The Panama canal

The first attempt of the French engineers to construct a canal across Panama was without careful survey and no thought of sanitation. A story illustrating the unsanitary conditions existing at that time is as follows: An engineer was sent by his chief to investigate certain work and was to report the next morning. He did not report at the appointed time, and on inquiry it was found that he had already been buried two hours. The second attempt of the French was made in 1894. Careful surveys were made and work started, but dishonesty, combined with the deadly work of the mosquitoes, seems to have been the cause of failure. The engineers of the United States Government carefully surveyed 13 different routes before the present route was chosen, the choice being greatly affected by the position of the Chagres River and the Panama Railroad. The Chagres River has very large floods at times, and these would interfere with the operation of the canal. By means of the Gatun dams, the river is made to form a large lake, this lake will be part of the canal water course, thus saving considerable excavating. The maximum flow of the Chagres River for 36 hours would only raise the level of the lake one foot. The canal is 40 miles from shore to shore, with the Atlantic end west of the Pacific end. At the widest part it is about 1,000 feet in width, and about 300 at the narrowest. The level of the canal is 85 feet above the sea, with three locks at each end to raise the ships entering and to lower those leaving. The entire work at present is under Col. Goethals. He has divided it into three parts, two of which at the Atlantic end are in charge of army officers, and one at the Pacific end, in charge of civilians. Very little electrical apparatus is being used at present, the work being started with too much haste to allow time for its installation. But later, the operation of all valves and gates, each of which weighs 750 tons, will be by means of electric motors. The amount of work i- the Culebra cut is prodigious. At this point the canal will be 534 feet deep. Steam shovels taking two cubic yards of earth at each bite, and from 15 to 20 bites a minute, keep a continuous stream of loaded cars moving out of the cut. The most important department is the Sanitary Commission. The first work of the commission was to clear, pave, and furnish with pure water, the cities in which the workmen must live. When this was done, the mosquitoes had to be eliminated. Men are kept busy squirting oil on the marshes and water holes to prevent the breeding of this pest, as a precautionary measure against yellow fever.