps's occupation would, •if laid 6ide by side, stretch in a row from tho Atlantic to tho Pacific. What the I.C.C. has done towards improving the sanitary conditions cannot bo too highly spoken of. Tho curse was tho mosquito. The writer neither saw, beard, nor felt one, and not only is there an almost total absence of mosquitoes, "but also of flies. There are none!" It is not difficult to realise' how a country -in which the thermometer is seldom' below ■90 degrees, which-enjoys a heavy rainfall, producing a profuse growth of vegetation, may bo a perfect breeding ground for every kind of pest and disease. It i 9 impossible to see anjivhere through the zone euch a thing as a stagnant pool; all creeks—and thoir number is legion—winding round tho innumerable hills and mounds, arc eleared of undergrowth and kept clean, thus ensuring a perpetual flow'of water. Moreover, all the creeks, as .well as roads and open patches of soil, are constantly oiled. No ctfre, no trouble, no expenso has bejn spared, not only in tho eradication of disease, but in rooting.out and exterminating the causes of it. That what has been dono has been well done requires no other proof than tho foot that tho death-rate is now nnder ono per cent. (7.72 per thousand, excluding accidents). . ! J The "1.C.C." Starts Work. Tho I.C.C. started operations in May, 1901. Tho officials employed included .ninny foreigners, but gradually theSe, with tho exception of two, have all been got -rid' of and their, places taken by United States citizens. There are about 37,000 hands employed, the • grc-at bulk of whom are British subjects and havobeen imported from Jamacia and other parts of the West Indies, the remainder consist of. Spaniards and Italians and some skilled artisians from the States; tha wholo are divided into two classes or grades, known .as tho "gold forco" and the "silver. force," ■ which terms are used as designating tho. skilful and unskilful grades, respectively. The terms aro doubtless the result of there being two coinages current, .A . Panamanian dollar,, though equal in size to, is only half the value of. a-United States dollar, and when mentioning any sum of money, it is not only customary, but necessary, to add either the word "gold" or "silver." Thus, if a bank clerk desires to say .what he will give for an English sovereign in local coin, ho would say "4.80 gold," or if buyiug a packet of cigarette tobacco in a Spanish shop you would be told the price thus: "20 cents silver." Tiie scheme proposed, and, subject to somo alterations now in course of being carried out. by tho 1.C.C.,' consisted of providing a water-way—including 15 miles at sea-level—so miles in length, not less than 45. feet in depth, a minimum width of 300 feet at tho bottom, and the surface of tho highest Eection 85 .feet above sealevel.- It is into this high level section that the waters of tho Chagres will be discharged.. The elevating and lowering of vessels between this pec-, ti'on .and 6ea level was to bo. by means of five (since increased to six) locks; three at the Atlantic end and two at the Pacific (there are- now three at the' Pacific end). It was estimated' that not less than 195,000,000 cubic yards of soil and rock would have to be excavated and removed,' of this quantity about 30,000,000 cubic yards out of a total of 78,000,000 excavated and removed by the French, wero included. It was also estimated that 5,000.000 cubic yards of cement would be required, and it may be interesting to mention in this connection as an indication of tho geological formation of tho country, that the whole of tho nietal used for th" concrete has been ••oucfht from Porto Bello, a small port on the Caribbean sea, situate about 20 .miles to tho east of the Canal Zone.