Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

The Amc Story of the P By WILLIAM R SCO J _jT 9CA UtVCL CNANML I 7 MILES U oo ri?T wioc GATUN LOCKS CHAPTER I. The Land Divided?tho World Unitod. fK It should have been said in 1904 that in niue years we would have 1 ?omrmnnno H rriiJo?eu uiviv umu cubic yards of earth and rock, laid 5.000.000 cubic yards of concrete, made dmus cud fills of more than 50,000,000 cubic yards, relocated the Panama railroad, spent no more- than $300,000,000 and put the first ship through from tbe Atlantic to the Pacific. Europe would bare smiled at our youthful temerity: Yet in 1913 we will bate done precisely that During the first two years and a half the canal was in its first phase. It was tbe period of pioneering, prep aration and adjustment. Two chief engineers were tried from tbe ranks of civil life, accomplishing the main preliminaries to canal construction before their departure. The second phase of tbe canal was from the beginning of 1907 to tbe spring of 1912. During these six years the heart of tbe task way accomplished. President Roosevelt had found tbe man who was to take tho organisation built up by tbe men from the rauks of private Industry and burl it agaiust tbe natural obstacles that stood iu tbe way of success. Colonel Ooetbals was to take tbe blueprints and a head full of theories and work them out Into tbe locks, dams and cuts Id concrete mold today. Tbe third and last phase began In 1912. when tbe chief engineer set Ocy tober. 1913. as tbe date for tbe substantial completion of the canal. It is distinguished by tbe gradual dispersion of tbe army of workers, by the reverse process of tbe first two years and by tbe creation of a permanent operating force with tbe detail finishing work that attends every large project Tbe east has furnished tbe canal with its cblef engineers?Wallace from Massachusetts. Stevens from Maine. Goetbals from New York. But every state in tbe Union has furnished tbe rank and file, as well as every nation in tbe world. Standing out distinctly from tbe construction phase of tbe enterprise Is tbe figure of Colonel Gorgas, tbe cblef sanitary officer, now. as in tbe critical days of 1906. quiet, alert, confident. Tbe last days of the canal find a perfect mechanism of bis creation recording bis ideas witb dispatch and precision, receiving tbe plaudits of this and secure In tbe admiration of succeeding generations. Tbe locks may grow too small, tbe Gatun dam may break, a caving in of the foundations of tbe colossal structures may occur and otber convulsions of nature may dlsafile tbe canal, but nothing can rob tbe Americans of a wonderful achievement, nor will tbe work bava been without glory and justification no matter what the future " *? * * In holds, we son wuw icjuivc - beer courage, persistence and indomitable ability tbat have wrought the work in Panama. Just as the civil war developed Grant and tbe Spanish American war Dewey and Scbley. so has tbe Panama canal developed Ooetbals. He justly is celebrated in tbe periodical and dally press and in books as a splendid embodiment of Americanism?tbe ideal combination of ability and'integrity. A perspective view of tbe whole enterprise shows that Theodore Roosevelt by bis individual actions on at least three occasions vitally affected tbe canal and its successful consummation. When he cut tbe Gordlan knot of diplomacy and took tbe canal sone be made the first long stride toward interoceanlc communication. When he threw his weight into the scale for a lock type canal be deckled tbe most critical nuestion tbat ever aroee in tbe career of the enterprise. The third time bis judgment prevented a great mistake was when the project defl* nltely was taken from the possibility of private construction t.nd placed in the bands exclusively of government supervision. There were lesser decisions of great moment notably the order for widening the locks and the Culebra cat, and bis whole connection with the project was such as to rank as the most brilliant phase of his administrations. To July 1. 1913. the canal had cost eight months before its completion. $298,000,000. This was divided as follows: Canal zone. $10,000,000; French purchase. J70.000.000; engineering and construction. $184,000,000; general expenditures, $87,000,000; sanitation. $16,000.000: civil administration. $0,500,000: fortifications. $3,000,000. At the San Francisco exposition some compensation will be found for a failure to see the canal by an exhibit of every kind of machinery used by the French and the Americans in the thirty-five years of construction, or from 1880 to 1915. When the government finally sold off the old French ma chinery that bad littered the cana zone for three decades the best spec! men of each kind of apparatus was re served for this graphic exhibit CHAPTER II. Tk. i r..? MEASURED Id money, the Pan a ma canal wag to cost $375.U00.00U. This is impressive but there is another item ol cost more important?namely, "the Uf< costp" or the cost In human lives ol digging the canal. Contemplating the record of the istb mils for uuhealthfulness. It could not but be anticipated in 1904. when th< Americans took charge, that this cost would I* heavy. That It should b< surprisingly low constitutes a rnori significant achievement than any sav ing in the money or time cost of th< project. On July 1. 1913. the Americans bat been nine years in the actual work ol building the canal, in that period ol nine years there were: :ricans In anama Canal From 5 Publtol GATUN LAKE 32 MILE^ \ SB FWT ABOVt StA LgVKL wwu cw fl PaorcLi Map op rat Pavama Caval Photo 0 by American Press Association. Colonel George W. Qosthals. Deaths from disease .. 4,476 Deaths from violence 1,151 Total deaths 6,826 Another fall year before the practical and continuous operation of the completed canal will bring that total of deaths, estimating on the average of previous years and not considering unprecedented Increases, to less than 6300 by July 1. 1914. The sanitary department makes the following report for the nine year period ending July L 1918: Number Rate of em- per Tear. ployeea Deaths. lOOOi 1604 6.213 82 1121 1905 16.612 427 26.96 1906 26.647 1,106 4173 1907 39,238 1,181 28.74 1908 43.891 671 12.01 1909 47.167 502 1164 1910 60.802 668 10.88 1811 48,876 639 1102 1912 48.000 467 10.90 1919 (July) 60.000 246 The foregoing figures not only cover thnao actuallv at work on the canal bat ab well Include those who, while not regularly employed, are the wards of the commission when Idle. From 190T onward health has been normal on the Isthmus within the canal sons, with a death rate among the Americans frequently lower than in large centers of population in the United States. President Roosevelt selected Colonel William Crawford Oorgas to clean up the isthmus because of his record in sanitary work In Cuba and elsewhere. Chief Engineer Wallace doubted hit capacity, and so did Secretary of War Taft but by 1906 the latter waa ready to acknowledge his mistake. Colonel Gorgaa la a southern man. a native of Alabama, and so naturally quiet and reserved in demeanor and deportment that men accustomed to measure a man by bluster and self assertlveness make tbe mistake of assuming that he la not strong. His manner and methods suggest General Robert B. Lee. There were two prime needs, aa Colonel Gorgas viewed tbe Isthmus In 1904, In any campaign for improved health conditions. One was to make the Isthmus clean and the other was to kill the mosquitoes, which he considered a means of propagating disease. Practically everything done by the health department batl been along these main lines of theory. The United States profited by the mistakes of the French to the extent of reserving. In the treaty with the republic of Panama, the exclusive right to control the sanitation of Panama and Colon. So In 1904 tbe engineers immediately went to work on a sewer, waterworks ?***/! ofrAftf narlnrr nlun that tPAllld auu ouuvw puoug K?UU make of these two characteristically filthy Central American cities, clean, decent, sanitary places of abode. O A M REPUBLIC OF PANAMA \ a v \ CMAMt V #AV 1 r 1 r MAP OF THE 1ST! Panama Start to Finish tied by the 8tatler Publishing company, 601 Pifth avenue. New York city. -ight, 1912 and 191X by William a Scott i *n I I I1** J um MIGUEL T i LOCKS u * IU IXVIL CHAMNIL J 7 MILES MIRAFLORES M?n*w LOCKS The native population dumped all garbage and matter usually consigned to sewers Into tbe streets. These streets were mudholes. which, with the admixture of refuse, made a condition Inconceivably dirty and naturally on healthful. Tbe Americans made a reservoir In the mountains a dozen miles away for the water supply of Panama, dog sewers and forced the native bouses to connect with them and then paved the streets with brick. A system of garbage collection was organized. and tbe city was cleared of all rubbish. Today tbe tourist sees some evidence of slovenly living, but conditions generally are surprisingly smart Tbe second part of tbe program?killing the mosquitoes?was accomplished principally by the use of crude oil. Every stagnant pool of water and most of tbe running streams?except rivers?were treated with oil. and the rank grass and tropical growths were kept cut by hundreds of scythe men. As a further war measure all bouses were screened, the amount spent on this item alone amounting to a sum between $750,000 and $1,000,000. Having cleaned up within, rigid quarantine regulations were made to keep out persons who might be brought in 4 diseased condition from other ports. Vaccination of every person who enters tbe canal zone Is compulsory unless a good scar can be shown. In 1906 a shipload of natives from Martinique, imported to work on the canal, refused to land because they thought vaccination was a plan to brand them ?o they conld never return to their home. They were forced out at the point of the bayonet and vaccinated. It was before these plans had been matured that the first and only epidemic of yellow fever occurred In the canal tone. In April, 1905, an employee in the administration building in Panama became sick with the fever and from then on to September the canal tone was in the throes of a fear that was featured by the wholesale departure of employees. The newspapers gave the epidemic wide and oftentimes erroneous publicity, with the consequence that the government had to pay for the fear of the Isthmus thus created in greatly Increased salaries and gratuities to secure American employees. By October. 1906, Colonel Gorgas had mastered the epidemic, and. although, isolated cases have occurred since, yellow fever was permanently banished as the bugbear of Panama. Prom I T?l? 1 1QTL1 tn Mow 1. 1005. forty u Uij * I kvv at %w four employees succumbed to this disease. While the epidemic raged from April to September. 1905. there were thirty-seveu deaths among employees, mainly among Americans, with whom the epidemic started. There w:is a siege with smallpox and the plugue. but they, too. were eradicated in so far as epidemics are concerned, and malaria, pneumonia and tuberculosis remain as the most frequent attributed causes of death. Quinine has been bought by the ton for the canal zone dispensaries and bospltuls. In 1908 each employee averaged about an ounce of quinine and was advised to take three grains daily. The French bad left hospital buildings in Colon und on *be side of Ancon hill. Just outside 01 Panama. The Americans renovated .bese and added to them until the pres nt vast facilities came into form. Thej sometimes have more than 1.200 patients. A large asy lum for the Insane also is maintained. Hospital cars are attached to the passenger trains to bring in patients to the Ancon and Colon hospitals each .day. In every town or settlement there is a dispensary with a physician In charge aud a sanitary officer to inspect conditions of living. There are about twenty-four employees out of every 1,000 constantly sick. For the canal tone, Panama and Colon, in 1005 the death rate was 49.94 per 1.000. In 1911 it was 21.46, or cut down more than one-half. In 1900 the I m M M * M ? A ^ I ^PUBLIC \ PANAMA 1 loc" )\r 1 \ wim/haj-lohi* I ItlOCM I RtMIW ' N or * y* V A M <* l). "C /. laaooum*. ijt.vmava IMUS OF PANAMA. death rate among the Americans"from disease was 5.36. and in 1911 it was 2.82. In 1908 and 1910 there were more Americans killed In accidents or died from violence than died from disease. It necessarily follows from an engineering task of this magnitude, where vast quantities of explosives are handled. where there Is a considerable rollw.o>1 ml Ion rra a nrl nlher hnenrrinilfl features of construction, that the death rate from accidents would be large. Every month since the American occupation began In May. 1004, there baa been un average of ten employees killed or have died from external causes. The total to July 1, 1912. was 090. and by the time the canal Is completed, barring unusual catastrophes, the deaths from this cause will be around 1,100. Under the bead of violence are Included deaths by drowning, suicide, dynamite explosions, railroad accidents, poisonings, homicides, electric shocks, burns, lightning and accidental traumatism of various kinds. Dynamite Explosion In Culebra. Scores of deaths have resulted from the practice of the native employees In using the railroad tracks as public highways. There have been bad collisions and wrecks with fatalities, and dynamite has claimed about one-tenth of the victims of external violence. In the handling of 25,259 tons of dynamite. or 50.517.650 pounds, to Jnly 1. 1912. the following principal accidents have occurred: Hay 22. 1908, in Chagres division, two killed: premature explosion of twenty-six tons, caused by lightning. Oct 8, 1908. at Empire. In the Culebra cut Ave killed and eight Injured, premature explosion. Oct 10. 1906, at Mindi, seven killed and ten lnlured. nremature explosion: dredging In Atlantic entrance. Dec. 12, 1908, at Baa Oblepo, premature explosion of twenty-two tons in the Culebra cot. twenty-six killed and forty injured. Jan. 10. 1909. at Paraiso. two killed, ten injured. July 25, 1909, on Panama railroad, four killed, nine injured. v Aug. 30. 1910, at Ancon quarry, four killed. July 19. 1911, at Ancon quarry, four killed, two injured. < Forty deaths from dynamite explosions are noted for the year 1908, the largest number for any one year of canal construction, and this does not take into account several individual fatalities. Chief Engineer Goethals Issued stringent regulations to govern the handling of the dynamite, but It was In such common use that the employees naturally became careless. An Instance la afforded by two employees who knocked an Iron pipe against a railroad track to dislodge some dynamite. They were angels In 1?bs than two seconds after the first bhflk The worst accident, at Bas Obispo, has not been explained. Most of the accidents have occurred since the working force bas been in excess of 20.000 men. When the number killed outside the line of duty is subtracted from the total deaths by violence It will be found that the actual building of the canal bas been attended bv a normal percentage of such fatalities?certainly do larger than Id any private construction of the same character or approximating the same magnitude. The largest number of deaths by violence among employees in one year was in 1909. when 178 were killed, and this was equaled again in wFiKjtj?*' - ;:' \ JB ^M3^w Photo @ by American Press Association. Colonel W. C. Gorgas* 1011 Th? following table shows the umber of Amerleun employees, the total deatb rate and tbe relation of deaths from llsease to deaths by violence from 1906 to 1911, inclusive: Number Death of em- rate per By VloYear. ployees. 1,000. disease, lence. 1906 3.264 8.14 6.36 1907 6.000 8.14 6.36 1908 6.126 8.19 8.70 4.4B 1<*? 6.300 6.66 1 23 133 1810 !!!!......!! B]:;3 6.35 2.43 192 1911 6.163 5.14 182 132 Colonel Gorgus found in the early yeurs of canal work that the Americana and Europeans were three times as healthy us the natives of the tropics, who. us Chief Engineer Stevens noted In 1005. "ure supposed to be Immune from everything, but who as a matter of fact are subject to almost everything." This somewhat upsets the theory that northern races cannot live readily In tropical climates. Several of the annual reports of the sanitary department have noted the remarkably few diseases peculiar to men. such as alcoholism, etc. Allowance must be made in considering the favorable health showing on the Isthmus to the fact that the employees In one sense are picked men. They must be In sound condition when employed and usually In the prime of life. Another thing that has kept the aeutn rute aown umong iue Auiertuauv has been the practice of returning to tbe United States many patients who apparently bad not long to live. Tbus their deaths were not a charge against tbe canal zone. It cannot be assumed that all the deaths from disease In tbe canal zone were from causes that originated there. The diseases peculiar to the tropics have not claimed as many victims among the Americans as the diseases peculiar to tbe northern climates. Rut- there has been a steadv Imorove ment. us may be noted in a fall in the death rate among the Americans from ai4 per 1.000 in 1007 to 5.14 per 1.000 in 1911. An incident in the sanitary government of the Isthmus was an executive order by President Taft effective on Dec. 12. 1911. which prohibited the practice of any system of therapeutics or healing that the sanitary department. the allopathic school, should rule against. The president upon its possible application to create a toonopoly of healing in the canal zone being pointed out to him revoked the order on Jan. 1. 1912. Employees are not permitted to remain in their homes and quarters when sick, but must go to the Colon or Ancon hospital unless the district physician expressly rules otherwise. The hospital grounds at Ancon are beautiful, and convalescent patients are #ent to Tuhogu Island, ten miles oat In Puna ma bay. for final treatment. A dairy witb 125 cows supplies fresb milk to tbe Ancon bospltal. At first Colonel Gorgas was not a member of tbe isthmian canal commission. But tbe extraordinary ability be displayed resulted in tbe separation of tbe sanitary department from tbe Jurisdiction of tbe governor of tbe canal tone. and on Feb. 28. 1907. Colonel Gorgas was made a member or tbe commission, with tbe department of sanitation having equal dignity with other grand divisions of the work. He is tbe only official of tbe highest rank who has been with the canal project from its earliest days to the present Tbe cost of the sanitary conquest of the isthmus to July 1. 1913. was the somewhat Impressive total of $16,000.000. Here, as in tbe pay and treatment of employees, tbe government has sought results without regard to tbe expense. For tbe remaining days of the canal tbe cost of sanitation will be approximately $2,600,000. or $17.500,000 in all by Jam 1. 1914. which amount is nearly $8,000,000 less than tbe cost estimated for the department In 1906. When tbe ordinary cleanliness to which the American or tbe European is accustomed is observed in the tropica and if intoxicants are not permitted to dominate the Individual life there will not be tbe slightest difficulty In living near tbe equator. CHAPTER III. The 8panish In Panama. ON the fourth attempt Columbus made to tind a passage to the East Indies be cruised along the isthmian coast from September, 1502, to January, 1503. entering and naming the harbor of Porto Bello on Nov. 2. 1502. a#id visiting Nombre de Dlos on Nov. 0. in wbat is now the republic of Panama. Colombus. however, was not tbe discoverer of Panama, as a Spaniard, named Rodrigo de Bastldes. bad preceded bim to this coast, in 1501. so that tbe period of tbe Spanlsb in Panama date! from that year. Bastides visited Nombre de Dios, where eight years later tbe first Spanlsb settlement on tbe isthmus was planted. In 1500. as a base for tbe search for gold. Vasco Nunez de Balboa bad been W1CD Busuaes oil ui* inp ui M^umuoii, and be became the bead of tbe new colony at Panama. For a few years tbe mountains wltb tbelr dense Jungle growth stood us a barrier to explorations farther Inland, but tbe stories of tbe marvelous wealth of tbe Inhabitants on the other side, told to Balboa by tbe Indians, so excited hHr cupidity that. In 1513. be gathered a band of 190 men and started across. Balboa discovered the Pacific on Sept 25. 1513. Calling his men to blm, j they bad a religious ceremony, claiming all they surveyed as the dominions ; of his majesty tbe king of Spain. Gold be found In abundance and pearls of fabulous size and value. Aft. er five months' absence be returned to Nombre de Dlos by a more direct ; coarse and fonnd that be bad been succeeded as governor at Nombre de Dlos 1 by a soldier named Pedrarlas. Between them a hatred sprang up which, in 1517. resulted in the untimely and nnjnst execution of Balboa on trumped I up charges. Prior to this. Balboa bad f made other trips to tbe Pacific, carry! ing Across wltb Incredible labor tbe parts of ships which were rebuilt in the Pacific. In 1911 tbe Americans found a cannon of immense weight about halfway across. which evidently had been abandoned by Balboa, and an anchor of great size also baa been found. Pedrarias in 1515 bad sent exploring parties to tbe Pacific side to select a site for h settlement on that coast. Tbe San Francisco exposition therefore In 1915 will be exactly 400 years after this event It was not nntll 1519 that tbe settlement was started, and tbe founding of tbe city of Panama dates historically from that year. With tbe founding of a town on tbe Pacific side began tbe lnteroceanlc traffic which ever since has emphasized tbe need of easier and swifter communication between tbe Atlantic and Pacific. At a huge expense of labor and life a paved road was constructed from Nombre de Dlos to Panama. portions of which may be seen In tne canai tone toaay. It may be noted that Panama was : founded a full hundred years before I the landing of the pilgrims at Plym| outh. Nombre de Dlos was a town ninety-eight years before the first English settlement In North America, at Jamestown. In 1607. St Augustine, Fla., the oldest town In North America, was not founded until forty-alz years after Panama. After nearly a century at Nombre de Dlos the Spanish In the year 1584 found Porto Bello a healthier site for a settlement and moved bag and baggage to that Incomparable port. Porto Bello at once became the depot of Spanish treasure accumulated from Peru or other South and Central American countries and brought across the isthmus from Panama with Incredible hardship. From this port the Spanish galleons ran the gantlet of English pirates to Spain. Drake bad been one of the most intrepid of this crew. Henry Morgan, a century later, was another. In 1668 Henry Morgan collected a motley crew of sea vagabonds with the object of capturing Porto Bello. The operations of the English buccaneers usually were plain piracy, but they justified themselves In their own minds by the quarrelsome state of the relations that existed between England and Spain. Porto Bello was captured after a fight not surpassed In history for inhumanities. The treasure they found here whetted their lust for gold, with the result that three years later a still bolder enterprise, that of traversing tbe Isthmus and taking Panama, was planned In 1671 Morgan started up the Chagres river wlt^.600 men, and. after abandoning that stream, they struck out overland to Panama. Nine days were consumed In the Journey, with hardships from hunger and the labor of penetrating tbe jungle the like of which have not been exceeded by soldiers anywhere. A desperate defense was unavailing. The city was captured but found to be barren of treasure, as tbe Spanish had loaded a ship with their gold and silver before tbe attack began, and the ship could not be found. It was an unwise move, because tbe Infuriated pirates proceeded to torture the people and to murder hundreds. Anally burning Panama to the ground. Toduy tourists go out to see a tower and other ruins of the famous old city of Panama. Panama was rebuilt on a short promontory in the Pad Ac and. although captured again by the pirates in 1680. has remained on tbe new site to this time. Panama In 1821 caught the spirit of revolt and accomplished its freedom from Spain in a bloodless revolution. It then joined the Confederation of New Granada, the Colombia of today, under Simon Bolivar, South America's great soldier and statesman. Here ended the career of the Spanish in Panama. CHAPTER IV. Ths French In Panama. THK independence of Panama from Spain by a bloodless revolution in iszi nna piacea tbe Isthmus In u new position for other European governments or the United States to negotiate terms for concessions. The American people were jealous of foreign activities, hut uot aggressively active tbemaelves in concrete efforts toward a canal The ever alert French in 1847. after securing a concession to build a railroad. allowed it to lapse. It is significant that this French failure was followed. as in the case of trying to dig a canal, by a successful attempt by tbe Americana. Three Americana?William H. Aapinwall John L. Stephens and Henry Chauncey of New York, taking advantage of the opening made by tbe French failure?obtained a concession from tbe Bogota government In 1848 for building a railroad across tbe isthmus at Panama, with tbe important provision that no canal could be constructed there without the company's consent. Tbelr concession was for a period of forty-nine years after the completion of the railroad, but Colombia reserved the right twenty years after its completion. to pun-base the road for SO.OOO.OOU. Luckily for the Amerieun promoters the discovery of gold in California in 1840 came Just as tbey were seeking to floHt tbelr compauy. The isthmian route to California at once became heavily traveled, and the eyes of the whole world, particularly of the United States, were again fastened upon Panama. Tbe addition of tbe territories of Oregon und California to tbe United Rtatea still further emDhasized the need of quick communication between the Atlantic and Pacific. The Panama rairoad. therefore, took bold upon the popular imuginution. Aapinwali and bis associates pushed tbe construction of the road under James L. Baldwin, an American civil engineer of uncommon ability. Labor of a desirable kind was not obtainable. Many nationalities were tried, with a tragic failure on tbe part of the Chinese. who seemed unable to face tbe terrors of tbe jungle. Tbe life cost of tSMBF- ;^j^2^v>' ~ CULEBBA CUT, THBOUGH V the Panama railroad In the Ave years It was building has been estimated at 6.000 persons. The route selected started at an Island near the coast on the Atlantic side, the site of the city of Colon, crossed the bills Into the valley of the Cbagres river and followed that valley to the continental divide, over which It passed with a maximum elevation of 2?a feet above sea level, and thence down to Panama on the Pacific aide. Treacberoua swamps, almost Impenetrable Jungles and formidable streams and mountains necessitated incredibly bard labor and continuous work from 1850 to Jan. 28, 1856, wben the first train reached Panama from Colon. The line was forty-seven miles long, built of Belgian rails and on a gange of five feet The standard gauge in the United States is four feet eight and a half inches, so that all locomotives and cars used on the Panama railroad have to be specially built with wheels set farther apart The total cost bad been $7,407,553, or about $158,000 a mile. Dividends were paid every year from 1853 to 1892 and from 1001 to 1003. when it became United States property. The great prosperity of the railroad suffered a serious setback with the completion of the California overland railroad In 1869. Thenceforward the valuable bullion shipments avoided Panama, as well as passenger and freight business. The business shows a steady decline from that year. Colombia turned to the French after negotiating fruitlessly with the United States over a canal concession, and the company beaded by M. de Lesseps was granted a right of way. It bought the road for $18,094,000 In 1881. paying considerably more than It was worth, or $230 a share for sixty-eight seventieths of the capital stock. The French neglected the commercial possibilities even more than the American owners bad. though dividends were earned during the life of the flrst company. When the United States bought the Interests of the French company in 1904 the Panama railroad was one of the properties transferred. It was sadly ran down, but under the Americans It was made over into a modernly equipped and operated system, though subordinated as a commercial proposition to the construction of the canal. Passenger rates dropped from $25 a one way ticket in 1855 to $2.40 under the Americans today. The trip from Colon to Pauamu Is two hours and a half, and the coaches are painted yellow because that color best stands the Isthmian climate. The plans for the canal as adopted by the Amerlcuns in 1906 played havoc with the right of way of the railroad, so In June. 1907. the work of relocating It back among the bills out of reach of Gatun lake was begun. After five years' work, or us long as It required to build the original line In 1850-5, the new line was opened to traffic In 1912. This twentieth century Panama railroad ban cost $0,000,000. an compared with the coat of the nineteenth century road. $7,000,000. an Increase of $2,000,000 after a lapse of sixty years. The dream of a pan-American railroad has been entertained ever since steam locomotion came Into use. When several gaps are filled In there will be railroad communication tbrougb Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua to Costa Blca. which adjoins Panama. The re public of Panama baa been planning an interior railroad astern that would be part of an all rail route from the United States to the canal. Before many years it la likely that a bridge will span the canal in a railroad system that reaches from Canada through Panama to the mainland of South America, thence down the west coast to Valparaiso. Ferdinand de Lesaepa and his Panama career vindicate strikingly the truth of the adage that nothing succeeds like success. The French Panama Canal company was floated on the strength of bis achievement In cutting a sea level passage from the Mediterranean to the Red sea. thus making an Island of Africa. When he turned bis attention to Panama as a new field for glory the French people enthusiastically applauded bis audacity ami. what la more significant and substantial. Invested, first and last $2(111.000.000 In the enterprise. The French were theatrical In their plans for launching the enterprise. A world congress or engineer* wu invited to assemble In Paris In May. 1870. to decide upon the type and cost of the canal, Y. de Lessepe presided and guided the decision to a sea level type, the same as at Sue*. There were eleven Americans In the assembly, the extent of American Interest Under the stimulus of these proceedings the new company's stock wa* oversubscribed by the admiring countrymen ef the great De Lessepe. the first Issue being for $60,000,000. M. de Lesseps then made a spectacular trip to Panama, arriving at Colon on Dec. 90. 1879. The first blast of an explosive In the construction of the isthmian canal was set off by one of the young daughter* of M. de Lesseps at Cnlebra on Jan. 10. 1880. After several weeks of banqueting Count de Lesseps left for the United 8tate* to stir the Imagination of the Americans over the enterprise About the only result was to attract the attention of some contractors to wnelr vuc ? m. Opera tioni went a bead rapid)y from 1880 onward, tbe method being to let contracts for the different phases of the work. Tbe.canal started.nearjOo* HIICH THE CAHAI BTJHS. Iod. in Llrnon bay, and was to follow the valley of the Cbagres river for about thirty miles, thence through the continental divide to the Pacific, three miles west of Panama, about where the canal begins. By 1885. however, extravagance and graft bad emptied the company's treasury. The contractors, as a role, did little and exacted much. It became apparent too. that a sea level type presented staggering difficulties. M. de Lesseps gave his consent to a change In plans to a lock type, but the dam was to be at Bohio Instead of at Gatun. Bo bio Is seventeen miles from the Caribbean, while Gatun la only seven miles distant from that sea. All the theatrical methods conceivable were employed to float a new bond issne for $160,000,000. but the public had grown dubious over the success of the enterprise. The amount was raised. however, and was poured Into the project with more millions until 1888. when, after $234,790,017 had been Invested. the company became bankrupt. The French treated their white employees with extravagant generosity. Living accommodations were on a ' ' .. VvMBIJ^M^^AMI^^HHbmSHI iWrnrnm r 9 mWh k. lit - QBdMMfe&s $ First Rang# Light at Pacific Entrance to tho Canal. scale of open banded liberality. Little wus done beyond building hospitals to conquer tbe bad bealtb conditions of the isthmus, and. while the French left patterns for much of the later American activities, tbe sanitary con?1 -m *- *??l~ #11^.^1 not(vaIxj la an irOI Ol Hit' J UUgie uuiuuiuivi; ?American triumph. The death rate among French employees on the canal was from two to three times as high as under the Americans. In 1890 an extension of ten years to the time for completing the canal was granted by Colombia, und subsequently extensions were permitted that advanced the life of the concession until Oct. 31. 1910. A new I'anama Canal company was organized in 1894. with a capital of $13,000,000. and. while It spent this urnount und more, it never attained the momentum or the first company. The maximum force under the first company was 25,000 men and under the second regime 3,000. The total excavation by the French In Panuum was 78,000.000 yards, of which the first company took out 05,000.000 yards, but out of all their work only 29.U08.mX) yards were excavated from the present American route. For years before the Americans came the French did just enough work to to* their coueessfon alive. The mechanical equipment we took over from the Freucb. the bonaea and hospitals and especially the engineering records were Invaluable from the start of American operations, and much still Is lu use. Ad effort was made by the French company In 1808 to Intereat the United States government in tbe enterprise, provided permission could be secured from Colombia. Bat this failed, and the plan of 1006 for tarnlng the property over to the United States was Its successor. , CHAPTER V. The Roosevsft Impetus. FOREIGN activities In Panama were watched, officially and unofficially, by the Americans with profound : Interest sad with tbe desire that the construction of a canal should bs the work of tbe United 8tates. The thought of communication between tbe oceans being In European hands was distasteful to our statesmen. In 1S52. when the Panama railroad was being built a captain of a company In tbe Fourth regiment of In fantry. Olyases 8. Grant, crossed the Isthmus at Panama on his way to the new California post An epidemic of cholera broke out, coating the Urea of eighty men. and the general hardships of the transit deeply impressed Captain Grant with the need of a batter passage. 8ererul American exploring parties had been on the Isthmus, and In 1964 Lieutenant Arthur Strain, with twenty-seven companions, attempted to penetrate the Jungle. They got lost, and after ninety days of living death Strain and two or three of his man reached Panama. President Lincoln in 1888, whan ha was freeing the negro slaves, cast his eyes upon the Chlriqol province of Panama as a suitable place for colonising the negroes of the south after the efvfl war. bat hla on timely death prevented the opportunity to work out the Idea. That Captain Grant who had crossed the Isthmus In 1862 became president In 1800. and the vary same year he directed General 8tepben A. Hurlbut to negotiate a treaty with Colombia for a Panama canal. Ha knew from experience how advantageous H would be to his country. Back * treaty was signed it Bogota on Jan. 20. 1870. but the United States senate did not ratify it anf the senate of Colombia mutilated it President Grant then sent Admiral Am men to Nicaragua to Investigate that route, more in a pique at Ootombla than from a belief In its availability. Colombia returaed the feeling by turning to the French and giving a concession. At the Instance of Prssl dent Grant the Puaama route again was surveyed by Commander^ & P. Lull and T. 0. Setfidge, In 1878, bat from this time onward the Fraoeh bad the center of the stftge. Their spread eagle operations served to make the world tind the Americans think that a canal was a white alephant proposition. The Bpaniah-American war. however, suddenly brought the American people to a realisation ad the vital necessity, from a mints iy viewpoint alone, of an lntaroceanle canal. n K_ Amm, mm ?),. haMaaMn ? ft '*?.* \JJ ua/ mm WW* > ? - ? kteamed around Caie Hon this Iiiim was Impressed upon the people. A 10.000 mile Journey could hie* bee* saved by ft Panama canal The war over and peace allnwtog the country and the government; to conahNr other things. President IfcKtokg reorganized the Isthmian canal coanmtortrw which be bad appointed to 180T with the following personnel: Admiral John G. Walker, chairman: Samuel Paaco, (korge 8. lfertaom Lieutenant Colonel Oewakl H. Erato, U. S. A.: Colonel P. C. Haina. D. 8. A.: Lewis M. Haupt Alfred Noble, Wttilam B. Burr and Frofeeeor Emory Wk, Johnson. This commission was appointed to March. 1880, with Instructions to investigate all Central American routes. The Walker commission unofficially asked the French ?ompsnj what ttw property might be bought for, sad when quoted a price of I1O1.1CU6O0 promptly decided that Nicaragua looked better. The report made on Hot. 16. 1901. by the commission frankly stated that the Panama route was prof, erable. but the price asked by the French company was prohibitive. The commission dropped the remark that $40,000,000 waa about what the French holdings were worth to the United States. When tt had agreed to the commission's valuation the report to the president promptly was revlasd In favor of the Panama route. Theodore Roosevelt upon ?yntnft?y the office of president promised to carry out the policies of President Me> Klnley, and. ao far u the canal policy is concerned, be succeeded so eminently that a deliberate Judgment, formed from a perspective view of the whple undertaking, warrants the assertion that his energy, decision and sound Judgment made an lnteroceanlc canal possible in this generation. The moment his dynamic personality got behind the idea it received an impetus, and be bucked the line of obstacles that arose in the path of the project until be retired in 1000, when the enterprise was advanced beyond the possibility of failure. Jt was to President Roosevelt that the Walker commission reported in November. 1901. His first message to congress urged immediate action, and after a good deal of wrangling over the Hepburn act in favor of Nlcaragva the Spooner act was passed on Jens 28. 1002. The Spooner act, written by Senator John C. Spooner of Wisconsin, provided for an isthmian canal commission of seven members and authorized the Panama route if the French property could be bought for 140,000,000 and a right of way could be obtained from Colombia. In the event aoch conditions could not be met It anthoriaed the Mcaraguan route and seemed to lean toward a lock type canaL An Immediate appropriation of $10,000400 was made available for preliminary expenses. President Roosevelt now had the authority he desired for going ahead with the project Secretary of 8tate John Buy nud the minister from Colombia, Jose V. Concha, Immediately began corresponding over the granting of a strip of territory In Panama for the prosecution of the enterprise, (Continued on Page Four).