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+Project Gutenberg's The Panama Canal and its Makers, by Vaughan Cornish
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Panama Canal and its Makers
+
+Author: Vaughan Cornish
+
+Release Date: October 8, 2011 [EBook #37671]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PANAMA CANAL AND ITS MAKERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Adam Styles and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Minor typographic errors corrected. Some place names
+have out-of-date spellings. Photographic plates are presented on facing
+pages within the book and have been placed at the nearest paragraph break
+in this document. Chapters are preceded by a page with the chapter title
+printed on it; since this is repeated on the following page, such pages
+are omitted.
+
+
+
+
+               THE PANAMA CANAL AND ITS MAKERS
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE
+SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS
+
+By George W. Crichfield
+
+Illustrated. Two Vols. Royal 8vo, cloth, 25_s._
+
+
+THE SOUTH AMERICAN SERIES
+
+Edited by Martin Hume
+
+Each Volume Demy 8vo, cloth, 10_s._ 6_d._ net.
+
+
+VOL. I.
+
+CHILE
+
+Its History and Development, Natural Features, Products, Commerce
+and Present Conditions. By G. F. Scott Elliott, M.A., F.R.G.S.,
+Author of "A Naturalist in Mid Africa." With an Introduction by
+Martin Hume, a Map, and many Illustrations.
+
+    "An exhaustive and interesting account, not only of the
+    turbulent history of this country but of her present conditions
+    and seeming prospects."--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+    "Will be found attractive and useful reading by the student of
+    history, the geographer, the naturalist, and last, but assuredly
+    not least, the British merchant."--_Scotsman._
+
+
+VOL. II.
+
+PERU
+
+Its Former and Present Civilisation, Topography and Natural
+Resources, History and Political Conditions, Commerce and General
+Development. By C. Reginald Enock, F.R.G.S., Author of "The Andes
+and the Amazon." With an Introduction by Martin Hume, a Map, and
+numerous Illustrations.
+
+    "An important work.... The writer possesses a quick eye and a
+    keen intelligence; is many-sided in his interests, and on
+    certain subjects speaks as an expert. The volume deals fully
+    with the development of the country, and is written in the same
+    facile and graphic style as before. Illustrated by a large
+    number of excellent photographs."--_The Times._
+
+    "A magnificent collection of information on this interesting
+    country. The author's vivid and eloquent description invests it
+    for us with some of the glamour it possessed for the
+    Conquistadores of the sixteenth century; and on closing the book
+    the reader feels tempted to set out at once for
+    Peru."--_Yorkshire Observer._
+
+
+IN PREPARATION
+
+VOL. III.
+
+MEXICO
+
+By C. Reginald Enock
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
+
+
+
+
+             [Illustration: MAKERS OF THE CANAL.]
+
+               THE PANAMA CANAL AND ITS MAKERS.
+
+
+                    _By_ VAUGHAN CORNISH
+
+    _Doctor of Science (Manchester Univ.), Fellow of the Royal
+    Geographical, Geological, and Chemical Societies of London,
+                 Member of the Japan Society_
+
+
+       WITH MAP, PLANS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY THE AUTHOR
+
+
+                       T. FISHER UNWIN
+                   LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE
+                   LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20
+
+                            1909
+
+
+                   (_All rights reserved._)
+
+
+                   THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
+
+                             TO
+
+        THE REVEREND CHARLES JOHN CORNISH, M.A. (OXON),
+          OF FLEET, HANTS, AND SALCOMBE REGIS, DEVON,
+
+                             BY
+
+                   HIS AFFECTIONATE SON,
+
+                        THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+I AM indebted to many persons for advice and information in connection
+with my study of the Panama Canal, and wish to thank particularly His
+Excellency the Rt. Hon. James Bryce, the Rt. Hon. Lord Avebury, Mr.
+Claude Mallet, C.M.G., Colonel George E. Church, Colonel George W.
+Goethals, chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, and his colleagues,
+Colonel W.C. Gorgas, M.D., Major D.D. Gaillard, Major William L. Sibert,
+Mr. Jackson Smith, and Mr. Bucklin Bishop. Also Major Chester Harding,
+Mr. Arango, Mr. G.R. Shanton, Chief of Police, Mr. William Gerig
+(formerly in charge of the Gatun Dam), Mr. Mason W. Mitchell, and Mr.
+Tracy Robinson.
+
+VAUGHAN CORNISH.
+
+_November_, 1908.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+    INTRODUCTION                                                      15
+
+    CHAPTER I
+    HISTORICAL REVIEW                                                 23
+
+    CHAPTER II
+    ON THE CANAL AS IT IS TO BE                                       45
+
+    CHAPTER III
+    ON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CULEBRA CUT, AND ON THE METHODS
+    EMPLOYED FOR EXCAVATION AND DISPOSAL OF THE SPOIL                 79
+
+    CHAPTER IV
+    THE MEN ON THE ISTHMUS                                            99
+
+    CHAPTER V
+    HEALTH ON THE ISTHMUS AND THE FUTURE OF THE WHITE RACE IN THE
+    TROPICS                                                          119
+
+    CHAPTER VI
+    ON THE SHORTENING OF DISTANCES BY SEA, AND ON THE STEAMSHIPS
+    AVAILABLE FOR CANAL TRANSIT                                      151
+
+    CHAPTER VII
+    THE COST OF THE CANAL                                            171
+
+    INDEX                                                            179
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+    MAKERS OF THE CANAL                                   _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                            TO FACE PAGE
+
+    STATUE OF COLUMBUS, CHRISTOBAL, COLON                             18
+
+    CHRISTCHURCH, COLON                                               18
+
+    LOCK AND DAM SITE, GATUN                                          26
+    (The house is on the crest-line of the dam, which will extend to the
+    hills on the right)
+
+    EXCAVATING FOR THE DOUBLE FLIGHT OF THREE LOCKS AT GATUN          26
+    (In fine-grained argillaceous sandstone rock)
+
+    RE-LOCATION OF RAILWAY ABOVE GATUN DAM                            30
+    (The trestle embankment will run as a causeway across a bay of the
+    lake)
+
+    MOTOR TROLLEY FOR INSPECTION OF WORKS                             30
+    (In the background are screened houses of employees)
+
+    TROPICAL FOREST, WITH HEAVY GROWTH OF PARASITIC PLANTS            36
+
+    JUNGLE WITH PIPE THROUGH WHICH OIL IS CONVEYED BY GRAVITATION
+    ACROSS THE ISTHMUS                                                36
+
+    CHAGRES RIVER NEAR BARBACOES                                      42
+    (In the dry season--looking down stream)
+
+    CHAGRES RIVER NEAR OBISPO                                         42
+    (In the dry season)
+
+    FRENCH DREDGER LAID UP                                            48
+    (Several of these have recently been put in use again)
+
+    FRENCH TRUCKS PARTLY COVERED WITH FOREST GROWTH                   48
+    (Many of these were used at first by the Americans, but are now
+    replaced by larger ones)
+
+    EXCAVATION NEAR TAVERNILLA                                        52
+
+    RIVER CHAGRES AND RAILWAY NEAR GORGONA                            52
+
+    LIDGERWOOD UNLOADER, WINDING APPARATUS                            56
+
+    _ANOPHELES_ BRIGADE OILING A DITCH                                56
+
+    100-TON WRECKING CRANE, GORGONA                                   62
+
+    INTERIOR OF MACHINE SHOP, GORGONA                                 62
+
+    MACHINE SHOPS, GORGONA                                            66
+
+    CLUB HOUSE FOR EMPLOYEES, GORGONA                                 66
+    (Managed by the Y.M.C.A.)
+
+    EXCAVATION IN THE CUT                                             72
+
+    PIPE FOR DIVERSION OF A RIVER, NEAR EMPIRE                        72
+
+    IN THE CUT, WIDTH 500 FEET                                        76
+
+    IN THE CUT, LOOKING SOUTH TOWARDS CULEBRA                         76
+    (The gorge between Golden and Silver Hills just visible)
+
+    ROCK DRILL                                                        82
+    (These machines bore a hole 30 feet deep in eight hours)
+
+    ROCK DRILLS AT WORK IN THE CUT                                    82
+
+    THE CUT, LOOKING NORTH FROM CULEBRA                               86
+
+    THE CUT, LOOKING SOUTH FROM CULEBRA                               86
+
+    FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST TO DISTANT HILLS                       92
+
+    FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST ACROSS THE CUT                         92
+    (Terraces formed by landslip are just visible behind the smoke of a
+    distant steam shovel)
+
+    FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST TO GOLDEN HILL                         96
+    (Showing excavation in steps and ledges. Each ledge has carried a
+    railway track)
+
+    THE CUT AT CULEBRA, LOOKING NORTH                                 96
+    (The scarped face of Golden Hill on the right. Taken April, 1908, in
+    the then bottom of the cut, 120 feet above Canal bottom)
+
+    GANG OF WEST INDIAN LABOURERS                                    102
+    (Unloading spoil-train at Gatun)
+
+    GANG OF SPANISH LABOURERS AT CULEBRA                             102
+    (Working in the sun in April, which is one of the hottest months,
+    less than 10 degrees from the equator. The men are wearing European
+    kit)
+
+    STEAM SHOVEL EXCAVATING SOIL AT CULEBRA                          106
+
+    STEAM SHOVEL UNLOADING INTO A DIRT CAR                           106
+
+    STEAM SHOVEL NEAR END OF STROKE                                  112
+    (The marks of the teeth made in a former stroke are visible on the
+    right. Golden Hill, with the highest berm, or ledge, in the
+    distance)
+
+    STEAM SHOVEL, STROKE FINISHED, LOADED WITH SOIL                  112
+
+    STEAM SHOVEL AT CULEBRA                                          116
+
+    SHOVEL-MEN AT CULEBRA                                            116
+
+    SCREENED BUNGALOW, CHRISTOBAL, COLON                             122
+
+    SCREENED QUARTERS OF EMPLOYEES, CULEBRA                          122
+
+    READING ROOM, EMPLOYEES' CLUB, CULEBRA                           126
+
+    HALL OF EMPLOYEES' CLUB, CULEBRA                                 126
+
+    CUT SOUTH OF CULEBRA, LANDSLIP ON LEFT                           132
+
+    LOOKING NORTH, THE SCARPED FACE OF GOLDEN HILL ON THE RIGHT      132
+
+    LOOKING NORTH FROM RAILWAY BRIDGE AT PARAISO                     136
+
+    ABANDONED FRENCH MACHINERY                                       136
+
+    GANG OF EUROPEAN LABOURERS (IN 1907)                             142
+
+    A FORMER HOT-BED OF MALARIA, NOW DRAINED                         142
+
+    NEAR THE SITE OF MILAFLORES LOCKS                                146
+
+    LOOKING NORTH TO CULEBRA DIVIDE FROM ANCON HILL                  146
+
+    RIO GRANDE, NEAR LA BOCA                                         154
+
+    RIO GRANDE, FROM ANCON HILL                                      154
+    (Country north of that shown in the last photograph)
+
+    LA BOCA, FROM ANCON HILL                                         158
+
+    ANCON CEMETERY                                                   158
+
+    COMMISSION'S HOTEL AT ANCON                                      162
+
+    ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, ANCON                                   162
+
+    VIEW FROM SPANISH FORT, PANAMA                                   166
+
+    CATHEDRAL SQUARE, PANAMA                                         166
+
+    PALACE OF PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA                    174
+
+    OLD FLAT ARCH AT PANAMA                                          174
+    (Adduced as evidence of comparative freedom of Panama from
+    destructive earthquakes)
+
+    MAP OF CANAL ZONE                                 _At end of volume_
+    (Showing also profile of Canal, cross section of Culebra Cut, the
+    borings below Gatun dam, and the cross section of Gatun dam as
+    designed in April, 1908. The design of this dam, however, is still
+    undergoing modifications)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+AT the present moment the Canal Zone of the Isthmus of Panama is the
+most interesting place in the world. Here is gathered an army of 40,000
+men engaged in the epoch-making work of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific
+Oceans, and here is the greatest collection of machinery ever massed for
+the accomplishment of one undertaking.
+
+If the present rate of progress continue unchecked, the Canal, it is
+calculated, will be opened in 1915. Then will that Isthmus, which has
+hitherto been a barrier between two oceans but has failed to act as a
+bridge between two continents, be pierced by a waterway capable of
+floating the largest ships now built or building. Then will the Pacific
+coasts of the Americas be accessible from ports on both sides of the
+Atlantic without the necessity of a voyage by the Straits of Magellan.
+Then will the distance from New York to San Francisco be shortened by
+8,400 and that from Liverpool by 6,000 miles; the distance from New York
+to South American ports will be shortened by an average of 5,000 and
+that from Liverpool to these ports by an average of 2,600 miles: then
+for the first time Yokohama on the north and Sydney on the south will be
+brought nearer to New York than to Liverpool or Antwerp, and then will
+New Orleans and the ports on the Mexican Gulf be brought nearer than New
+York, by sea, to San Francisco, South America beyond Pernambuco,
+Australia, and Japan.
+
+[Illustration: STATUE OF COLUMBUS, CHRISTOBAL, COLON.]
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH, COLON.]
+
+No one who cares to know the greater things which are shaping the world
+can now afford to be ignorant of what is happening on the Isthmus of
+Panama. In the former days of unstable companies the student of affairs
+might decline to occupy himself in the study of an undertaking of which
+the fruition was doubtful. Now, however, that the Government of a great
+nation have put their hands to the plough the furrow will be driven
+through. The United States have acquired complete ownership and control
+of the Canal and of a strip of land five miles wide on either side,
+called the Canal Zone. The small State of Panama, in which this zone is
+situate, has placed itself under the protection of the United States.
+The Government of Great Britain has by a treaty ratified in 1901 waived
+the treaty right which it formerly enjoyed to share with the United
+States the control of any trans-Isthmian canal. The Isthmus has been
+freed from those pestilences which were the greatest obstacles to human
+effort, and the engineering difficulties are no longer beyond the scope
+of modern science.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Having first visited the Canal works at the beginning of 1907, I decided
+to make upon the spot a careful examination of the whole undertaking.
+For this purpose I visited Washington and made application through the
+proper channel to the Department of State, which kindly consented to
+further the inquiry. A set of the published documents was supplied to
+me, and I proceeded from New York to the Isthmus by the R.M.S.P.
+_Magdalena_, arriving at Colon April 12, 1908. Here Colonel Goethals,
+chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, provided me with a letter to
+those concerned to furnish all information, and proposed that I should
+make my way about unattended and pursue my inquiries independently. I
+was thus enabled to converse with perfect freedom with the rank and
+file, while drawing freely on the special information possessed only by
+the heads of departments.
+
+For the benefit of readers in England I may explain that these
+circumstances were to me of especial importance on account of the doubts
+thrown by American writers, and also by Americans of repute in
+conversation, upon the reliability of official and other information
+supplied to the American public on the burning topic of the Isthmus. As
+an Englishman, and therefore standing outside American party politics,
+and as a scientific student not engaged in commerce or political life,
+I came to the study of the subject without prepossessions. This at least
+was my happy state when I arrived in Washington in March last. When I
+left for the Canal Zone a month later I was filled with gloomy
+forebodings that I might after all find a rotten state of affairs on the
+Isthmus. It was with intense relief that I found that I had what is
+called in America "an honest proposition" to deal with. As my doubts
+hitherto had been due to the patriotic anxiety of their compatriots, I
+am sure Colonel Goethals and his colleagues will forgive me for this
+frank statement of my difficulties and their solution.
+
+Any Englishman, accustomed to see the work of our own soldiers and civil
+servants in the Crown Colonies or in Egypt, would recognise in the
+officers of the corps of Engineers and of the Army Medical Corps who are
+in charge of the Canal Zone men of a like high standard of duty. As this
+account is written not only for my own countrymen but also for readers
+on the other side of the Atlantic, I should be glad, if it be possible,
+to convince of my own _bona-fides_ those anxious patriots who find it
+difficult to believe any good report from Panama. It may tend in this
+direction to state that I travelled and sojourned at my own charges, and
+that I went out on an independent inquiry. That I had promised to give
+an account of the Canal works to my brother geographers in London was my
+only undertaking, and the acceptance of a free pass on the Panama
+Railway my only financial obligation either in Washington or on the
+Isthmus.
+
+In order properly to understand the present and future of the Canal
+undertaking, it is necessary to give a short account of the history of
+Isthmian communication, for the conditions which now face the American
+Government and the Commission are not solely due to present physical
+causes, but also to previous events.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HISTORICAL REVIEW
+
+
+THE conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 completed
+their capture of the trade routes between Western Europe and the East
+Indies. The East Indian trade had long been a source of great enrichment
+to European merchants. It was especially suited to the restricted
+carrying power of those times, the products (such as pepper) being small
+in bulk and high in price. The maritime nations therefore sought sea
+routes to the Indies in pursuit of this trade, and it was Columbus
+himself, in his efforts to open up a western route to the Indies and
+China, who discovered the Bay of Limon in 1497. He and his successors
+sought for a strait or channel which should open the way to the East
+Indies. Cortes sought for the strait in Mexico. Others sought as far
+north as the St. Lawrence, which was supposed to afford a route to
+China. No opening could, however, be found nearer to the Equator than
+the Straits of Magellan (1520), and the hopes of a short route westward
+to the Indies were disappointed. An Isthmian canal was talked of even in
+the days of Charles V. of Spain to open the route to the East Indies. In
+those days of small vessels, the river channels would have served for a
+great part of the traverse, so that the scheme was not so wild as it may
+seem.
+
+[Illustration: LOCK AND DAM SITE, GATUN.]
+
+[Illustration: EXCAVATION FOR LOCKS, GATUN.]
+
+The purpose, therefore, of the first proposal for piercing the Isthmus
+was for shortening the distance to the Indies and China. The discovery
+of the nearer riches of Peru, however, illustrated the fact that the
+Isthmian barrier has its uses as well as its inconveniences. Porto Bello
+and Panama were fortified, ships were launched from the latter port for
+the Peruvian traffic, the treasure was carried across the Isthmus under
+escort and shipped to Spain. The treasure-ships, indeed, were liable to
+attack on the Caribbean, but the Isthmian barrier proved an important
+safeguard to the Peruvian possessions of Spain.
+
+In the next century, the seventeenth, the importance of the Isthmian
+land route declined, owing to the fact that Spain was no longer able to
+secure even moderate safety for her ships on the Caribbean. In the
+present days, when the importance of naval power is so well understood,
+it is hardly necessary to enlarge upon the significance of this fact,
+and its bearing upon the problems presented by the Panama route to-day.
+The project of an Isthmian canal for the purpose of trade between Europe
+and Asia continued to be agitated, but the inducements were inadequate
+to overcome the obstacles.
+
+In the middle of the nineteenth century, for the second time, it was the
+need of improved communication between the east and west of the American
+Continent which provided a sufficient inducement to improve the Isthmian
+route.
+
+At this time the Government of the United States were much occupied with
+projects of trans-Isthmian communication, particularly by canal, not
+with a view to Transpacific commerce, but with the object of improved
+communication between the east and west of their own territory.
+
+In 1846 a treaty was made with the State of New Grenada (afterwards
+Colombia) with a view to providing facilities for transport in the war
+between the United States and Mexico. In its most important provision it
+is similar to the present treaty between the United States and the new
+Republic of Panama, viz., the United States guarantee the sovereignty of
+the State in question over the Isthmian territory. Hence the Isthmus was
+thus early constituted a Protectorate of the United States.
+
+But at this time it was generally thought that Lake Nicaragua provided
+the best route for a trans-Isthmian canal.
+
+The Pacific seaboard having recently acquired importance to the United
+States, the Government desired to further the canal project on that
+account. The only practicable Atlantic terminal of a Nicaraguan canal
+lay within territory over which Great Britain had long exercised
+control. Further, the Pacific Coast of Canada had recently acquired
+importance to the eastern provinces and to the home country, and access
+thereto was extremely difficult. The outcome of these circumstances was
+the conclusion in 1850 of the celebrated Clayton-Bulwer treaty between
+the United States and Great Britain, which was duly ratified by
+Congress. By this instrument it was agreed that neither Government
+should ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control of any
+canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, nor erect
+fortifications commanding the same.
+
+This treaty remained in force until 1901, and I shall have to refer to
+it again. Meanwhile the great rush of gold-seekers to California had
+supplied the needful stimulus to a scheme, already mooted, of an
+Isthmian railway terminating at Panama. In spite of the enormous
+difficulties entailed by the pestilential climate, the undertaking was
+completed in 1855. This achievement, originating in New York, was the
+work of W.H. Aspinwall, Henry Chauncey, and John L. Stephens.
+
+[Illustration: RE-LOCATION OF RAILWAY ABOVE GATUN.]
+
+[Illustration: MOTOR TROLLEY FOR INSPECTION OF WORKS.]
+
+It was undertaken independently of any canal scheme, but it exercised a
+profound effect upon the fate of subsequent schemes. The facilities
+which the railway afforded determined de Lesseps's choice of route, and
+de Lesseps ploughed so deeply that those who came after him have found
+themselves constrained to follow his furrow. The "New World" is in fact
+no longer new, and its statesmen now have to solve problems presenting
+historical as well as physical factors.
+
+The American Civil War interrupted the prosecution of canal schemes, but
+the examination of routes was recommenced by the United States
+Government in 1866, a Commission finally reporting in 1876[1] in favour
+of the Nicaraguan route.
+
+[1] The report, however, was not published until 1879.
+
+In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened for traffic. Immediately, the route by
+Panama ceased to be the shortest from Europe to any part of the East
+Indies. The importance of that route to Asia was thus greatly reduced as
+far as Europe was concerned, but, relatively, its importance to the
+United States was increased, for the Suez Canal does not shorten the
+Asiatic voyage from New York, Boston, or New Orleans to the same extent
+as it does for European ports.
+
+The Old World had been severed into halves by the enterprise of one man,
+and that man no potentate, but merely one possessing the gift of
+persuasion. By his achievement, which was immediately crowned by
+financial success, Ferdinand de Lesseps suddenly became possessed of
+powers such as are not always at the disposal of the Governments even of
+great countries. He decided himself to sever the barrier between the
+Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, convened a "Congress" at Paris in 1879, and
+inaugurated in 1881 the _Compagnie Universelle du Canal Inter-oceanique
+de Panama_. He had decided to adopt the Panama route on account of the
+facilities afforded by the railway. The money was mainly subscribed in
+France. The American railway company was bought out at the enormous
+price of $25,500,000, and in the course of the next eight years a large
+part of the work required for a tide-level canal was well executed on
+sound lines by the genius of the French, who are excelled by none in the
+arts of the civil engineer. The exact proportion which the French work
+bears to that since accomplished by the American Government will be
+shown later. The engineers now on the Isthmus are full of praise for the
+work of the French engineers, and their wonder daily grows both at its
+quantity and its ingenuity. It is only those at a distance, or
+ill-informed, who have belittled these achievements. Unfortunately, the
+French engineers were not properly supported. De Lesseps, if he were
+ever a practical man, had certainly ceased to be so since his first
+great success. A practical man is one who counts the cost of everything
+he is about to do. De Lesseps no longer counted cost. He had become as
+one believing in his star. His actions remind us of those of some of
+the great conquerors whose early successes have led them to undertake
+impossible campaigns. The question has been discussed if any human
+character can stand more than a certain share of success and yet retain
+a sound judgment. Certainly the character of de Lesseps was not equal to
+the strain. The expenditure was awful--$300,000,000 in eight years,
+_i.e._, more than three times the sum for which the Suez Canal was
+constructed. The Company went into liquidation in 1889. Much had been
+embezzled. Much, it is said, had been spent in purchasing the silence of
+voices which would otherwise have been raised against a Europeanised
+canal.
+
+The affairs of the Company were taken over by the New Panama Canal
+Company, who continued to administer the railway, and, with small means,
+did excellent work for the next twelve years in keeping the machinery
+and the works from deterioration, in excavations at the summit, and
+above all in extending the scientific examination of the country so as
+to obtain much-needed data for the construction of the high-level canal
+which was now proposed in place of de Lesseps's project of a tide-level
+waterway.
+
+In 1869 President Grant, in a message to Congress, had recommended the
+construction of an Isthmian canal under the sole control of the United
+States, and popular opinion since that time, if not before, has always
+strongly held that if a canal be made it should be exclusively under
+that control. It was not the least of de Lesseps's imprudences that he
+proceeded with his project in spite of warnings on this matter. In 1898
+an event occurred which made the American nation feel that an Isthmian
+canal was necessary, and that it must be under their exclusive control.
+At the outset of the war with Spain, the _Oregon_, one of the best of
+America's small fleet of battleships (we write of ten years since), was
+lying in the Pacific. She had to steam more than 13,000 miles to reach
+Key West, and the whole nation was in a state of nervous tension for
+many weeks pending her junction with the main fleet.
+
+It seemed at the time that the Panama route could hardly be obtained for
+a canal under purely American control, and a further investigation of
+the Nicaraguan route was ordered--that route which had been preferred by
+the American experts before de Lesseps intervened. The New Panama Canal
+Company had by this time brought their labours to the point where it
+seemed practicable to appeal to the investing public of the world for
+funds to construct a high-level Panama canal. To do this in the face of
+a Nicaraguan canal, undertaken as a national affair by the United
+States, would have been hopeless: they therefore laid their detailed
+plans before President McKinley. A Commission was accordingly appointed
+by Congress to inquire into the best route for an Isthmian canal "under
+the control, management, and ownership of the United States."[2] The
+report was presented to Congress on December 4, 1901, rather more than
+two years later, and is a document of great historical and scientific
+interest. The quarto volume of 688 pages is accompanied by a portfolio
+of 86 maps, plans, and panoramic views. The last of these, showing the
+mountainous skyline of the Isthmus east of Colon, with altitudes marked,
+illustrates in a striking manner the conclusion of the Commission that
+the San Blas route, or any route east of Colon, would involve a ship
+tunnel. These routes are dismissed as impracticable on account of the
+altitude of the divide. The Nicaraguan and Panamanian are found to be
+the only practicable routes, and the details of both are fully
+discussed. The high-level canal was preferred by the Commission to the
+sea-level at Panama, and on the Nicaraguan route only a high-level canal
+is possible, so that in this respect the two routes were considered to
+be on a par.
+
+[2] Act of Congress approved by President, March 3, 1899, Commission
+appointed June 10.
+
+[Illustration: TROPICAL FOREST WITH PARASITIC GROWTHS.]
+
+[Illustration: PIPE CONVEYING OIL ACROSS THE ISTHMUS.]
+
+The relative advantages of the two routes are carefully set out in the
+report, the general tenor of which is favourable to that by Panama.
+Nevertheless, the Commission recommend that the Nicaraguan route be
+adopted, on account of the excessive valuation which, they state, was
+placed by the New Panama Canal Company on their works and property. The
+value of these, including the Panama Railway, was estimated by the
+Commission at $40,000,000. The New Panama Canal Company, learning that
+the Commission had thus reported, cabled an offer to sell at this price,
+and the Commission accordingly sent in a supplementary report in favour
+of the Panama route. By June 28, 1902, the "Spooner" Act had been passed
+and ratified, authorising the President to purchase the canal works at
+this price, and to acquire from the Republic of Colombia the necessary
+rights for the control of a Panama canal, then to be constructed; but in
+the event of his not being able to acquire such control, then to proceed
+with the Nicaraguan project.
+
+Meanwhile, by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, ratified by the Senate December
+16, 1901, Great Britain had waived the right of joint control of any
+Isthmian canal which she had held since the ratification of the
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in 1850. It remained therefore only to negotiate a
+treaty with Colombia. The treaty of 1846 with New Grenada afforded a
+precedent as far as the question of control was concerned, and the
+negotiations appear to have been related mainly to the question of
+price. A treaty was negotiated by officials of the two Republics, by
+which the United States was to pay a sum of $10,000,000 to Colombia, and
+after nine years an annual sum of $100,000. This was confirmed by
+Congress but rejected by the Colombian Senate, and negotiations came to
+an end with the adjournment of that body, October 31, 1903.
+
+Three days later the Province of Panama renounced its allegiance to
+Colombia.
+
+Another three days, and the independence of the New Republic was
+recognised and guaranteed by the United States.
+
+In less than a fortnight afterwards a treaty was signed at Washington by
+which the United States acquired complete ownership and control of the
+proposed canal for the sum of $10,000,000 and an annual payment of
+$250,000, to commence nine years afterwards. This treaty was ratified at
+Panama December 2, 1903, and by the United States Senate February 23,
+1904.
+
+One significant point must be mentioned with reference to the Panamanian
+revolution. The inability of Colombia to make an effective effort to
+assert its power on the Isthmus was due to naval weakness in the absence
+of communication by land. No army could march through the tropical
+forests which still isolate the Canal Zone from South America, and
+control at Colon and Panama still depends upon sea power.
+
+Thus, at last, the United States owns and controls its Canal Zone. We
+will now state precisely the position in which that nation stands in
+reference to this matter, and then we may leave the work of the
+diplomats to consider the task of the engineers.
+
+
+_The National Status of the Canal._
+
+The position which will be held by the United States in relation to
+other Powers is foreshown in the Hay-Pauncefote treaty with Great
+Britain and in Article XXIII. of the treaty with Panama. The
+Hay-Pauncefote treaty is in supersession of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty.
+The latter stipulated that no fortifications should be erected
+controlling the Canal. In the Hay-Pauncefote treaty this clause is
+omitted. On the other hand, it is stated in Article III., Sec. 2, that "the
+Canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war be exercised
+nor any act of hostility be committed within it." Hence, the reader may
+have remained in doubt whether the United States Government had intended
+to reserve to themselves the right to fortify. However, the terms of the
+subsequent treaty with the Republic of Panama answer this question, for
+after stating in Article XVIII. that the Canal shall be opened in
+accordance with all the stipulations of the treaty of 1901 with Great
+Britain, Article XXIII. states that "the United States shall have the
+right to establish fortifications."
+
+As a matter of fact, such fortifications are to be constructed, and the
+plan of the Canal has been adjusted to the requirements of military
+defence.
+
+There have been, among public men in the United States, two schools of
+thought on the vital question of the defence of the Canal. One school
+has held that the best safeguard was to be obtained by leaving the Canal
+unfortified (as is the case with the Suez Canal), and by the
+establishment of a general Convention, by which all the Powers,
+including the United States, should bind themselves to respect the
+neutrality of the Canal and leave it inviolate. Other public men
+preferred forts, guardships, and a garrison. The general public in the
+United States, on the other hand, appears to have unanimously held that
+an international guarantee would be ineffectual and, moreover,
+derogatory. As we have seen, the popular view has prevailed, but traces
+of the antagonistic and incompatible notion of internationalisation
+remain in the language of the treaties. This is not surprising when we
+recollect that the first draft of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty was drawn
+up with a view to neutralisation, according to the precedents afforded
+by the Suez Canal. Thus we find that Article III. commences with the
+words: "The United States adopts as the basis of the neutralisation of
+the Canal ..."; and in Article XVIII. of the treaty with Panama we find:
+"The Canal when constructed, and the entrances thereto, shall be neutral
+in perpetuity...."
+
+[Illustration: CHAGRES RIVER NEAR BABACOES.]
+
+[Illustration: CHAGRES RIVER NEAR OBISPO.]
+
+What then are we to understand by the term "neutral" as applied to the
+Panama Canal in war time? I suppose the meaning to be that if there be a
+war to which the United States is not a party, the Canal will be used by
+belligerents in exactly the same way as was the Suez Canal, _e.g._, in
+the Russo-Japanese War, and that the Government of the United States has
+pledged itself to see that such neutrality is preserved. But if there be
+a war in which the United States is a party, the circumstances of
+fortification and operation by the United States in fact render it
+impossible for the other belligerent to use the Canal, and are
+intended[3] to have that effect. This being so, the United States is
+preparing to defend the Canal from attack. Thus it is important to the
+proper understanding of the undertaking on which the United States
+Government has embarked that we should clearly realise that the Canal is
+only neutral in a restricted sense.
+
+The commercial status of the Canal, however, is similar to that of Suez,
+in that by Article III., Sec. 1, of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, "The Canal
+shall be free and open[4] to the vessels ... of all nations ... on terms
+of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any
+such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions
+or charges of traffic, or otherwise."
+
+[3] See Report of Canal Commission, 1897, p. 168.
+
+[4] In Article XVIII. of the treaty with Panama this clause is cited,
+with the addition "and the entrances to the Canal."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ON THE CANAL AS IT IS TO BE
+
+
+BETWEEN Colon and Panama the American Isthmus is about 36 miles across
+as the crow flies, and is therefore nearly, though not quite, at its
+narrowest. In this portion of its sinuous course both coasts trend north
+of east and Panama lies nearly south-east of Colon. The Isthmus in
+general is a very confused mass of hills and mountains. It is crossed by
+no transverse trench (such as sometimes occurs in mountainous regions),
+neither by the trough provided by down-folded strata, nor the rift
+valley produced by fracture and foundering of rock. A low-level
+transverse can only be found by following up the course of a river,
+crossing the divide, and following the course of another river
+downwards to the other ocean. From the vicinity of Colon, by following
+up the valley of the River Chagres, we are led in precisely the required
+direction, _i.e._, directly towards the Pacific, for nearly two-thirds
+of the way. The distance from the head of Limon Bay, following the
+curves of the valley, is 26 miles to this place, Obispo, and for the
+greater part of the distance the river flows in a broad valley of deep
+alluvial deposits.
+
+[Illustration: FRENCH DREDGER LAID UP.]
+
+[Illustration: FRENCH TRUCKS PARTLY COVERED WITH FOREST GROWTH]
+
+At the point mentioned, the Chagres abruptly changes its course, and, if
+followed towards its source, will be found to be flowing from north-east
+to south-west. Moreover, it is now confined to a narrow valley, with
+steep hills of rocky substance on either side, and its gradient becomes
+much greater than hitherto. The course of the Canal cannot therefore
+follow the Chagres valley further. Fortunately, the valley has led us
+not only a long distance towards the Pacific, but to a place where the
+dividing ridge only attains an elevation of about 300 feet above
+sea-level. Striking from Obispo straight for the Bay of Panama, we come
+in 9 miles to the low alluvial plain of the Rio Grande, which leads
+straight to the sea in another 6 miles. Thus, from shore to shore, the
+course of the Canal along this route is 41 miles; but to reach deep
+water 4-1/2 miles must be dredged beneath the sea at either end, so that
+the total length of the artificial waterway is 50 miles. Of the
+land-course less than a quarter, or about 9 miles, is hill country, and
+most of this is less than 200 feet above the sea. The United States has
+been committed to this route by the long chain of circumstances already
+narrated.
+
+Whatever type of canal was to be constructed along this route, there
+were certain excavations which must necessarily be done. These were,
+firstly, dredging the sea channels, and secondly, making a cut through
+the solid rocks of the divide. Thus, although de Lesseps started
+operations upon inadequate data, yet most of the work done by the first
+Panama Canal Company is available, either for the tide-level canal
+proposed by de Lesseps or for the 85-foot-level canal now being made by
+the United States. Similarly, the New Panama Canal Company, although
+hampered by many uncertainties, continued to work at the Culebra Cut, as
+it is called, that is to say, the trench through the rocky hills which
+separate the alluvial valleys of the Chagres and the Rio Grande.
+
+Thus the works taken over by the United States in 1904 were available
+for any type of canal, and the decision to adopt the 85-foot-level was
+not taken until 1906. Even now, or in April, 1908, at the time of my
+visit, when so much work has been done upon the locks, many of the rank
+and file of the employees still cherish the hope of a tide-level canal,
+and there are not wanting well-informed people, both on the Isthmus and
+in the States, who, while accepting the high-level scheme as inevitable,
+regard a tide-level canal as essentially a better thing.
+
+Let us resume our description of the Isthmus, in order that we may be in
+a position to understand the conditions with which the engineers have
+to deal. The practicability of the Panama route is due to the fact that
+rivers have already done a great part of the excavation, and if desert
+conditions had supervened--if there were, as at Suez, practically no
+rainfall--the construction of a tide-level canal would be simply the
+excavation of a trench in dry material, which would be filled by the
+inflowing waters of the sea. A tidal lock being added to regulate the
+ebb and flow at Panama (for the Atlantic side is tideless), the canal
+would be complete.
+
+But as things actually are, the rainfall on the Isthmus is very heavy,
+particularly on the Atlantic side, where it reaches 140 inches[5] per
+annum, and the rivers have at all times considerable bodies of water,
+and during the rainy season (commencing in May) are subject to sudden
+and violent freshets. The Chagres at Gamboa has been known to rise
+35-1/2 feet in 24 hours.[6] Suppose then that a tide-level trench were
+suddenly formed across the Isthmus, as by a convulsion of nature. We
+should then see the rivers pouring into this fjord in a number of
+cascades of various height. Of these the greatest would be the Chagres
+cascade, entering from the east near Gamboa and Obispo. The height of
+the waterfall would be 46 feet in the driest season and as much as 80
+feet in occasional floods.[7]
+
+[5] Abbot, "Problems of the Panama Canal," p. 96.
+
+[6] _Loc. cit._, p. 146.
+
+[7] Abbot, _loc. cit._, p. 116.
+
+[Illustration: EXCAVATION NEAR TAVERNILLA.]
+
+[Illustration: RIVER CHAGRES AND RAILWAY NEAR GORGONA.]
+
+In order therefore to make a tide-level canal, some means must be found
+for disposing of the waters of the Chagres and other rivers. De
+Lesseps's tide-level project was rather an aspiration than a plan. He
+proposed to conduct the waters of the Chagres to the sea by other
+channels. The magnitude of this task would be scarcely less than that of
+cutting the Canal itself. The other rivers on both sides of the Canal
+would likewise require diversion channels, so that the final result
+would be roughly the formation of three channels, of which the centre
+one would be for navigation. The Board of Consulting Engineers summoned
+by President Roosevelt in 1905 to advise the Isthmian Canal Commission
+recommended, in a majority report, a tide-level canal as practicable and
+best fulfilling the national requirements, defined by the Spooner Act of
+1902. But whereas they had detailed schemes for high-level canals before
+them, they were in the matter of the sea-level project at the
+disadvantage of having to act in a constructive capacity and elaborate
+the details of a scheme before they could criticise it. Moreover, five
+of the eight who constituted the majority were European engineers, who
+returned to their duties as soon as the report was drafted. The report
+of the minority in favour of the 85-foot-level scheme having been
+adopted by Congress in 1906, all available engineering talent has for
+the last two years been devoted to improving the details of this scheme.
+The tide-level project of the majority of the Board has had no such
+advantage, and the difficulty of estimating the relative advantages of
+the two schemes is therefore all the greater.
+
+Both schemes depend for their success upon the security of dams.
+
+The tide-level scheme has a dam at Gamboa, near Obispo, thus making a
+lake of the upper waters of the Chagres, whose surface would be 200 feet
+above sea-level.[8] The floodwater would partly be accommodated in the
+lake by reason of the great height of the dam above low-water stage, and
+partly by running the excess into the Canal, by which it would escape to
+the sea, generating currents which the Board calculated would not attain
+an injurious velocity.
+
+[8] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 205.
+
+Streams entering the Chagres in its lower reaches would be dammed back
+or diverted--a considerable, but not momentous, undertaking. The three
+great objections to the scheme appeared to be:--
+
+1. The extra cost, and above all the extra time, required to complete
+the immensely greater quantity of excavation required for the last 85
+feet;
+
+2. The fact that the artificial lake was to be above the Canal, so that,
+if the dam burst, the Canal might be ruined; and,
+
+3. That the velocity of currents in the Canal due to discharge of the
+surplus waters might perhaps be a serious drawback to navigation in a
+narrow channel.
+
+It will be seen presently that the second disadvantage is offset by
+corresponding disadvantages in the dam required for the high-level
+canal.
+
+As for the cost, that has always been an unknown quantity, and, I think,
+has always been a secondary consideration. The fear of undue delay seems
+to have been the principal deciding factor in favour of the high-level
+scheme. Rival expert opinions that the majority of the Board of
+Engineers had under-estimated the time required for the tide-level canal
+were adopted by those in authority, and mainly on this account, I think,
+the high-level scheme became law.
+
+Since visiting the Isthmus a second time, and inspecting the work in the
+great Cut between Empire and Paraiso, it has seemed to me that there is
+an objection to the tide-level project which did not fully appear in
+the early stages of the work, viz., that the behaviour of the rock
+might involve the engineers in ever-increasing difficulties as the
+depths increased. The opinion which had been held by many that the
+difficulties would diminish with the depth did not seem to me to be
+justified up to that time.
+
+[Illustration: LIDGERWOOD UNLOADER, WINDING APPARATUS.]
+
+[Illustration: _ANOPHELES_ BRIGADE OILING A DITCH.]
+
+Next let us see what are the special difficulties of the high-level
+project.
+
+This also depends for its success mainly on the efficacy of one dam,
+which is now being made at Gatun. It will hold up the waters not only of
+the Chagres but of its tributaries, to a level of 85 feet above mean
+tide, and the area of the lake thus to be formed is shown on the map.
+The Chagres will be ponded back far above the point where it enters the
+Canal, and thus will be effectually tamed. The flood-waters will be
+spread over an area of about 164 square miles--for Lake Gatun will be
+twice the size of Lago Maggiore and about four-fifths that of the Lake
+of Geneva,[9] and ships, in the ample waterway, will not be troubled by
+currents.
+
+[9] The size, in fact, will not differ greatly from that of the
+principal basin of the Lake of Geneva, all above the _petit lac_, or
+narrow part at the Geneva end. A good idea of this area is obtained by
+recalling the well-known view over the waters of this lake from the
+_quai_ at Ouchy.
+
+A flight of three locks at Gatun will raise ships to the level of this
+lake in coming from the Atlantic, and one lock at Pedro Miguel and two
+at Milaflores will lower them to the level of the Pacific.
+
+It has been claimed that if the Gatun dam burst the consequences would
+be less disastrous than if the Gamboa dam burst, but there is in reality
+little to choose between the two catastrophes.
+
+The great blot on the high-level scheme is that the great Gatun dam is
+not founded on solid rock. The Gamboa dam of the tide-level project
+would have been founded throughout on hard rock, from which it could
+have been built up of masonry so that the structure should be part and
+parcel of the rocky framework of the globe itself. The Gatun dam as
+recommended in the minority report, on the other hand, was designed to
+consist essentially of a mass of earth dumped upon an alluvial plain so
+as to fill up a gap of 2,000 yards between two ranges of hills, the gap
+through which the Chagres escapes to the Atlantic. Thus the Gatun lake
+was to be held up as a glacier lake is held by a moraine blocking a
+valley.
+
+We shall presently describe the high-level canal as it is to be, from
+which it will be seen that it will provide a magnificent waterway, but
+before concluding the present section I must mention the special point
+in which it will be inferior to a tide-level canal. This is for purposes
+of defence. A fortress has to be preserved from capture, but not from
+damage. The locks, however, must be preserved from serious damage, which
+demands far more elaborate protection. Such protection, moreover, has to
+be provided at two positions (Gatun and Milaflores) about 30 miles
+apart.
+
+
+_The High-level Canal as it is to be._
+
+The Spooner Act, the law under which the Canal is being constructed,
+enacts that it shall be "of sufficient capacity and depth as shall
+afford convenient passage for vessels of the largest tonnage and
+greatest draft now in use, and such as may reasonably be expected."
+
+Accordingly the following dimensions have been selected:--
+
+1. A minimum depth of 41 feet.
+
+The Suez Canal has a depth of 31 feet[10] admitting of the passage of
+ships with a draft of 27 feet.[11] The channel of this canal is now
+being deepened, so that by 1915 it is hoped that a depth of 36 feet[12]
+will be obtained. The Kiel Canal has a depth of 30 feet. The average
+draft of the Cunard s.s. _Mauretania_, the largest ship now afloat, is
+about 32 feet, but she is stated to draw, when fully laden, about 37
+feet, and there are comparatively few harbours in the world which she
+could enter fully loaded.
+
+[10] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 175.
+
+[11] "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," p. 436.
+
+[12] _Daily Telegraph_, June 18, 1908.
+
+2. A minimum bottom width of 200 feet in the Culebra Cut.
+
+The minimum bottom width, or width at a depth of 31 feet, in the Suez
+Canal is 108 feet.
+
+The bottom width of the Kiel Canal is 72 feet.[13]
+
+[13] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 173.
+
+3. Each lock will have a usable length of 1,000 feet and a width of 110
+feet.
+
+The locks of the Kiel Canal have an available length of 492 feet and
+width of 82 feet.
+
+The _Mauretania_ has a length of 790 feet and beam of 88 feet.
+
+4. The minimum radius of the curves is 5,577 feet (1,700 metres).[14]
+This curve, however, does not come in the Culebra Cut, where the bottom
+width is to be 200 feet, but north of Bas Obispo, where the bottom width
+is 500 feet. Most of the curves have a radius of 9,842 feet (3,000
+metres).
+
+[14] _Vide_ p. 205 of General Abbot's "Problems of the Panama Canal"
+(1907). Slight changes in the projected course are made from time to
+time, so that this figure is subject to slight modification.
+
+In the Suez Canal,[15] outside Lake Timsah, there are five curves with a
+radius of 2,000 metres, or a little more, which are being enlarged to
+2,500 metres (8,202 feet). The usual bottom width in these curves was
+184 feet, but this is being increased to about 230 feet. The Kiel Canal
+has four curves with a radius of 1,000 metres (3,284 feet).
+
+[15] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 178.
+
+A reference to the accompanying plan (_vide_ Map, end of volume) of the
+Panama Canal will show that most of the curves are situate in Gatun
+lake, where the width of the canal proper is large, and where the spread
+of shallower waters secures better steerage.
+
+Thus the high-level Canal is not only deep and wide, but also much freer
+from troublesome curves than might be supposed from a casual inspection
+of its course. The details of the bottom width of the high-level Canal
+in its different parts are as follows:--
+
+                                                                   Feet.
+
+  From the Atlantic entrance to Juan Grande (27 miles)             1,000
+  Juan Grande to Bas Obispo                                          500
+  Bas Obispo to a point about half-way between Empire and Culebra    300
+  Culebra Cut nearly to Pedro Miguel lock (about 4 miles)            200
+  Pedro Miguel to Pacific entrance                                   500
+
+[Illustration: 100-TON WRECKING CRANE, GORGONA.]
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF MACHINE SHOP, GORGONA.]
+
+Limon Bay being shallow, the deep water where a battleship can freely
+navigate or manoeuvre lies outside a line joining Colon Lighthouse
+with Toro Point, and at a distance of 7-1/2 miles from Gatun locks. From
+this distance the lock-excavation can now be plainly discerned from the
+deck of a ship without the aid of a glass. Here, when the Canal is
+complete, a ship will enter the buoyed channel of the submarine portion
+of the Canal, but this part of the channel does not lead directly
+towards the locks, which are not visible upon the face of the water.
+Moreover, they are presently hidden altogether by the land. Not until
+Mile 5, near Mindi, is reached does the course of the Canal, by a slight
+bend, open up the locks to uninterrupted view, and at this point the
+ship is already confined between banks. When the foot of the flight of
+three locks is reached a vessel will no longer proceed under her own
+steam, but be warped through.
+
+The length and width of the locks has already been stated. The maximum
+lift will be 32 feet, or about 4 feet more than in any other locks at
+present in use. As the width (110 feet) is much greater than that of
+existing locks, it follows that the lock gates will be far larger than
+any now in use. The vessel has to pass through a flight of three
+succeeding locks. Parallel with this is a second flight of three locks,
+so that two ships could be simultaneously put through either flight in
+the same, or in opposite, directions. Each lock through which the vessel
+passes on her upward course is provided with two pairs of mitre gates,
+_i.e._, double-swinging doors, but the uppermost lock has in addition a
+rolling gate near the lower end. This is a precaution against the
+breaking through of the upper folding doors by a ship coming down,
+_i.e._, from the Pacific side. An emergency gate is also being designed,
+a sort of swing bridge, to close the upper entrance to the flight of
+locks, for Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and Milaflores. It is hoped that a
+vessel will be put through all three locks at Gatun in 50 minutes, to
+which must be added some delay in approaching. Coming from the Atlantic
+the water of the Canal will be smooth, and the vessel somewhat
+sheltered, so that there should be no difficulty. Approaching from the
+lake there may be some roughness, but anything more than a fresh breeze
+is rare, and the lake will be practically free from currents, so that
+the approach should present little difficulty. The Pacific side is
+always calm, so that no difficulty of approach or exit is to be
+anticipated there on account of either winds, waves, or currents.
+
+Our vessel, having been locked up to the broad surface of Lake Gatun,
+proceeds under her own steam and at a fair rate of speed across that
+lake, slowing down to about 4-1/2 miles per hour for the 9 miles of
+Culebra Cut, which will thus occupy two of the 8 or 10 hours in which it
+is hoped to accomplish the whole transit. On this basis it is calculated
+that 40 ships could be put through in 24 hours from the Atlantic to the
+Pacific, or two fleets of 20 ships if passing simultaneously in opposite
+directions.
+
+A 10-hour transit of the 50-mile channel is about the same rate of
+progress as that in the Suez Canal, where, though there are no locks,
+the speed has to be kept low on account of the friable nature of the
+banks.
+
+It is evident that the time of transit cannot yet be certainly known to
+an hour or two, but a considerable margin beyond the above estimate
+would enable the passage to be made between dawn and dusk of the
+tropical day.
+
+At Pedro Miguel our vessel passes through one lock on her way down to
+the Pacific, and at Milaflores through two locks. Each of these three
+locks has, of course, a duplicate alongside, permitting, as at Gatun,
+the simultaneous passage of a companion vessel, or of one passing in the
+opposite direction. In case of repairs to one set of locks the parallel
+set would maintain the waterway.
+
+The lift of the lower lock at Milaflores is variable, depending upon the
+level of the tidal water in the last reach of the Canal. The extreme
+range of the tide at La Boca, the Pacific entrance to the Canal, is 20
+feet; that is to say, low water during "spring" tides is 10 feet below
+the average sea-level. During low tide on the Pacific side, therefore,
+the water in the Canal stands 95, instead of 85, feet above that sea.
+Hence the maximum lift of 32 feet already stated, for
+
+    32 x 3 = 96.
+
+[Illustration: MACHINE SHOPS, GORGONA.]
+
+[Illustration: CLUB HOUSE FOR EMPLOYEES, GORGONA.]
+
+Beyond the Milaflores locks our vessel enters a reach of the Canal which
+is exposed to the ebb and flow of the tide and _which will be confined
+within banks or levees as far as La Boca_. In this respect the plan and
+the section are both, unfortunately, misleading. The La Boca lock and
+dam have been abandoned, and no Sosa lake will therefore come into
+existence, the lowest lock being, as I have said, at Milaflores. I have
+thought it better to reproduce the existing maps as they stand rather
+than to attempt a re-draught which would necessarily be imperfect. Our
+vessel, then, below Milaflores is in a tidal channel and will be subject
+to some tidal current. By designing this channel so as to avoid a bottle
+neck, and by giving it a width of 500 feet, the calculated current will,
+however, not exceed 1 foot per second.
+
+The La Boca site for locks was found to be much too exposed to gun fire
+and other modes of attack from the sea, whereas the Milaflores site is
+not only distant about 5 miles from the shore, but is well sheltered
+both by hills near it and by the position of the hilly eminences of the
+shore line.
+
+It will be seen from the map that the dredged sea channel by which our
+vessel will reach deep water on the Pacific passes to the west of the
+Isle of Naos instead of to the east, as was proposed in the earlier
+plans.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Returning now to the Gatun locks. The mitre sill of the top lock is 37
+feet above mean sea-level, _i.e._, 48 feet below the surface of the
+lake, which is 85 feet above mean sea-level. But the bottom of the lake
+here is only about 5 feet above sea-level, the total depth of water
+immediately above the locks and dam being 80 feet. It follows that, in
+the extreme case of both gates of one of the top locks (as well as the
+roller gate) being wrecked, the level of the water in the lake can only
+fall to the level of +37, which would leave a depth of 32 feet
+immediately above the dam. Ships of large draft could therefore lie
+there without being stranded. Moreover, the lake is so large that the
+outflow through the broken locks would only lower the level 2 feet _per
+diem_, so that more than three weeks would elapse before the water sank
+to the level of the mitre sill.
+
+Again, the channel provided by the broken lock would be so small that in
+the Canal below the calculated current which would result from the
+outflow would have a velocity of only 3-1/2 miles per hour.
+
+Above the Pedro Miguel and Milaflores locks there is not the same
+surplus depth of water, so that vessels might be grounded if the locks
+were broken. Moreover, as there is no wide-spreading lake above Pedro
+Miguel, the outflow of water would generate a somewhat swift current
+above the lock, which might be a source of danger to ships.
+
+This circumstance serves to enforce the apparent paradox that the great
+area of Lake Gatun is in several respects an element of safety, not, as
+the layman might suppose, of danger. The hydrostatic pressure upon the
+dam depends, of course, solely upon the depth of water, not upon the
+area of the lake, while the greater the contents of the reservoir the
+more nearly stagnant are its waters.
+
+As there is to be no lock at La Boca, the dams shown there on the plan
+and profile will not have to be constructed, so that it is not necessary
+to deal with the questions to which they formerly gave rise.
+
+In the vicinity of the locks at Pedro Miguel and Milaflores, however,
+dams have to be constructed to hold up the water. At both places the
+dams will be short, and will be founded upon hard rock,[16] and in each
+case the head of water to be held up will only be about 40 feet, instead
+of 80, as at Gatun. The construction of the dams at Pedro Miguel and
+Milaflores is not, therefore, regarded with anxiety.
+
+[16] "Canal Zone Pilot," pp. 316-317.
+
+The great Gatun dam remains the one important experiment in the whole
+scheme of the high-level Canal, and much attention is being devoted to
+the planning of this work. The alluvial foundation is a disadvantage
+shared by the Bohio site formerly chosen, and all other sites in the
+lower Chagres valley; so that, having decided upon the Panama route, and
+a high-level canal, there appears to be no alternative to the
+construction of a dam upon this kind of bottom. The details of the
+proposed structure, as elaborated in April, 1908, were as follows:--
+
+The length of the great earthen dam at Gatun is 7,700 feet, its breadth
+no less than 2,060 feet. The weight of the dam per linear foot is more
+than 60 times the horizontal pressure of the water in the lake, so that
+the pressure could not move the whole mass; and the weight of the dam is
+spread over such a great width that it is not thought that the ground
+will sink beneath it. The form of the plan and section is shown on the
+map, and an idea of the topography may be obtained from the
+photographs, which I took in April, 1908. The south-eastern end of the
+dam abuts on the hill of hard, fine-grained, argillaceous sandstone in
+which the lock-site is being excavated.
+
+The dam, according to these plans, is not to be merely superposed upon
+the surface, as originally proposed in 1905. Embedded in its earthy mass
+there is to be a puddled core, and a trench will be excavated to a level
+of 40 feet below the sea (-40 feet) for the lower part of this core. Nor
+is this all that is to be done to check seepage beneath the earthen dam.
+From the bottom of the trench excavated for the puddled core, sheet
+piling, made of 4-inch timbers, is to be driven down for another 40
+feet, so that sheet piling and puddled core together will form an
+impervious barrier to -80 feet; that is to say, 80 feet below the
+surface-level of the sea, or about 85 feet below the lowest natural
+surface of the ground. The puddled core is carried up through the
+earthen dam to the level of +90, that is to say, 5 feet above the level
+of the lake, which is to be 85 feet above sea. The crest of the dam will
+be +135 feet, _i.e._, 50 feet above the level of the lake; this excess
+of height being to provide top weight for increased stability of the
+whole structure, and also for the purpose of compacting the underlying
+material. The underwater slopes of the earthy materials have been
+reduced from the 1:3 of 1905 to 1:5. On the other hand, it has been
+decided that the width of 2,625 feet given in 1905 was in excess of
+utility, and that a reduction of between 500 and 600 feet can be made
+without loss of strength or efficiency.
+
+[Illustration: EXCAVATION IN THE CUT.]
+
+[Illustration: PIPE FOR DIVERSION OF A RIVER, NEAR EMPIRE.]
+
+About half way across the valley occurs a low hill, on which a house is
+shown in the photograph. This hill is on the crest-line of the dam, and
+is useful as giving support to the sides of the regulating channel which
+will be excavated in it. The material of the hill, however, is not the
+hard argillaceous sandstone of the lock site, but merely alluvial. The
+regulating works themselves will be built of concrete: a solid mass
+built up to +69 feet, and on this piers will be constructed 8 feet in
+thickness, between which will be the sluice-gates. By their means the
+level of the lake will be prevented from rising unduly in flood time.
+
+The capability of the dam to maintain the waters of the lake at a
+sufficient level in the dry season depends upon their not finding a
+ready way either through the dam itself or below it. The construction of
+the dam is believed to guarantee its own practical impermeability. Not
+only is there a puddled core, but the mud, sand, and rocks of which the
+principal mass will be composed will be laid down in the manner best
+calculated to secure compactness. With regard to underground flow, there
+is an underlying bed of indurated clay which is regarded as sufficiently
+impervious, and wherever the puddled core and piling are imbedded in
+that clay it may, I think, be assumed with some confidence that the
+leakage will be unimportant. On referring to the section (map), however,
+it will be seen that there are in the valley two old river gorges, which
+to a depth of 200 and 260 feet are filled only with gravel, sand; sand,
+shells, and wood; clayey sand, and so forth. These gorges, measured on
+the section shown in the figure, have widths of about 1,200 and 500 feet
+respectively at the depth to which the sheet piling goes, and extend
+about 120 and 180 feet below. How much water may escape by these gorges
+it is difficult to say. This leads us to the next division of our
+subject.
+
+
+_On the Supply of Water Available for the Needs of the High-level
+Canal._
+
+The construction of the Suez Canal was a work of excavation pure and
+simple. The construction of any kind of canal across the Isthmus of
+Panama involves another task, second only in importance to the primary
+work of excavation, viz., that of regulating the rivers.
+
+In the case of a sea-level canal the problem would have been how to get
+rid of their waters, particularly in the rainy season.
+
+In the actual case of an 85-foot-level canal, the regulation of the
+rivers, particularly of the Chagres, presents two aspects, viz.:--
+
+(1) In the wet season, disposing of the surplus waters.
+
+(2) In the dry season, conserving water supplied by the rains so as to
+meet the waste caused (_a_) by locking, (_b_) by evaporation, (_c_) by
+percolation.
+
+The arrangements for taming the torrents of the Chagres and its
+tributaries have already been described. They are, briefly, the
+construction of the Gatun dam and its spillway.
+
+Turning to the other aspect of the problem, I have to answer the
+question, What is the guarantee that there will be sufficient water in
+the dry season?
+
+[Illustration: IN THE CUT, WIDTH 500 FEET.]
+
+[Illustration: IN THE CUT, LOOKING SOUTH TOWARDS CULEBRA.]
+
+Probably there is no problem of the Panama Canal which has received more
+prolonged and careful study than this. From the outset the French
+engineers commenced collecting data relating to the hydrology of the
+Isthmus, and when funds grew low, and the proposed level of the canal
+began to rise, the matter received ever-increasing attention. The
+_Comite Technique_ of the New Panama Canal Company commenced in 1894
+elaborate investigations to determine the catchment area, the amount of
+rainfall, and the discharge of rivers. Brigadier-General Henry L. Abbot
+(late Corps of Engineers, U.S.A.), whose investigations upon the
+Mississippi are known the world over, was a member of this Committee of
+the New Panama Company until the work was taken over by the Government
+of the United States, for whom he continued to act; and he was a member
+of the Board of Consulting Engineers, signing the minority report in
+favour of an 85-foot-level canal in January, 1906. A continuous study
+for seven years is an advantage enjoyed by few of the American
+engineers, and the book on "Problems of the Panama Canal" published by
+General Abbot in 1905 (new edition 1907) deals very fully and ably with
+the hydrology and meteorology of the Isthmus. The observations were
+continued under the direction of Don Ricardo M. Arango, who has also a
+long experience on the Isthmus. I shall not attempt to summarise the
+mass of data upon which the authorities rely in their calculation that
+there is a sufficient water supply for the needs of the Canal during the
+dry season, contenting myself with showing, as above, that in this
+department of study, which more than all others connected with the Canal
+demands long experience, this requisite has in fact been secured. Yet
+whatever depends upon climate is liable to unexpected accidents, and
+personally I regard as an important safeguard the fact that at
+Alhajuela, on the Chagres, 9 or 10 miles above Obispo, there is an
+excellent site for a dam, which would form a reservoir where some of the
+surplus water of the wet season could be stored, and supplied to the
+Canal as required. The details for such a dam were elaborated in
+connection with one of the earlier plans of the Canal, so that the
+necessary data would be immediately available in case its construction
+should become necessary in the future.
+
+
+_Harbours and Fortifications._
+
+There are no storms in the Bay of Panama, and but little additional
+protection from weather is needed there for shipping. The entrance to
+the Canal being at La Boca, a new city will grow up there. This will be
+the second westward migration of the terminal port, the present city of
+Panama lying between Old Panama and La Boca.
+
+Colon is exposed to northers, and protection against the heavy sea which
+then rolls in will have to be provided. Whether this will be done by
+breakwaters or by forming an interior basin is not yet decided, and the
+cost of this part of the Canal works is therefore not yet known.
+
+The Canal, as already stated, is to be fortified; but I made no
+inquiries as to the location or character of the proposed
+fortifications, a matter which I regarded as outside my province. The
+cost of fortifications is included in the provision made by Congress for
+the Canal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CULEBRA CUT, AND ON THE METHODS EMPLOYED
+FOR EXCAVATION AND DISPOSAL OF THE SPOIL
+
+
+REFERENCE once more to the plan and profile on the map will show at a
+glance the length and position of the rocky divide, the whole of which
+is termed the Culebra Cut, from the name of the town near the highest
+point. The proposed form and dimensions of this cut, throughout the 5
+miles of the greatest height, is also shown (the section adopted at the
+commencement of 1906), and the stage reached in April, 1908, is shown by
+the photographs. The line drawn across the above section at a level of
+120 feet above bottom (160 feet above sea), shows the general level of
+the bottom of the workings at Culebra itself at the time the photographs
+were taken. A narrow pilot cut, only, was then 20 feet lower.
+
+[Illustration: ROCK DRILL.]
+
+[Illustration: ROCK DRILLS AT WORK IN THE CUT.]
+
+All that part of the section below this line (+160) remained to be
+excavated.
+
+Most of the rock above this line has been removed, but not all, for the
+final width is not, of course, reached at any level until the central
+portion has been excavated below that level.
+
+The level of the original rock line shown in this section was +275,
+_i.e._, 235 above canal bottom, so that the photographs show excavation
+of 115 feet of rock. There was, however, soil above the hard basaltic
+rock, of varying thickness--removed to the slope 1:2 as shown on the
+section. The highest original surface of the soil on the centre line of
+the Canal (between Golden Hill and Silver Hill at Culebra) was +312
+feet,[17] so that the photographs in which Golden Hill appears show a
+total excavation of 152 feet along the centre line. As this line passed
+along a saddle between the two hills, the original surface at the sides
+was considerably higher, so that the total height shown in the
+photographs from the bottom of the cut to the highest berm, or ledge, on
+Golden Hill is considerably more than 152 feet.
+
+[17] The profile at end of volume shows the stage of excavation
+when the height here had been reduced to +210.
+
+The bottom of the Canal will be 272 feet below the original saddle, and
+its depth below this berm, which is seen on the photograph, is
+considerably more. Thus will the gorge appear when the excavation is
+finished and before the water is allowed to flow in. When full, the
+surface of the water will be 227 feet below the original saddle, and the
+passenger on a vessel will gaze upon the scarped banks of a somewhat
+greater height than this.
+
+For a tide-level canal, not only would the depth be 85 feet greater,
+but, as the slope could not be made steeper, the width of the whole
+cutting would be correspondingly increased.
+
+With reference to the slope of the sides, it is important to note that
+it has not been found practicable to adhere always to the proposed
+section, which has to be made flatter, thus considerably increasing the
+amount of excavation required. The behaviour of living rock is not
+susceptible of the precise specification which can be applied to
+quarried stone on the one hand or loose gravel on the other.
+Mechanically it is complex, both on account of its structure and of the
+_role_ which water plays in its economy. In the case of the Culebra
+rock, the volcanic dykes by which it is traversed have altered the
+nature of the rock in their vicinity, and the part played by water is
+considerable, owing to the wetness of the climate. Moreover, the rock
+does not remain wholly unchanged when exposed to air, but deteriorates
+by "weathering," a chemical and physical process which proceeds much
+faster in an equatorial climate than in the temperate zones. The
+climate, however, has a compensating action, in so far as the rapid
+growth of vegetation soon clothes and protects the scarped slopes, thus
+acting as a "revetment."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Alighting at Culebra station on the Panama Railway, and proceeding to
+the western side of the cut, one obtains the most impressive view of the
+Canal works, and this is the spot usually visited by travellers and
+tourists. I first stood there in January, 1907, and returned in April,
+1908. The impressions obtained were very different on these two
+occasions. In January, 1907, after two and a half years of American
+occupation, what struck me most was the enormous mass of material which
+had been removed by the French companies, and the comparatively
+insignificant appearance of the American excavations, which could
+readily be distinguished from the older work, already coated with
+vegetation. It was then that I began to appreciate the heroic labours of
+the French engineers, whose achievements under circumstances of great
+difficulty are being daily more and more appreciated and praised by
+their successors. Turning to study the progress of work, I watched with
+delight the operations of the 100-ton steam shovels, which at a
+distance, when the human hands are not seen, appear endowed with
+volition, and remind the spectator of elephants at work. The cars were
+loaded with surprising celerity, and the dirt-train was hauled off to
+the distant dump by an old Belgian locomotive, part of the machinery
+taken over from the New Company. But then the hitch came--there were no
+cars to take the place of those already filled, and the steam shovel was
+idle. Looking round, I found that many other steam shovels and their
+crews were idle from the same cause, the machinery for transportation
+not having been provided in proper proportion to the machinery of
+excavation. That the time required for the completion of the rock-cut
+was limited by the possible rate of transportation of spoil, and not by
+that of excavation, had long been known, and the report of the Board of
+Consulting Engineers contains elaborate diagrams of space available for
+shovels and for tracks. It was apparent, therefore, that the
+organisation of the work was not yet perfected. In like manner, as far
+as I could judge during my first short visit, the West Indian labour was
+not yielding the best results, owing to white foremen and coloured
+labourers not being in perfect harmony.
+
+[Illustration: THE CUT, LOOKING NORTH FROM CULEBRA.]
+
+[Illustration: THE CUT, LOOKING SOUTH FROM CULEBRA.]
+
+While, however, the fighting force, so to speak, of the Isthmian army
+was obviously imperfect in many respects, great results had evidently
+been achieved by the auxiliary services. The Department of Sanitation
+had already made the Isthmus healthier than most equatorial countries,
+food and quarters were excellent, law and order were well maintained.
+
+On the first day of my second and prolonged visit, April, 1908, fifteen
+months later, I went at once to the same spot on the Culebra Cut
+opposite to Golden Hill and again surveyed the scene of operations. The
+change was enormous. The gorge below me was greatly enlarged, the shape
+of the hills altered, the face of the landscape changed. As I gazed into
+the deep trench below, the thought flashed across my mind, "If my life
+be spared a few years longer, I will sail through this on a ship."
+
+The reason of the great change was readily apparent: organisation had
+now been perfected. In the first place, the whole width of the cut was
+laid down in railway tracks, tier above tier at the different levels, so
+that the view was like the approach to the metropolitan terminus of one
+of the world's great railways. Up and down these tracks there came and
+went without ceasing the spoil-trains, now composed of larger trucks
+than formerly, with new and ingenious devices for rapid unloading. The
+number of steam shovels visible was much larger than in 1906, yet they
+were kept constantly busy, and all the time the drilling machines were
+at work boring holes for charges of dynamite, and gangs of men were
+completing the preparations for explosions in other holes already
+made.[18] Yet if the eyes were raised for a moment from the busy scene
+below, they rested on a silent wilderness of tropical forest, stretching
+unbroken to the horizon. I stayed until, at the approach of sunset, the
+work of the shovels ceased, and hundreds of men swarmed out of the Cut,
+and sought their quarters and the evening meal. But all was not over for
+the day, for now, when the Cut was cleared, the shot-firing began. At
+intervals there occurred a deafening explosion, the earth trembled as in
+a considerable, but preternaturally short, earthquake, and masses of
+rock rolled down the slopes, disintegrated and ready for the shovel-man
+when he should arrive next morning. I paid many visits to the Cut,
+between Empire and Pedro Miguel, but oftenest at Culebra itself. The
+sight never palls, and is one of the wonders of the world. The Pyramids
+are another wonder of the world which in common with many thousands in
+all ages I have thought it worth going to see--but to go to Culebra is
+as if one were privileged to watch the building of the Pyramids. Yet how
+few go to the Isthmus on purpose to see these things, and, _mirabile
+dictu_, how few Americans! How is it that this people, so enthusiastic
+in all that relates to national achievement and addicted to foreign
+travel, does not include the Isthmus among its many recognised places of
+pilgrimage? Of the Americans whom I met on the Zone there was scarcely
+one who had come voluntarily for pleasure. The hotel accommodation, it
+is true, is limited, but it is more than sufficient for present needs,
+and is good, as hotels in the tropics are reckoned. Moreover, Panama is
+now one of the healthiest places in the Equatorial Zone. English
+tourists going out to the West Indies by the Royal Mail are generally
+able to cross the Isthmus and see something of the work while their ship
+is unloading at Colon; but I would venture to suggest, to such of these
+as care to follow the world's progress, that they should make
+arrangements beforehand to step off at Colon, cross to Panama, put up
+there, visit thence the Canal works at various points, and proceed by
+their next ship. The West Indian tourist season coincides with the dry
+season on the Isthmus. At Panama the mosquito is almost an extinct
+animal, and though the heat there is sometimes trying, a run up to
+Culebra brings one to a dry and bracing atmosphere where a fresh breeze
+is almost always blowing.
+
+[18] During 1908 no less than one million dynamite charges were
+exploded.
+
+The steam shovel is the principal agent of excavation. It scoops out
+loose soil directly, but the basaltic rock has to be broken up first by
+blasting. One shovel will load 1,200 cubic yards of such materials upon
+the cars within the working day of 8 hours, an amount equal to 600
+two-horse loads.
+
+For accelerating transportation railway trucks provided with flaps are
+used, which make of the whole train a single platform. At the rear of
+the train is a plough which can be drawn by a wire rope attached to a
+drum carried on a special car in the fore part of the train. When the
+train arrives at the dump the drum is started, and the plough,
+advancing, clears the 320 cubic yards of earth and rock from the 16 cars
+in 7 minutes. This is the Lidgerwood Unloader.
+
+Another important piece of machinery is the track-shifter, which picks
+up and relays the railway lines of the ever-shifting spoil-tracks. This
+remarkably successful contrivance was invented by an employee on the
+Isthmus, and is moreover manufactured there in the great workshops at
+Gorgona.
+
+[Illustration: FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST TO DISTANT HILLS.]
+
+[Illustration: FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST ACROSS THE CUT.]
+
+From Bas Obispo to Pedro Miguel, which constitutes the Cut, is a
+distance of about 9 miles, and excavation is so planned that a summit is
+maintained at Lirio, near Culebra, about half-way between these two
+points. On the north slope are[19] 21 steam shovels, loading cars on 14
+tracks. These, when loaded, are hauled down-grade to the northern dumps
+at Tavernilla and elsewhere, or to the site of the Gatun dam, which is
+also a dump. Nearly 4,000 cubic yards of rock are carried to the dam
+daily, a distance of about 24 miles. The return up-grade is made with
+empty cars. On the southern slope about the same number of steam shovels
+are at work, the spoil being taken to the southern dumping grounds on
+the Pacific side, including the trestle dump for the breakwater to Naos
+Island. The spoil-trains follow one another at intervals of about three
+minutes, and if, from any cause, delay occur, the steam shovels, and
+indeed the whole process of excavation, is brought to a standstill. Any
+cause of delay is therefore reported at once by telephone to the
+Superintendent of Transportation at Empire, and all energies are at once
+directed to clearing the way. On the Isthmus everything gives way to the
+spoil-train, as in a city to the fire-engine. An excellent lesson both
+in the complexity and urgency of the transportation is afforded by a run
+through the Cut on a motor trolley in company with the Superintendent of
+the Department of Excavation. Constantly shunted from one track to
+another, and occasionally having to retreat, much ingenuity is required
+to thread a way among the spoil-trains, but even the almost invaluable
+time of the Superintendent himself is sacrificed rather than any delay
+should occur to the "dirt" train, as it is usually called. It is this
+dirt which stands between the American nation and the realisation of
+their long cherished scheme, and nowhere is the classical definition of
+dirt as "matter in the wrong place" so appropriate as on the Isthmus.
+
+[19] This is for July, 1908.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let us now see how much matter has been removed, and how much dirt
+remains which has yet to be removed. I will give first the totals of
+what has been got out in both dry and wet way, both in the Canal prism
+itself and for auxiliary works.
+
+TOTAL EXCAVATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PANAMA CANAL.[20]
+
+                                                            Cubic Yards.
+
+    By the French Companies about                             81,548,000
+
+    By the American Isthmian Canal Commission up to the
+    end of June, 1908                                         40,923,533
+                                                             -----------
+                                                             122,471,533
+
+[20] Canal Record, July 8, 1908.
+
+Much of the work of the French Companies, however, consisted in dredging
+out sea-level channels at both ends of the Canal, whereas the principal
+American work has been rock-excavation in the Culebra Cut--or _the_ Cut,
+as it might equally well be called. The figures relating to the Cut
+are:--
+
+EXCAVATION BETWEEN BAS OBISPO AND PEDEO MIGUEL, _i.e._, "THE CULEBEA
+CUT," 9-1/2 MILES.
+
+                                                            Cubic Yards.
+
+    By the French Companies                                   22,600,000
+
+    By the American Commission to end of June, 1908           20,125,185
+                                                             -----------
+    Total excavated in the Cut                                42,725,185
+
+    Remaining to be excavated                                 37,973,063
+                                                             -----------
+                                                              80,698,248
+
+so that at the end of last June the Cut was half cut through, one
+quarter having been done by the French Companies and one quarter by the
+American Commission.[21]
+
+[21] The total excavation for the prism of a sea-level canal was
+calculated by the Board of Consulting Engineers at 231,026,477 cubic
+yards.
+
+This statement by itself, however, would give a very inadequate idea of
+the rate at which the excavation is now proceeding, for of the total
+taken out by the Commission since 1904, 11,000,000 cubic yards were due
+to the work of the 12 months prior to June last. It will be seen from
+what has gone before that the rate of progress is now even greater than
+in the year June, 1907-May, 1908, for the daily output from the Cut for
+July, 1908 (55,427 cubic yards), works out at 1,441,102 cubic yards,
+allowing 26 working days of that month, which, moreover, is a wet month,
+when work is much retarded.
+
+[Illustration: FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST TO GOLDEN HILL.]
+
+[Illustration: THE CUT AT CULEBRA, LOOKING NORTH.]
+
+
+_On the Date of Completion of the Canal._
+
+Colonel Goethals, Chief of the Commission, when examined early in 1908
+at Washington, declined to bind himself to a date for completion, or to
+an estimate of cost; nevertheless, it is not difficult to calculate the
+date of completion from the actual rate of progress on the assumption
+that all goes well. The year 1915 is thus arrived at by the authorities
+for the calculated, though not promised, completion. This is based
+primarily upon the rate of excavation possible under the restrictions
+imposed by the narrow gorge along which the spoil has to be transported.
+It has been also calculated that the constructive works, the locks and
+dams, would require about the same time as, but not longer than, the
+excavations. This just balance between the time required for the two
+elements, excavation and building, was one of the arguments employed in
+favour of the 85-foot-level canal, as securing "the utmost practicable
+speed of construction"[22] which could be obtained in a canal
+"affording convenient passage for vessels of the largest tonnage."
+
+[22] See address by President Roosevelt to Board of Consulting
+Engineers, September 11, 1905. Report of the Board, p. 12.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One of the most impressive features on the Isthmus at the present time
+is the great workshop at Gorgona, where repairs of all kinds are done,
+and large machines such as the track-shifter are actually built. As I
+passed from machine shop to boiler shop, smith shop, car shop, pattern
+shop, and so on, I felt myself back among the circumstances of one of
+the great manufacturing towns, and forgot for the time my actual
+surroundings. It was with a feeling akin to surprise that, on quitting
+the foundry, I found myself on the fringe of the tropical forest, now
+darkening with the shadows of the swift-descending sun. I may here note
+by the way that the furnaces of the foundry produced considerable relief
+from the effects of the tropical heat, which that day was somewhat
+oppressive.
+
+
+_Relaying the Panama Railway._
+
+Reference to the map at the end of the volume will show how
+considerable is the task of reconstructing the Panama Railroad--what
+embankments have to be formed, circuits made, and (near Milaflores) a
+tunnel bored. The track, too, is being doubled, and the rolling stock
+has been greatly improved. The passenger cars are both comfortable and
+relatively cool, and the double journey from Pacific to Atlantic Ocean
+and back again can be pleasantly performed between luncheon and dinner.
+Much of the verdant forest land on which I have gazed with so much
+delight from the windows of the cars will soon cease to be land at all.
+It will be drowned beneath the waters of Lake Gatun; virgin forest,
+cultivated patch, squatter's hut, villages, and even small towns will
+disappear, their sites submerged by water, and presently to be covered
+by the silt of rivers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE MEN ON THE ISTHMUS
+
+
+_West Indian Labour._
+
+THE success of sanitation, and the modern facilities for storage of
+food, have greatly simplified the task of obtaining an adequate supply
+of navvies for the pick and spade work. In the United States the
+American-born, particularly the majority who are of Anglo-Saxon stock,
+now form an aristocracy of labour, and for the last fifteen years or so
+have performed but little of the pick and spade, or ordinary navvy's,
+work. In the Southern States the unskilled labour is mainly performed by
+the American negro. Elsewhere the pick and spade work is done by new
+immigrants, some of whom settle, and some go home with their savings.
+They are largely from Southern and Central Europe, many being Italians,
+and in the extreme West there are Japanese also.
+
+[Illustration: GANG OF WEST INDIAN LABOURERS.]
+
+[Illustration: GANG OF SPANISH LABOURERS AT CULEBRA.]
+
+The Commission, however, did not recruit in the United States, in order
+not to disturb the labour market there, but sought elsewhere for the
+supply of unskilled labour.
+
+At first they relied almost entirely upon the West Indian negro, who
+formed the majority of the navvies employed under the French Companies.
+The Commission, however, were profoundly dissatisfied with the result.
+In December, 1906, they reported that--
+
+"Another year's experience with negro labourers from near-by tropical
+islands and countries has convinced the Commission of the impossibility
+of doing satisfactory work with them. Not only do they seem to be
+disqualified by lack of actual vitality, but their disposition to labour
+seems to be as frail as their bodily strength."
+
+Nevertheless, they are still employed in undiminished numbers on the
+Isthmus, and the tone of the authorities towards them has changed. This
+change is noticeable both in the official publications and also in the
+conversation of the foremen immediately in charge. With regard to the
+latter, I found a great difference of tone between January, 1907, and
+April, 1908.
+
+The improved relations with the West Indians is due to two causes,
+relating to the alleged lack of vitality and of industry respectively.
+The lack of strength was found to be due largely to improper diet, and
+most of the West Indians are now provided with proper cooked meals, as
+is done in the case of American and European employees. In order to
+ensure their profiting by this provision, however, the charge for meals
+in the case of West Indians is deducted from wages. The result of
+supplying a nourishing diet has been a marked increase in working
+strength as shown by output.
+
+In respect of disposition to labour there has also been an improvement.
+This is shown both by the absence of animadversion in later official
+reports, and also by the changed tone of the foremen and other
+Americans in immediate control of the West Indians, when questioned on
+the subject. In January, 1907, I heard little but disparagement, while
+in April, 1908, a much more favourable account was given. To one who has
+seen something of both the United States and of the West Indies, the
+reason for the improved state of affairs was easily understood, viz.,
+the American foremen and others in charge had begun to understand the
+type of men with whom they were dealing. Accustomed to the character of
+the American negro, and to the conventions which regulate intercourse
+with the coloured man in the United States, they did not at first
+recognise that the West Indian was a distinct type, and accustomed, at
+any rate in the British Colonies, to very different social relations
+towards the white man. The handling of a gang of negroes from the
+tropics is an art which has had to be learnt.
+
+The Barbadians are reported to be, generally speaking, the best of the
+West Indian workmen, except the men from some of the country districts
+of Jamaica, who are their equals. Although the climate and products of
+the Isthmus are so similar to those of their own islands, comparatively
+few of these employees settle there, but return to the homes they love
+so well. It cannot but be gratifying to an Englishman to find that those
+who come from the British islands are proud of their citizenship and
+pleased to greet him as a fellow-subject.
+
+There are about ninety negro policemen on the Zone, most of whom were
+originally trained by English officers in the Jamaica Constabulary. They
+are highly spoken of by the Chief of Police, who finds that they know
+both when to arrest and when not to arrest. They are also of much
+service to the new arrivals of their own colour, who refer to them for
+all information.
+
+The ordinary West Indian labourer receives 10 cents gold (about 5d.) per
+hour and free quarters. Deducting the 30 cents _per diem_ charged for
+meals, he receives 50 cents (2s. 1d.) for an 8-hour day, besides food
+and lodging.
+
+[Illustration: STEAM SHOVEL EXCAVATING SOIL AT CULEBRA.]
+
+[Illustration: STEAM SHOVEL UNLOADING INTO A DIRT CAR.]
+
+The total number actually at work on the Isthmus has been--
+
+        June 30, 1907.
+    On the Canal Works                      14,606
+    On the Panama Railroad                   4,979
+                                            ------
+                                 Total      19,585
+
+and on June 30, 1908, the number on the Canal Works alone was 16,078.
+
+The total number on the roll is, of course, considerably more than
+20,000, as there are necessarily absentees every day owing to sickness,
+accident, or other cause.
+
+
+_European Labour on the Isthmus._
+
+In 1906 the number of European labourers on the Isthmus was
+insignificant, and the Commission, at that time profoundly dissatisfied
+with the West Indians, issued invitations for proposals to furnish 2,500
+Chinese labourers, with the privilege of increasing the number to
+15,000.[23] Nothing came of this scheme, however, while, on the other
+hand, the already improved, and still improving, conditions on the
+Isthmus enabled the Commission to obtain a largely increased supply of
+European labour. While the supply of West Indians was maintained
+constant, or only slowly increased, the additional force required was
+therefore obtained from Europe. The following figures show this:--
+
+    _European Labourers actually at Work on_
+
+    June 30, 1906                        500
+    June 30, 1907                      4,317
+    June 30, 1908                      4,913
+
+[23] Report of the Isthmian Canal Commission, 1906, p. 14.
+
+A few Russian and Baltic folk came, but appeared unable to stand the
+work, and the few French who arrived did not take to pick and spade. The
+majority were from Greece, Italy, and Spain, each of these countries
+sending at first about the same number. The Greeks proved to be
+physically inferior to the Italians and Spaniards, and their number in
+April, 1908, was only about 300.
+
+The Italians, physically excellent, and standing the climate well, were
+found somewhat intractable. A large proportion were migrant labourers,
+who had become somewhat prone to collective action when dissatisfied,
+and their numbers in April, 1908, had been reduced to 500 or 600.
+
+The Spaniards, mainly Galicians and Castilians, were found to be quite
+equal to the Italians in physique and health, and to give far less
+trouble, a fact which is attributed partly to the circumstance that most
+of them came directly from their villages. They are reported to be
+sober, patient, civil, and quick to learn. The number employed in April,
+1908, was about 5,000, so that the Spaniards constituted about
+five-sixths of the European force, which numbered in all slightly over
+6,000. The figures given above for those at work on certain days are
+considerably less, there being always a number absent from one cause or
+another.
+
+That the Spaniard is not oppressed by the tropical heat was apparent to
+me when watching gangs at work near mid-day at about the hottest time
+of year, viz., the last weeks of the dry season, towards the end of
+April. Clothed in European kit, wearing velveteen trousers and with only
+a cap for head-covering, these men showed no signs of distress, or even
+discomfort. They showed, in fact, less sign of being heated than
+Americans of apparently British or other Northern descent engaged upon
+less laborious work.
+
+The ordinary European labourer, in addition to free quarters, receives
+20 cents gold per hour, or $1.60 per 8-hour day; more when working
+overtime. He is charged 40 cents _per diem_ for his three meals, served
+in the European mess, which leaves $1.20 as a _minimum_ net wage _per
+diem_, or a little less than 30s. per week; but many earn more, and it
+should not be difficult under these conditions for a labourer to save L5
+a month. I was informed of one instance of a Spanish labourer saving L10
+per month, but such virtue must be rare.
+
+The Spaniard shows no sign of settling upon the Zone. Sometimes he goes
+on to railway work in Brazil; more often he returns home with his
+savings.
+
+
+_Skilled Labour on the Isthmus._
+
+The skilled labour on the Isthmus has from the outset been mainly done
+by white Americans, but there are still on the "Gold Roll," as it is
+termed, some Europeans. New rules reducing the maximum length of leave
+have, however, made these posts less attractive to those whose homes are
+at a greater distance, and by an order of February 8, 1908, all future
+appointments on the Gold Roll shall be American citizens, if the special
+services required can be obtained in the United States; and in the event
+of any reduction of force, preference shall be given to American
+citizens.
+
+The duties being various, the pay necessarily differs, but, taking free
+quarters into account, is higher than in the United States, as is of
+course necessary in a distant and tropical land. Since the industrial
+difficulties of 1907-8 there has been considerable competition for these
+billets. An 8-hour day is established by law for employees on the Gold
+Roll, the quarters are excellent, and the three meals a day provided at
+a fixed charge are up to the standard of a good hotel. Indeed, the
+opportunity to share these meals, supplied in large airy rooms, screened
+by gauze but open to the breeze, made my task on the Isthmus much
+lighter. From almost any part of the Canal I could reach one of the
+Commission "hotels" for meal-time, and for 50 cents (2s. 1d.) obtain
+better food than I have generally been able to get in the tropics at a
+much higher price. I took pleasure also in my company, for, if I may be
+permitted to say so, the skilled mechanic of the United States has
+always seemed to me a most attractive representative of his nation; and
+here particularly so, where one is in touch with his work. Moreover,
+each man's job on the Isthmus is part of a vast undertaking, the
+progress of which he can watch, which fires his enthusiasm, and makes
+him feel that he has a reward beyond his wage in the privilege of
+participating in national achievement.
+
+[Illustration: STEAM SHOVEL NEAR END OF STROKE.]
+
+[Illustration: STEAM SHOVEL, STROKE FINISHED, LOADED WITH SOIL.]
+
+I should like in this place to add a word of tribute to the great
+courtesy and kindness which they show towards ladies, a circumstance
+which did much to render pleasant the excursions which my wife took on
+the Isthmus, sometimes in my company and sometimes alone.
+
+The number of Americans on the Gold Roll in January, 1908, was about
+6,000, the total number of employees on the rolls of the Commission and
+of the Panama Railroad being then approximately 43,000. The total number
+of employees actually at work on January 29, 1908, was
+
+    On the Canal works                 25,367
+    On the Panama Railroad              6,557
+                                       ------
+                             Total     31,924
+
+
+_The Responsible Officials and the Scheme of their Organisation._
+
+The responsibility for Canal construction under the conditions laid down
+by Acts of Congress is vested in the President of the United States,
+within the limits of the money which has so far been voted. The
+President appointed a Commission in 1905 to carry out the work. The
+first chief engineer appointed was Mr. John F. Wallace, who arrived on
+the Zone June 28, 1904, accompanied by Colonel Gorgas, U.S.A., head of
+the Sanitation Department. Mr. Wallace was in favour of a tide-level
+canal. In April, 1905, the President appointed a second Commission in
+place of the first, with a changed _personnel_,[24] but Mr. Wallace was
+retained as chief engineer, and, moreover, became a member of the second
+Commission.
+
+[24] Colonel Gorgas, head of the Department of Sanitation, has remained,
+however, through all changes. See _post_, Chapter V.
+
+He, however, resigned, June 26, 1905, and his place was taken by Mr.
+John F. Stephens, who arrived on the Zone July 27th. At this time there
+was panic throughout the Isthmus[25] owing to the prevalent sickness,
+and resignations were so numerous that it was difficult to carry on work
+at all, and engineering operations were partly suspended for a time.
+When the sanitary conditions improved, however, work was resumed with
+vigour. This second Commission proposed that the work should be put out
+to contract, and bids were invited. It was under this Commission that
+the 85-foot-level canal became law. Mr. Stephens was in favour of this
+form. He resigned early in 1907, his resignation taking effect on April
+1st, and at the same time the President for the second time reorganised
+the Commission.
+
+[25] See Report of the Governor of the Canal Zone, 1905, p. 30, and
+"Sanitation in the Canal Zone," by W.C. Gorgas, M.B., Colonel, _Journ.
+Am. Med. Assoc._, July 6, 1907, vol. xlix.
+
+The third Commission, appointed April 1, 1907, which is that under which
+the work was being carried on at the time of my second visit, differs
+from its predecessors in that its members are resident on the Zone. Thus
+the members of the Commission are the actual executive, the chairman of
+the Commission being himself chief engineer. The other important
+difference between the present and the former organisations is the fact
+that almost all the important departments are now under officers of the
+United States Army, and in one instance of the Navy. The chairman and
+chief engineer, Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Goethals, of the Corps of
+Engineers, had previous experience of the Isthmus, having been engaged
+upon work connected with fortification. With respect to the other
+officers of engineers, the significance of the appointments lies not in
+their being military men, but in their being permanent Government
+servants. The Government of the United States, unlike that of his
+Britannic Majesty, does not possess a large Civil Service whose members
+remain in the public employment through all changes of political
+parties. In the absence of any considerable body corresponding, for
+instance, to our Indian Civil Service, the Government of the United
+States frequently relies upon the Corps of Engineers for the supervision
+of great public works.
+
+At the time of my second visit the scheme of organisation was as shown
+in the following table:--
+
+GENERAL ORGANISATION OF DEPARTMENTS.
+
+    -----------------------------+--------+---------------------------
+                                 |   Men  |
+    Excavation and Dredging      | 12,359 | Major D.D. Gaillard
+    Locks and Dams               |  9,340 | Major Wm. L. Sibert
+    Machinery and Buildings[26]  |  2,164 | H.H. Rouseau, U.S.N.
+    Labour, Subsistence, and   } |        |
+      Quarters                 } |  2,048 | Jackson Smith (resigned)
+    Material and Supplies        |  1,220 | W.G. Tubby
+    Sanitation                   |  2,449 | Colonel W.C. Gorgas
+    Civil Administration         |    451 | J.C.S. Blackburn
+    Panama Railroad              |  6,619 | W.G. Bierd
+    -----------------------------+--------+---------------------------
+
+[26] Now merged in other departments.
+
+[Illustration: STEAM SHOVEL AT CULEBRA.]
+
+[Illustration: SHOVEL-MEN AT CULEBRA.]
+
+Technically the Panama Railroad is not a department, but practically the
+construction of the Canal and the reconstruction of the Railroad are
+worked as parts of a single scheme.
+
+In addition to the above are some smaller divisions, reporting directly
+to the Chairman, such as that of Accounts. The office of the Purchasing
+Officer is situate in Washington, practically all the supplies being
+obtained in the United States. This officer also reports to the Chairman
+resident on the Zone.
+
+The numbers given above are subject to continual fluctuation, and are
+quoted more for the purpose of showing the general proportions of the
+different parts of the undertaking than to give an exact total of the
+force employed.
+
+Some account has already been given of the activities of the men
+employed on excavation, on locks and dams, and on the railway. Those
+entered under the Department of Machinery and Buildings are charged not
+only with this work in the Zone, but also with the paving and other
+improvements in the cities of Colon and Panama. The Department of
+Sanitation also undertakes the hygiene of these two cities, no small
+part of its responsibilities. The Republic of Panama provides the cities
+with police, who are Panamanians. The police force of the Isthmian Canal
+Commission (Department of Civil Administration) numbers 200, of whom 88
+are the West Indians already mentioned and the remainder white
+Americans. The force is numerically small, but the power to deport all
+undesirable persons is of great assistance. Moreover, as the Zone is
+practically inaccessible except from the ports of Colon and Panama, a
+fairly complete watch can be kept on all entries. After making due
+allowance for all these advantages, however, one cannot but be
+impressed, not only by the order, but by the respectability of the
+Isthmus, which is singularly free from anything unseemly.
+
+A scattered force of 200 would be insufficient to deal with tumult among
+so large a population of men, but there is maintained at Obispo, a
+central point, a force of about 350 United States Marines.
+
+The work of the Department of Sanitation is of such primary interest and
+importance, especially to geographers, that I deal with it separately in
+the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HEALTH ON THE ISTHMUS AND THE FUTURE OF THE WHITE RACE IN THE TROPICS
+
+
+_Yellow Fever._
+
+THE cities of Colon and Panama have never been particularly unhealthy to
+the Panamanian born, whether white or coloured, or to the West Indian
+stranger.
+
+This population has merely been subject to the malaria common to
+equatorial towns, especially when in the neighbourhood of swamps, and to
+the evils which attend imperfect sanitation in a hot climate.
+
+The intervening country is very malarious in the low-lying parts, less
+so on the hilly divide, differing in no way from other similar
+localities in the same latitude.
+
+[Illustration: READING ROOM, EMPLOYEES' CLUB, CULEBRA.]
+
+[Illustration: HALL OF EMPLOYEES' CLUB, CULEBRA.]
+
+The reputation of the Isthmus of Panama as a death-trap is due to the
+sickness which (previous to 1906) has always been prevalent among white
+strangers, and most other visitors, and particularly to the high
+percentage of death from yellow fever. To this short, sharp, and most
+deadly disease the native-born is immune; hence the affairs of the city
+of Panama have gone on well enough for centuries, as far as the
+residents are concerned, except that travellers by the Isthmian route
+tarried no longer than they could help. Whenever large numbers of
+strangers have congregated on the Isthmus, as during the Californian
+gold-rush, the construction of the railway, and the Canal construction
+of the French Companies, there has been an epidemic of yellow fever
+among them, and a very large proportion of cases have terminated
+fatally.
+
+The immunity which the West Indian negro enjoys from this disease gave
+him a superiority over other labourers on the Isthmus which, since the
+extinction of the disease, is no longer his.
+
+During the American occupation of Havana, after the American-Spanish
+War, yellow fever broke out among the strangers, and the mere cleaning
+up of the city, though carried out with military thoroughness, had no
+effect in checking the disease. A medical board was sent to study the
+matter. This was in 1900, four years after Major Ronald Ross, of the
+Indian Medical Service, had discovered the cause of malaria. Ross had
+proved that the cause of malaria in man was the presence in his blood of
+an organism introduced by the attack of the _anopheles_ gnat (or
+mosquito), and that the species was only poisonous to man if it had
+itself become infected with the germ of this organism in biting a man
+suffering from malaria. Thus man and _anopheles_ act alternately as
+hosts to the organism, which apparently requires their co-operation for
+the continuance of its species.
+
+Gnats, or mosquitoes, as they are indifferently termed, being thus under
+more than suspicion as an immediate cause of tropical fevers, the
+medical board turned their attention to them, and Mr. Reed, a member of
+the board, tracked the yellow fever to another gnat, the _stegomyia_,
+and, aided by the heroic devotion of his assistants, proved beyond
+shadow of doubt that this disease is due to the activity of another
+minute organism, which lives a double life in man and _stegomyia_. Mere
+contact with the clothing, &c., of yellow-fever patients was proved to be
+no source of infection.
+
+The _stegomyia_ lives three months. It becomes dangerous only by
+imbibing the organism through attacking man during the first three days
+of yellow fever, and, even then, twelve days elapse before its bite is
+infectious. Six days after a man has been bitten by an infectious
+_stegomyia_ he develops yellow fever, and for the next three days (as
+has been already said) he is infectious to the _stegomyia_.
+
+During the American occupation of Cuba attempts were made to obtain
+immunity from yellow fever, but it was found impossible to regulate the
+disease when voluntarily communicated by the bite of the mosquito, and
+at present immunity is only enjoyed by persons who inherit the
+privilege.
+
+The _stegomyia_ does not breed in open swamps or large bodies of water,
+but needs shelter, and is also incapable of sustaining a long flight. It
+breeds chiefly in and near towns, depositing its larvae upon the surface
+of cisterns or stagnant pools.
+
+Colonel W.C. Gorgas, M.D., took charge of the Department of Sanitation
+of the Commission in July, 1904. "The experience of our predecessors,"
+he writes,[27] "was ample to convince us that unless we could protect
+our force against yellow fever and malaria we would be unable to
+accomplish the work."
+
+[27] "Sanitation in the Canal Zone," by W.C. Gorgas _Journ. Am. Med.
+Assoc._, July 6, 1907, vol. xlix.
+
+[Illustration: READING ROOM, EMPLOYEES' CLUB, CULEBRA.]
+
+[Illustration: HALL OF EMPLOYEES' CLUB, CULEBRA.]
+
+At this time there was but little yellow fever on the Isthmus, and, in
+spite of the arrival of a large number of non-immunes, no alarming
+outbreak occurred during the first ten months. During April, 1905,
+however, the administration building in Panama, in which worked some 300
+non-immune employees of the Commission, became infected. In that month
+there were 9 cases and 2 deaths; in May, 33 cases and 8 deaths, of which
+21 cases and 2 deaths were among employees of the Commission. In June
+there were 19 deaths from yellow fever on the Isthmus, and in July 13.
+The Commission reported[28] that:--
+
+"A feeling of alarm, almost amounting to panic, spread among the
+Americans on the Isthmus. Many resigned their positions to return to the
+United States, while those who remained became possessed with a feeling
+of lethargy or fatalism, resulting from a conviction that no remedy
+existed for the peril. There was a disposition to partly ignore or
+openly condemn and abandon all preventive measures. The gravity of the
+crisis was apparent to all."
+
+[28] Annual Report, 1905, p. 30.
+
+Colonel Gorgas writes[29] of this time:--
+
+"We could readily see that if the conditions as they existed in 1905
+were to continue the Canal would never be finished."
+
+And he adds that:--
+
+"The Executive Board of the Commission itself, as late as June, 1905,
+stated that the sanitary work of the Isthmus had been a failure and
+recommended that the _personnel_ be changed and other methods tried. But
+the Supreme Authorities ... gave us steady support, and by the following
+December yellow fever had disappeared from the Isthmus."
+
+[29] "Sanitation in the Canal Zone."
+
+The total deaths among employees of the Commission from yellow fever
+during the 12 months October 1, 1904, to September 30, 1905, was 37,
+among about 17,000.[30] The total from yellow fever among the whole
+population, including Canal employees, during the four months May 1 to
+August 31, 1905, was 47, while the number of deaths from malaria during
+the same period was 108. The effect of malaria in impairing physical
+efficiency was even more in excess than these figures indicate, for the
+fatal cases are a small proportion of the whole in malaria, and a very
+large proportion in yellow fever. The moral effect of the imminence of
+the more sudden and fatal form of disease was, however, as these reports
+show, much the greater, and it was this moral effect which caused the
+crisis above described.
+
+[30] In 1883-84 the French Company lost by yellow fever 66 men out of
+about the same number of employees.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Previous to February, 1905, the Department of Sanitation had done little
+to improve the hygienic conditions of Colon and Panama, chiefly owing to
+the opinion until then maintained by the legal advisers that there was
+no authority to expend money in those cities, which are not within the
+Canal Zone.
+
+In April the yellow fever broke out; the number of men employed by the
+Department of Sanitation was increased to the huge total of 4,100, and
+the battle with yellow fever began in earnest. All cases were either
+transported to screened buildings, or, if left in their own homes, these
+were carefully screened with fine-meshed copper gauze. The object of
+this isolation was to prevent the patient from infecting healthy
+_stegomyia_ mosquitoes.
+
+Every dwelling in Colon and Panama was thoroughly fumigated with
+pyrethrum powder or with sulphur, and then cleared of dust and refuse,
+which, with the insensible but not always dead mosquitoes, was then
+burnt. The complete, and, it is hoped, final freedom from yellow fever
+in Colon and Panama has been obtained by means of a proper water supply
+and universal paving with brick or cement, as well as the supply of
+proper drainage. Formerly water for domestic use was stored in cisterns,
+tanks, tubs, jars, and so forth, and, after rain, water stood stagnantly
+in a thousand ruts and holes in the unpaved squares, streets, and lanes.
+These breeding-places of the _stegomyia_ have now been done away with
+completely in Panama, and almost completely in Colon. The latter city is
+so low-lying and flat, and subject to such heavy rainfall, that pools of
+stagnant water will form. They can, however, be oiled, which kills the
+larvae, and, moreover, it is Panama, and not the wind-swept,
+salt-saturated, town of Colon, which has been the chief source of yellow
+fever.
+
+The last case of the disease in Panama occurred in November, 1905, and
+in May, 1906, there was an isolated case in Colon. The infection is
+considered to be at an end in a city three months after the last case,
+that being the lifetime of _stegomyia_. After this period, all infected
+_stegomyia_ having died, those that remain are powerless for harm.
+Nevertheless, the stringent measures for their destruction are not
+relaxed, as, while _stegomyia_ exists, the germ, if re-introduced, will
+be rapidly disseminated.
+
+Thus the yellow fever, having taken toll for four hundred years of those
+who crossed the Isthmus, has been completely eradicated by. Colonel
+Gorgas and his assistants. It is a triumph of science and of despotic
+government combined; and only in this combination can preventive
+medicine achieve full success.
+
+There is one other aspect of the yellow fever campaign which must be
+mentioned before going on to describe the fight with malaria.
+
+Yellow fever, unlike malaria, does not occur in all tropical countries.
+Its home is the West Indies, Central, and parts of South, America, and,
+before its extinction in Havana, it has been a serious scourge in the
+Southern United States. In the New World cases have occurred as far
+north as Quebec, in Europe cases have occurred in Wales and France, and
+there have been serious epidemics in Spain. It has never been known east
+of Genoa, whether in Europe or elsewhere. Thus in Africa it is known on
+the west but not on the east coast. The fact that it is unknown in India
+is very remarkable, seeing that _stegomyia_ is a very prevalent variety
+of mosquito there. It follows from this that if yellow fever once got
+hold in India it would probably spread and might work great havoc. The
+same is true of China in an even greater degree, for such preventive
+measures as have been taken in Panama would be far more difficult to
+carry out in the great cities of India, and altogether impracticable in
+those of China. Thus, as Colonel Gorgas has pointed out, if the Canal
+had been constructed in spite of yellow fever, and if that disease had
+been allowed then to persist at Panama, the disease might not improbably
+have been carried to Asia, for the three months of life of _stegomyia_
+is ample for the voyage. In this event the Panama Canal might have
+proved a curse rather than a boon to mankind.
+
+[Illustration: CUT SOUTH OF CULEBRA, LANDSLIP ON LEFT.]
+
+[Illustration: LOOKING NORTH, THE SCARPED FACE OF GOLDEN HILL ON THE
+RIGHT.]
+
+
+_Malaria._
+
+The campaign against malaria has been conducted on somewhat different
+lines. The _anopheles_, which transmits that disease, deposits its larvae
+in clean water where grass and algae grow, and is therefore almost
+entirely a mosquito of country districts. But Colon and Panama, both
+small cities, are exposed to the disease, as are about seventeen little
+towns and forty villages for labourers along the line of the Canal. As
+the flight of _anopheles_ is not more than one hundred, or possibly two
+hundred yards, the working population can be in great measure protected
+from their attack by destroying the breeding places for such a distance
+on either side of the dwelling and working places. This in itself is a
+large task, which could not be carried out in a short time, and while in
+progress the Sanitary Department relied mainly upon the erection of
+buildings completely screened (including the verandahs) with fine copper
+gauze, which effectually shields the employees against mosquito attack
+within doors, and therefore during the particularly dangerous hours of
+night.
+
+In addition, the employees are supplied with quinine, and recommended to
+take three grains daily while in health. This "cinchonises" the blood
+and renders it unwholesome to the malarial parasite.
+
+The effect of screening is shown by the following example from the
+report of the Commission, December, 1906:--
+
+"The first shipload [of European labourers] arrived during the dry
+season, when mosquitoes were most scarce, and were quartered in
+unscreened buildings. Within six weeks of their arrival 33 per cent. of
+these labourers had been taken sick with malaria. The second shipload
+arrived during the rainy season, and were quartered in a camp not 200
+yards distant from that of their predecessors. The buildings of the camp
+were screened. Sickness among the men was infrequent, and when they had
+been upon the Isthmus six weeks it was found that only 4 per cent. had
+found their way to the hospitals."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The destruction of larvae, and of their hiding places, is commenced by
+the clearing of grass and bushes, which are cut down with the _machete_,
+a short cutlass with which the Panamanian is very expert, _machete_ work
+being, indeed, the principal _role_ in which the Panamanian is employed
+by the Commission. Also ditches are cleaned out, and heavy oil poured
+upon the water in trenches and pools, and land-crabs are caught and the
+holes in which they dwell are filled in or oiled. Finally the soil is
+drained, which is the only means of making the ground permanently unfit
+for mosquito breeding. Subsoil draining is the best, a tile drain being
+put in; for, even in concreted gutters, pools will form, owing to
+accidental obstruction, and remain sufficiently long for the deposition
+and hatching of the larvae. Such is the work of the _anopheles_ brigade,
+and the _stegomyia_ brigade carry out similar operations, in the
+neighbourhood more particularly of Panama.
+
+With regard to the effect of these operations upon the numbers of the
+mosquitoes I may narrate my own experience. I arrived at Colon first in
+January, 1907, and spent one or two nights on board my ship. This was
+two years and a half after the commencement of the mosquito campaign,
+and the officers of the ship congratulated themselves upon the absence
+of the swarms of mosquitoes which formerly attacked them at night on
+their vessel. I found, however, that although there was no swarm of
+mosquitoes, such as I have seen, _e.g._, when on board ship in the
+harbour of Colombo, Ceylon, yet that the individuals who remained
+certainly caused me discomfort, and I think some subsequent
+indisposition. In April, 1908, however, during two days at Colon, I did
+not so much as see a single mosquito.
+
+[Illustration: LOOKING NORTH FROM RAILWAY BRIDGE AT PARAISO.]
+
+[Illustration: ABANDONED FRENCH MACHINERY.]
+
+At Panama, in January, 1907, my wife and I stayed in the Commission's
+screened hotel on Ancon Hill, not caring to face the dirt and squalor
+of the old city. In April, 1908, finding the city properly paved,
+drained, and plumbed, we took up our quarters at the Hotel Central in
+the town, where we spent a fortnight in perfect health; and although
+this building, not being under the Commission, is unscreened, I was only
+bitten by mosquitoes, to my knowledge, twice during that time, and this
+without subsequent ill effect. I may add that the picturesque
+surroundings, not unlike those of some city on the Mediterranean,
+greatly enhance the pleasure of a stay on the Isthmus, now that they can
+be enjoyed without squalid accompaniments. I did not, except on one or
+two nights, even draw the mosquito curtains. Out of doors, in the city
+of Panama, I was not bitten once, though I was attacked once or twice by
+solitary mosquitoes when walking on roads or paths with shrub or jungle
+adjoining. This was near the end of the dry season. When the rains
+commence a greater number of mosquitoes must be expected.
+
+Natives of the Isthmus and the West Indies are not immune from malaria,
+and in 1904-5 about one-half of the inhabitants who were examined
+proved to have the parasite of malaria in their blood. As the
+_anopheles_ becomes infectious through biting a malarious man, it is
+evident that such a dissemination of the parasite throughout the blood
+of the human population renders mosquitoes especially dangerous. In the
+same proportion as the population becomes less malarious, so the
+mosquitoes become less dangerous, and theoretically a millennium is
+possible in which man and _anopheles_, mutually purged of the malarial
+organism, may live happily together. Unfortunately, a malarious man it
+is believed remains infectious to _anopheles_ for no less than three
+years, instead of the three days' limit of yellow fever, and this
+greatly increases the difficulty of exterminating malaria.
+
+During 1906, with a force of 26,000, there were 21,739 cases of malaria
+admitted to the Commission Hospitals, and the death-rate from this
+disease was among whites 2 per thousand, among negroes 8 per thousand.
+
+In 1907, with a force of 39,000, there were 16,753 cases, the death-rate
+among whites being 3 per thousand and among negroes 4 per thousand. The
+increase among whites was due to the greater proportion of the European
+labourers, whose circumstances are different from those of the skilled
+artisans and the "screened" clerical staff of Americans.
+
+The total death-rate from all causes in 1907 is shown below:--
+
+    ---------------------------------------------------------
+                        | Average | Total   |  Annual Death
+                        | Number. | Deaths. |    Rate per
+                        |         |         |   Thousand.
+    --------------------+---------+---------+----------------
+      White Employees   | 10,709  |    179  |    16.71
+      Black Employees   | 28,634  |    953  |    33.28
+                        |---------+---------+----------------
+                Total   | 39,343  |  1,132  |    28.77
+    ---------------------------------------------------------
+
+--but accidents account for a considerable proportion of the deaths.
+
+During the same period the average number of American women and children
+in Commission quarters was 1,337, among whom occurred nine deaths, an
+average annual death-rate of 6.73 per thousand.
+
+In addition to malaria there is one other disease which proves fatal to
+considerable numbers of employees, attacking principally the black
+labourers. This is pneumonia, to which are attributed altogether 328
+deaths as against 154 from malaria.
+
+It appears that special research is needed into the cause and prevention
+of this disease among negroes in the tropics.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In 1907 no less than 71,000 persons arrived on the Isthmus, all of whom
+had to pass the Commission doctor at the entrance port. All but
+transients are vaccinated on arrival, and great watchfulness is
+exercised against the introduction of any new disease from abroad. Thus,
+when bubonic plague broke out at Guayaquil, the Department of Sanitation
+commenced a campaign against rats as a precaution against the spread of
+the disease (which is propagated by the rat flea) in case quarantine
+measures failed to keep it out.
+
+Again, when one or two cases of rabies recently occurred on the Isthmus,
+all dogs for whom an owner could not be found were at once destroyed.
+
+
+_Life on the Isthmus, and on the Future of the White Man in the
+Tropics._
+
+The Canal Zone now being healthy, the life of the Americans is a
+cheerful as well as a busy one. The climate, to which the local diseases
+used to be attributed, is not by any means wholly bad. There are really
+two climates, that of the Atlantic seaboard and that of the Pacific
+side. Colon is somewhat trying on account of the humidity, but a healthy
+trade-wind blows. The town of Panama, though receiving much less rain,
+is also somewhat humid, owing to there being less breeze. The
+temperature, however, is lower than that of the great cities of the
+United States, even in the North, during summer heat-waves, the hours of
+sunshine are shorter, and the general feeling of oppression is, I think,
+distinctly less. The Ancon suburb, where the Commission buildings are
+situate, is free from the humidity of the low-lying city. The high lands
+at or near Culebra, where a large part of the American population now
+resides in screened wooden buildings, enjoy in the dry season a bracing
+climate, a fresh dry wind blowing across the divide, imparting a sense
+of exhilaration, which is heightened by the fine scenery, the pleasant
+scents of the surrounding woodland, and the ordered activity of the
+life. Amidst such circumstances the Canal official finds it easy to work
+hard. I noticed in this a great contrast to the condition ten years ago
+at Ismailia, the headquarters of the Suez Canal Administration. This
+place, before Major E. Ross's discoveries, suffered severely from
+malaria, and the officials of the Administration, some of whom had
+resided there for twenty years or more, were in many cases saturated
+with malarial poison. Work for them was a burden, bravely borne indeed,
+but taken up each day with a sigh. I spent about a fortnight there in a
+hot season conducting some investigations upon the forms and movement of
+drifting sand-dunes. I suffered during part of the time from fever, and
+only kept on working with an effort, whereas on the Isthmus I enjoyed
+more than usual vigour. At Culebra, indeed, the dry season is so bracing
+that the arrival of the rains is welcome for the soothing effect of
+greater humidity, as well as on account of diminished dust. The white
+woolly cloud or mist which then wraps round the hill-tops is no longer
+the "white death," as it was called in the days of the French Company,
+when the vapours were credited the poison which really lurks in the
+mosquito. Even now, however, there is an increase in the number of
+mosquitoes, and some increase in malaria, when the rains come.
+
+[Illustration: GANG OF EUROPEAN LABOURERS (IN 1907).]
+
+[Illustration: A FORMER HOT-BED OF MALARIA, NOW DRAINED.]
+
+Not only do the men look well, but the women and children also. The
+women in general have the same appearance as in the United States;
+perfectly dressed, as always, quiet in manner, and apparently happy,
+though occasionally somewhat bored. To the wife, not having the
+absorbing interest of the Canal work, the Isthmus is generally less
+interesting than to her husband, but of late there have grown up
+organisations for promoting intellectual and other social intercourse
+which are rapidly relieving the threatened ennui.
+
+The children, on the other hand, look actually happier and stronger than
+they do in the cities of the United States. They are in the open air all
+day, for sunstroke is rare on the Isthmus; they are bronzed, active,
+fearless in bearing, and apparently thoroughly satisfied with themselves
+and with their surroundings. Even when within doors they are still in a
+sense in the open air, for the windows are unglazed, and the houses are
+constructed so as to secure a free circulation of air.
+
+It has been said that the possession of India taught the English the
+value of the cold bath, an institution which has been slowly adopted
+from us by other Northern nations in Europe. Perhaps the possession of
+the Canal Zone will lead to the salutary open-window habit, which is not
+yet general in the United States.
+
+The Commission clubs for gold-employees at the principal stations are
+commodious structures, admirably designed for social recreation; their
+management is entrusted to the Young Men's Christian Association. There
+are well-equipped reading and writing rooms and gymnasia, mainly used by
+the men, but the interests of the women and children are not neglected,
+and for the last playrooms are provided. The large halls are used for
+entertainments and for meetings of the numerous benevolent "secret"
+societies which have been so important a factor in the preliminary
+organisation of American society in newly settled territories. In the
+clubs only "soft" drinks are provided, but I can testify to their
+excellent effects.
+
+The question whether the white race can make a home in the tropics
+depends ultimately upon the tropical baby--upon his own health and that
+of his mother. The American occupation is still recent, but as far as
+experience goes it seems that the white children born on the Isthmus
+have not shown unusual delicacy, and the mothers have made a normal,
+though sometimes rather slow, recovery from confinement.
+
+The views of Colonel Gorgas upon the future of the white race in the
+tropics deserve quotation. He writes[31]:--
+
+"I think the sanitarian can now show that any population coming into the
+tropics can protect itself against these two diseases [malaria and
+yellow fever] by measures that are both simple and inexpensive; that
+with these two diseases eliminated life in the tropics for the
+Anglo-Saxon will be more healthful than in the temperate zones; that
+gradually, within the next two or three centuries, tropical countries,
+which offer a much greater return for man's labour than do the temperate
+zones, will be settled up by the white races, and that again the centres
+of wealth, civilisation and population will be in the tropics, as they
+were in the dawn of man's history, rather than in the temperate zone, as
+at present."
+
+[31] "Sanitation in the Canal Zone."
+
+In this connection I may perhaps be permitted to refer to an interesting
+suggestion made in the course of conversation by Colonel Gorgas,
+although I omitted to inquire if it had been published. This suggestion
+was that the records of the movements of great armies under the rulers
+of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt indicate that malaria did not then
+exist in the nearer East, and that malaria, like yellow fever, was once
+a local disease.
+
+[Illustration: NEAR THE SITE OF MILAFLORES LOCKS.]
+
+[Illustration: LOOKING NORTH TO CULEBRA DIVIDE FROM ANCON HILL.]
+
+From what I have seen as tourist and traveller (not as resident) in the
+West Indies and in the Orient, I have arrived at the following tentative
+conclusions, viz.:--
+
+That the debilitating effect which the tropics have been observed to
+exercise upon those who come from temperate regions has been due mainly
+to the presence of certain diseases which can be done away with.
+
+That the rapid deterioration of the white stock which is usually noticed
+in the tropics, especially near the equator, is mainly due to the same
+cause.
+
+But that Anglo-Saxons cannot perform nearly the same amount of hard
+bodily labour in a constantly hot climate as they can in the temperate
+zone, and Anglo-Saxon immigrants never will be able to do so. In this I
+think the Mediterranean races--at all events the Spaniards and
+Italians--are our superiors.
+
+Whether the descendants of Anglo-Saxon stock who have settled in a
+tropical country purified from tropical diseases will be able to support
+continued hard bodily labour better than their immigrant ancestors is a
+matter about which we have at present no direct evidence.
+
+It may possibly be worth noting, however, that some years ago, when
+wintering in Manitoba, I found that some of the farmer immigrants from
+England felt the cold more as the years went by, but that their children
+born in the country were unaffected by it.
+
+It is the case that in the tropics, particularly in the equable
+equatorial belt, many evils of the temperate zone are avoided, chiefly
+those due to cold and to sudden changes of temperature. It is this
+equatorial belt of equable temperature and heavy rainfall that I chiefly
+have in mind, for it comprises those vast regions of prolific vegetation
+which appear capable of supporting so large a population.
+
+The white man already rules, or has marked off for rule, the whole of
+the equatorial belt, but who is to be the peasant cultivating this belt?
+In those parts of tropical Asia already peopled by industrious Orientals
+there can never be a white peasantry. Equatorial Africa presents great
+differences in different parts with respect to native population, and
+the question of a possible future for white peasantry is there a
+complicated one. In South America, however, there are vast equatorial
+regions either wholly unpeopled, or sparsely inhabited by tribes of that
+Indian stock which has elsewhere proved so slight an impediment to the
+establishment of the white labourer. Served by a system of rivers
+unrivalled elsewhere in equatorial regions, already partitioned among
+Christian Governments, and for the most part uninhabited, the forests
+and savannahs of Equatorial South America offer the readiest field for
+the establishment on a vast scale of a white peasantry under the
+equator.
+
+By clearing the scrub within one or two hundred yards of his cottage,
+and by employing wire screens, the cultivator can protect himself
+against malaria, and his crops come not once, but several times a year.
+
+If the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian peasant were to turn his
+attention to this field, instead of, or in addition to, that of navvy
+work, great things might come of it. The circumstance that South America
+is a Roman Catholic continent, where the Latin races are dominant, would
+enormously favour the experiment. On the Zone, the Spanish labourer
+works in order to save and to depart, the _milieu_ being foreign to him
+and unattractive. In a Latin State it would be different.
+
+In writing of the possibilities of the white race in the equatorial zone
+it is understood that the problem relates to the lowlands. There are, of
+course, favoured highlands, such as those of Colombia, where the
+temperature is at the same time moderate and equable and the climate
+appears admirably adapted to white men.
+
+A healthy city life in the tropics would be easily attainable in a new
+country settled wholly by white people and under a medical despotism.
+
+The general, but non-specialist, opinion upon the Isthmus is not as
+sanguine as that of Colonel Gorgas upon the hygienic future of the white
+race in the tropics. The general opinion among Americans seems to be
+that, as far as they are concerned, they would, if engaged in the
+tropical parts of South or Central America, avail themselves of the
+improving means of transit to revisit frequently the United States, and
+would rely upon such vacations in higher latitudes for the retention of
+their native vigour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ON THE SHORTENING OF DISTANCES BY SEA, AND ON THE STEAMSHIPS AVAILABLE
+FOR CANAL TRANSIT
+
+
+_The Shortening of Distances by Sea._
+
+AS the sole object of a ship canal is to shorten sea distances, the
+figures given in this section are of primary importance to a proper
+understanding of the subject. The figures here given are those for
+steamships following the actual or prospective routes. They are adopted
+from the figures supplied to the Canal Commission from the United States
+Hydrographic Bureau and are expressed in nautical miles. It is perhaps
+not wholly superfluous to warn the reader that the apparent relative
+distances as shown on charts of the world, especially those on the
+usual Mercator projection, are very different from the real relative
+distances. Moreover, it is impossible to see correctly the relative
+distances between places far apart on a globe, for the foreshortening of
+the rounded surface produces distortion. By applying a measuring tape to
+the globe the true relative distances can be readily ascertained. This
+is a salutary exercise and serves to correct the erroneous notions which
+tend to fix themselves in the minds of all of us owing to the appearance
+of the surface of the globe on the plane of the paper or on the plane of
+vision. Such a measurement of shortest distances would give a very fair
+notion of the actual reductions due to the Suez and Panama Canals, but
+there would still be considerable differences between these figures and
+the distance calculated from the actual courses pursued by steamships,
+which in what follows will be referred to simply as "the" distance
+between ports.
+
+[Illustration: RIO GRANDE, NEAR LA BOCA.]
+
+[Illustration: RIO GRANDE, FROM ANCON HILL.]
+
+The most notable effect of the Panama Canal will be the reduction of
+distance between the Atlantic and Pacific ports of North America.
+Taking New York as our port of reckoning on the Atlantic, the distance
+thence to Panama and all ports north thereof on the Pacific seaboard of
+Central and North America will be reduced by 8,415 miles.
+
+The reduction of distance from New York to the Pacific ports of South
+America, on the other hand, is not constant, but varies from the above
+maximum of 8,415 miles at Panama to a minimum of about 1,004 miles at
+Punta Arenas (in the Straits of Magellan). The _average_ shortening on
+this coast is therefore
+
+    8,415 + 1,004
+    ------------- = 4,709 miles.
+          2
+
+The actual shortening to Iquique, the nitrate port in Chile, is 5,200
+miles. We shall not be far out in saying briefly that the distance
+between New York and South American Pacific ports will be shortened by
+an average of 5,000 miles.
+
+The Canal shortens the distance between the Pacific coast of the
+Americas and the ports of Europe also, though in a lesser degree. Thus,
+taking Liverpool as our example (and the reductions are much the same
+for London, Antwerp, or Hamburg), the Canal will shorten the distance to
+Panama and all ports on the coast to the north by a constant quantity,
+viz., 6,046 miles.
+
+The reduction to Pacific ports south of Panama is not a constant but a
+variable quantity, ranging from the above maximum of 6,046 miles at
+Panama itself to zero at a point between Punta Arenas and Coronel (the
+most southern industrial port of Chile). We may put the average
+shortening of distance between Liverpool and South American Pacific
+ports at about 2,600 miles.
+
+Viewing the whole matter from the standpoint of the Pacific ports of the
+Americas, we see an absolute commercial advantage accruing to them all
+in the diminished distance to the Atlantic and Gulf ports of North
+America and to the ports of Europe.
+
+Viewing the matter from the standpoint of the Atlantic and Gulf ports of
+North America--to fix our ideas we will say from the standpoint of New
+York--we see the same absolute advantage _plus_ a competitive
+advantage, in that the reduction is greater for New York than for
+Liverpool (_i.e._, Europe).
+
+As the world is at present constituted, steamers from New York and from
+Liverpool proceeding to these Pacific ports all pass Pernambuco, in
+Brazil, near the easternmost point of South America, not far south of
+the equator. This port is 4,066 miles from Liverpool and 3,696 miles
+from New York, so that, by sea, San Francisco is only 370 miles nearer
+to New York than to Liverpool. But Colon is 4,720 miles from Liverpool
+and only 1,961 from New York, so that _via_ the Canal all the Pacific
+ports of the Americas are 2,759 miles nearer to New York than to
+Liverpool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let us next consider the Canal as the starting place for Transpacific
+voyages, the _role_ for which it was originally projected in the
+sixteenth century. In those days the Isthmus of Suez was firmly held by
+the hostile Moslem, and even if a canal had then been open there, it
+would not have been available for the commerce of Christian Europe. Thus
+the discovery of a strait, or the cutting of a canal, at the Isthmus of
+Panama would at that time have opened to Europeans a shorter seaway to
+the Orient. But now that the Suez route has been opened for ships, the
+_Panama Canal will not bring any port in Australia or the East Indies,
+nor any ice-free port in Asia or Asiatic Islands, nearer to any European
+port_. Of all ports on the west, that is to say the Old World or
+"Oriental" side, of the Pacific, only those of New Zealand and some in
+Siberia will be brought nearer to Liverpool, and that to an
+insignificant amount.
+
+[Illustration: LA BOCA, FROM ANCON HILL.]
+
+[Illustration: ANCON CEMETERY.]
+
+Distances are, however, much diminished between New York and both the
+northern and the southern ports of the Oriental Pacific coasts, as the
+following table shows:--
+
+    New York to--                                       Reduction.
+
+      Yokohama   { by Suez                  13,564 }  3,729 miles.
+                 { by Panama                 9,835 }
+
+      Shanghai   { by Suez                  12,514 }  1,629 miles.
+                 { by Panama                10,885 }
+
+      Sydney     { by Cape of Good Hope     13,658 }  3,806 miles.
+                 { by Panama (_via_ Tahiti)  9,852 }
+
+      Melbourne  { by Cape of Good Hope     13,083 }  2,656 miles.
+                 { by Panama (_via_ Tahiti) 10,427 }
+
+      Wellington,{ by Straits of Magellan   11,414 }  2,542 miles.
+        N.Z.     { by Panama (_via_ Tahiti)  8,872 }
+
+Since the Canal does not reduce the distances between these places and
+Europe (except slightly in the case of Wellington), the competitive gain
+of New York is equal in all cases to the absolute gain in distance. The
+following figures show the distances from New York to Hong Kong and
+Manila by the Suez and Panama routes:--
+
+    New York to--                                        Reduction.
+
+      Hong Kong{ by Suez                         11,655
+               { by Panama                       11,744
+
+      Manila   { by Suez                         11,601 }
+               { by Panama, _via_ San Francisco         } 16 miles.
+               {   and Yokohama                  11,585 }
+               { by Panama, Honolulu and
+               {   Guam                          11,729
+
+Ports on the mainland of Asia in these latitudes are of course nearer to
+New York by way of Suez.
+
+The opportunities of a port for commerce obviously depend in a great
+measure upon the centrality of its position with reference to the other
+ports of the world. Let us see how Liverpool and New York were
+originally situated in this respect, and how far their situations are
+altered first by the opening of the Suez route and secondly by that of
+Panama; remembering also that the changes introduced by the canals have
+about the same effect on Antwerp or Hamburg as on Liverpool.
+
+Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 the route to Asia and
+Australia was _via_ the Cape of Good Hope from both Liverpool and New
+York. This gave Liverpool an advantage of 480 miles for all Asiatic and
+Australian ports as well as for the East Coast of Africa. For most of
+South America and all the Pacific coast of the Americas the route was
+_via_ Pernambuco, and New York had an advantage of 370 miles.
+
+Suez being open but Panama still closed, the route to Asia is _via_
+Gibraltar for both Liverpool and New York. New York is distant 3,207
+miles and Liverpool 1,283 from that place, so that Liverpool has an
+advantage of 1,924 miles instead of 480 on the voyage to all Asiatic
+ports, a competitive benefit of 1,444 miles resulting from the opening
+of the Suez Canal.
+
+The voyage to Australia from New York being still made _via_ the Cape of
+Good Hope, while that from Liverpool is most shortly made by Suez,
+Liverpool is 1,622 miles nearer by the canal and 480 by the Cape, thus
+obtaining a benefit of 1,142 miles when the Suez route is taken.
+
+The opening of the Panama route leaves unchanged the relative distances
+to the Atlantic coast of South America, to Africa, and to Asiatic ports
+south of Shanghai; but it is New York and not Liverpool which is now the
+nearer port to Yokohama, Sydney, and Melbourne; and Wellington, New
+Zealand, formerly nearly equidistant, is placed 2,739 miles nearer to
+New York than to Liverpool.
+
+With reference to Northern China, however, it is to be noted that,
+although the Panama route shortens the distance between New York and
+Shanghai by 1,629 miles, Liverpool will still be the nearer to Shanghai
+by 295 miles, assuming the New York vessel to call at San Francisco.
+
+[Illustration: COMMISSION'S HOTEL AT ANCON.]
+
+[Illustration: ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, ANCON.]
+
+These facts are illustrated by the figures given on the next page.
+
+                                                     Nearer to
+                                                   New York than
+                                                  to Liverpool by
+
+               {New York _via_ Panama,            }
+               {  San Francisco and by            }
+               {  Great Circle               9,835}
+    Yokohama   {Liverpool _via_ Suez, Aden,       } 1,805 miles.
+               {  Colombo, Singapore,             }
+               {  Hong Kong and                   }
+               {  Shanghai                  11,640}
+
+               {New York _via_ Panama             }
+               {  and Tahiti                 9,852}
+    Sydney     {Liverpool _via_ Suez, Aden,       }
+               {  Colombo, King George's          } 2,383 miles
+               {  Sound, Adelaide and             }
+               {  Melbourne                 12,234}
+
+               {New York _via_ Panama             }
+    Wellington,{  and Tahiti                 8,872}
+      N.Z.     {Liverpool _via_ Panama and        } 2,759 miles.[32]
+               {  Tahiti                    11,631}
+
+
+[32] Liverpool to Colon, 4,720; New York to Colon, 1,961: difference,
+2,759, the subsequent routes being identical.
+
+Let us take a chart of the world and examine the portion comprised
+between the parallels of 40 deg. North and 40 deg. South and the meridians of
+120 deg. East and 160 deg. East of Greenwich. This band, in which are included
+Japan and Korea, Shanghai and the Philippines, New Guinea and most of
+Australia, is of particular interest in relation to Canal trade. Let us
+take the standpoint, not of Europe or of America, but of traders
+residing in this area. Near its western margin the Suez and the Panama
+routes to New York are equal in length.
+
+Near its eastern margin, which lies, however, outside Japan and
+Australia and only passes among small islands, the Suez and Panama
+routes to Liverpool are of equal length.
+
+On a line rather west of the centre and running from rather west of
+north to rather east of south, all places are equidistant from New York
+and Liverpool--the latter _via_ Suez, the former _via_ Panama.
+
+It needs no prophet to foresee interesting commercial developments in a
+region where the alternative routes and alternative sources of
+manufacturing supply offer almost equal allurements.
+
+I must also draw attention to the position of New Orleans and other
+ports on the Gulf of Mexico in relation to the Canal. At present New
+Orleans by sea is further than New York from Valparaiso and San
+Francisco, Yokohama and Shanghai, but it is 581 miles nearer to Colon.
+Hence, when the Panama Canal is open it will be 581 miles nearer than
+New York to those ports, and to Sydney, Melbourne, and Wellington.
+Thus, as the Mississippi waterway is improved, an increasing proportion
+of the manufactures and other products of the great Mississippi basin
+will find their way to foreign markets _via_ the Gulf ports, and an
+increasing proportion of imports will find their way to the Mississippi
+basin through these ports.[33]
+
+[33] Among West Indian ports affected by the Canal, Kingston, Jamaica,
+must be particularly mentioned. Now situate at the entrance of a _cul de
+sac_, it will then be placed in a position of much greater centrality
+for the world's commerce, and astride the route from Colon to the North
+American Atlantic ports. Thus the importance of Jamaica as a constituent
+of the British Empire will be enhanced. May the opening of the Canal
+increase the prosperity of our fellow subjects who have suffered so
+greatly from hurricane and earthquake!
+
+In dealing with the shortening of sea routes it was shown that the
+greatest reduction was that between the two coasts of North America, but
+even so the sea route remains longer than that by land, so that the
+question of commercial advantage is not settled by a mere statement of
+sea distances, and the indisputable and undiluted advantages of the
+Canal route for the Atlantic and Gulf ports of North America are those
+of commerce with the Pacific coast of South America, with New Zealand,
+Australia, Japan, Northern China, Manchuria, and Eastern Siberia.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From the naval point of view, however, the results of shortening the sea
+distance from New York to San Francisco are scarcely diminished by the
+fact of railway communication, since only crews and stores, and not
+warships, can be transported by rail.
+
+In order to understand the effect of the Canal upon the naval position
+of the United States the student of affairs must, in addition to the
+information given above, examine the positions relatively to the Canal
+of the possessions, particularly the insular possessions, of the United
+States and of other naval Powers. This will enable him to gauge for
+himself the more permanent factors which determine the value of the new
+line of communication, the opportunities it affords for concentrating
+force where wanted, and the responsibilities of defence which it
+entails. With the aid of a fairly good atlas this can easily be done by
+anyone acquainted with the general facts of naval power at the present
+time. The geographical facts, which are perhaps the only ones beyond
+question or dispute, are sufficiently simple.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW FROM SPANISH FORT, PANAMA.]
+
+[Illustration: CATHEDRAL SQUARE, PANAMA.]
+
+
+_On the Steamships Available for Canal Transit._
+
+The Isthmian Canal Commission, in the Report of 1899, distinguishes
+between the commercial and the industrial benefits of the Canal, meaning
+by the former term the increased carrying of goods, and by the latter
+the development of production induced by improved facilities of
+carriage.
+
+The tables of distances already given show the _potential_ commercial
+advantages, and how they are distributed in different measure among
+different countries, and these figures have all the permanence which
+makes geographical figures of such enduring importance.
+
+But the actual commercial advantage of a ship canal depends equally upon
+a second factor, viz., the available ship-tonnage. Supposing a Panama
+Canal to be open at the present time, there would be hardly any United
+States ships to use it, except in transport between home ports from
+which ships flying foreign flags are debarred. The transport to South
+America, New Zealand, Australia, Northern China, and Japan would
+necessarily be almost wholly carried on by ships of other nations,
+especially British.
+
+The absence of an American merchant marine trading with foreign ports is
+indeed a circumstance without parallel among other nations engaged in
+modern manufacture. Many interesting facts relating to this strange
+phenomenon were put on record in the debates of the United States Senate
+in the early part of 1908.[34]
+
+[34] _Congressional Record_, February 24, 1908.
+
+At that time there was not one steamship flying the flag of the United
+States between her ports and those of Brazil, the Argentine, Chile, or
+Peru.
+
+The three steamships of the Oceanic Line formerly plying to Australia
+were then laid up in the harbour of San Francisco, being unable,
+although subsidised for mails by the United States Government, to
+compete with foreign vessels. There were, however, three United States
+steamers plying from Puget Sound to Japan and China, occasionally
+reaching the Philippines.
+
+The mails from New York and the other Atlantic ports of the United
+States to Brazil and the Argentine go _via_ Europe, so that in this
+important matter New York is actually 3,000 miles further than Europe,
+instead of being 370 miles nearer to those countries.[35]
+
+[35] Senator Gallinger, _loc. cit._
+
+In the same debate Senator Depew said that ships receiving the United
+States mail subsidy, the only form of subsidy given, have to be American
+built, manned by Americans, and the diet of the sailors as prescribed by
+law. He added that--
+
+"The labour unions have rightly and properly taken care of their wages.
+The result is that the cost in wages and food to run American ships
+under American conditions across the Pacific is double that of European
+or Japanese steamers."
+
+The relative cost of operating American and European vessels was given
+by the Hon. Elihu Root, Secretary of State, in an address delivered
+November 30, 1906,[36] as follows:--
+
+The operation of an American steamship of 2,500 tons costs $18,289 per
+annum more than that of a British ship of this tonnage, or $7.31 more
+per ton; and
+
+The operation of an American steamship of 3,500 tons costs $15,315 per
+annum more than that of a German ship of the same size, or $4.37 more
+per ton.
+
+[36] Address to Mississippi Commercial Congress, Kansas City, revised by
+Mr. Root and published _Nat. Geogr. Mag._, 1907, vol. xviii. pp. 61-72.
+
+Thus it is evident that, in spite of geographical advantages, there are
+at present some grounds for the extreme opinion sometimes expressed in
+the United States that the Canal is being built with American money for
+the use of Europe--and, one may add, of Japan.
+
+What attempts may be made to remedy this state of things, and what
+effects such attempts may have, are matters on which I shall not stay to
+speculate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE COST OF THE CANAL
+
+
+OF the existing canals for ocean-going ships, that of Suez was built by
+a company as a commercial undertaking to earn dividends by tolls. It
+cost $90,000,000.
+
+The Manchester Ship Canal was partly commercial, partly industrial,
+_i.e._, the large contribution of the city of Manchester was made not as
+a financial speculation, but in order to promote an undertaking likely
+to develop the industries of the city. This canal, partly commercial,
+partly industrial, cost $75,000,000.
+
+The Kiel Canal has further a military purpose, providing a short line of
+communication for warships. It cost $40,000,000. The Panama Canal is
+commercial, industrial, and military, and will cost more than all the
+above put together.
+
+[Illustration: PALACE OF PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA.]
+
+[Illustration: OLD FLAT ARCH AT PANAMA.]
+
+Up to June 30, 1908, the United States Government have spent
+$126,047,062 on the Panama Canal, made up as follows:--
+
+    Payment to New Panama Canal
+      Company $40,000,000, and to
+      Republic of Panama $10,000,000          $50,000,000
+
+    Expenditure on work prior to July
+      1, 1907                                  43,172,408
+
+    Expenditure on work July 1, 1907-June
+      30, 1908                                 32,874,654
+                                              -----------
+                                   Total      126,047,062
+
+The amount authorised to be appropriated by the Act of June 28, 1902,
+was $135,000,000, plus $50,000,000 purchase money, that is to say,
+$185,000,000 in all, for "the canal, harbours, and defences."
+
+What the total cost will be is unknown, but Colonel Goethals stated in
+evidence (January, 1908) that the Canal would cost at least
+$250,000,000, and possibly as much as $500,000,000.
+
+The combined cost of the Suez, Manchester, and Kiel Canals has been
+$205,000,000.
+
+The following important ship canals have been completed for smaller
+sums:--
+
+    U.S.S. St. Marie (somewhat more than)         $6,000,000
+    Canadian ditto nearly                           4,000,000
+    Amsterdam                                      10,000,000
+    Corinth (about)                                 5,000,000
+    Cronstadt (about)                              10,000,000
+    Welland (Lake Erie-Lake Ontario)               24,000,000
+                                                   ----------
+                                        Total      59,000,000
+
+Adding these figures to those already given, we have a grand total of
+$264,000,000 for the cost of nine of the greatest existing ship canals,
+which is about the same as the lowest current official estimate for the
+final cost of the Panama Canal.
+
+In the case of a commercial company undertaking such a work as the
+Panama Canal, the charge for compounded interest increases as the
+unremunerative years advance at an appalling rate, which would surprise
+anyone not versed in the cumulative capability of figures which increase
+in "geometrical progression."
+
+Fortunately it is not necessary for the United States to reckon the cost
+of the Canal in this way, and the Government have been in a peculiarly
+advantageous position for financing the Canal.
+
+The bonds bear interest at 2 per cent., and in December, 1907, were
+slightly above 103. As all American banks have to deposit gold with the
+United States Treasury it evidently pays to take up and deposit these
+bonds, which reckon as gold, receiving 2 per cent. interest.
+
+Moreover, the small amount of securities with Government guarantee in
+America renders such issues convenient, so that the Government can raise
+money more cheaply than with us, although for industrial purposes the
+rates may be higher.
+
+At the present time the payments of Government pensions in connection
+with the Civil War are yearly diminishing at a rapid rate. Finally,
+there has been in the Treasury a large surplus of cash. Thus from one
+cause and another the expenditure already incurred has not yet been
+felt.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As I write the last lines of the account in which I have endeavoured to
+state the salient facts relating to a great undertaking at only moderate
+length, I recall our departure from Colon harbour on the R.M.S.
+_Orinoco_ homeward bound. I confess that after the Canal Zone most
+places seem only half alive, and I long to be back where one can watch
+human activities so great and so intelligent, while the spirit is
+soothed by the balmy air which blows warm and fragrant from the tropical
+forest.
+
+May the arduous labours of the Isthmian Canal Commission be crowned with
+success!
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+    A
+
+    Abbott, Brigadier-General Hy. L., 76
+    Alhajuela, 77
+    America, South, possibilities for white peasantry, 148-9
+    _Anopheles_ mosquito, _see also_ Malaria, 132, 137
+    Antwerp, port of, _see_ Distances
+    Arango, Mr. R.M., 77
+    Aspinwall, W.H., and colleagues construct Panama Railway, 30
+    Asiatic ports, _see_ Distances
+    Australia, _see_ Distances
+
+
+    B
+
+    Barbadians as labourers, 104
+    Bohio, abandoned site of dam, 70
+
+
+    C
+
+    California, rush of gold-seekers to, 29
+    Canal, Panama, national and commercial status defined, 39-43
+      "      "     tide-level schemes, 52, 54-55
+      "      "     curvatures of, 60
+      "      "     time of transit through, 64
+      "      "     date of completion, 95-6
+      "    Suez, opened 1869, 30
+      "     "    effect on value of Panama route, 30
+      "     "    dimensions and cost, 59, 173
+    Caribbean Sea, Spain unable to protect her ships in, 27
+    Chagres, River, course of, 48
+       "       "    sudden rise of, 51
+    Charles V. of Spain, canal project, 26
+    Children, white, health of, on Isthmus, 143
+    Climate of the Isthmus, 140-2
+    Clubs for employees, 143
+    Colombia (formerly New Granada), treaty with United States, 1846, 28
+        "    Senate of, does not accept offer of United States, 1903, 38
+        "    want of sea-power, 39
+    Colon, protection from "northers," 78
+        "  yellow fever in, 129
+    Columbus discovers Bay of Limon, 25
+    Commission, Isthmian Canal, Report of 1901, 36-37
+         "          "      "    a second appointed, 113
+         "          "      "    a third appointed, 114
+    Congress, appoints Isthmian Canal Commission, 1899, 25
+       "      "Spooner" Act of, 37-58
+    Congress, Act of, sanctioning 85-foot-level canal, 1906, 53
+    Constantinople, conquest by Turks, 1453, 25
+    Contract Construction of Canal, proposed by Second Commission, 114
+    Cortes searches for a strait, 26
+    Culebra, view of works from, described, 84-90
+       "     Cut, form and dimensions of, 81-84
+       "      "   amount excavated in, 94
+    Currents in Canal advanced as objection to tide-level scheme, 55
+       "     tidal, below Milaflores, 66
+
+
+    D
+
+    Dam, Bohio, abandoned, 70
+     "   Gamboa, controlling feature of tide-level scheme, 54, 57
+     "   Gatun, as proposed in minority report of Board of Consulting
+           Engineers, 56-58
+     "      "   plans of, April, 1908, 70-74
+     "   Milaflores, 69
+     "   Pedro Miguel, 69
+    De Lesseps, Ferdinand, forms First Panama Canal Company, 1879, 31
+     "    "     plan for tide-level canal, 52
+    Depew, Senator, on the cost of operating American ships, 168
+    Dimensions of Panama and other Canals, 59-61
+    Distances, Shortening of, by Suez Canal, 160
+        "          "      "   by Panama Canal, 153-165
+        "          "      "   to Pacific Coast of North America, 155,
+                                156
+        "          "      "   to Pacific Coast of South America, 155,
+                                156
+        "          "      "   to Asiatic ports, 158, 159, 161, 162
+        "          "      "   Australian and New Zealand ports, 158,
+                                161, 162
+
+
+    E
+
+    Employees, number of, on Canal Zone, 112
+    Engineers, French, ability of, 32
+        "      Board of Consulting, Majority Scheme for tide-level
+                   canal, 53-55
+        "        "    "      "      Minority Scheme for high-level
+                   canal, 56-70
+        "      names of chief, 113-115
+        "      Corps of, U.S.A., and public works, 115
+    Excavation, amount of, by French Companies, 94
+        "          "    "  by American Commission, 94
+
+
+    F
+
+    Fever, Yellow, 121-132
+      "      "     geographical distribution of, 130-131
+      "    Malarial, _see_ Malaria
+    Floods of the Chagres River, 51
+      "    control of, 54
+    Forests, tropical, insulate the Canal Zone, 39
+    Fortifications for defence of the Canal, 40, 78
+    French Companies, excavation accomplished by, 94
+      "    Engineers, ability of, 32
+      "    Investors, 31-32
+
+
+    G
+
+    Gallinger, Senator, on the lack of U.S. steamships trading with
+      foreign ports, 167-8
+    Gamboa, site of controlling dam of the tide-level scheme, 54
+    Gatun dam, _see_ Dam
+      "   Lake, 56, 69
+      "   locks, _see_ Locks
+    Germany, steamships of, cost of operating as compared with American
+      steamships, 169
+    Goethals, Colonel George W., Corps of Engineers, 20
+       "         "       "   "   appointed Chairman of Commission and
+                                   Chief Engineer, April, 1907, 115
+    "Gold Roll," _see_ Labour, skilled
+       "   "     Europeans on, 110
+    Golden Hill, highest original level at, 82
+    Gorgas, Colonel W.C., M.D., head of Department of Sanitation, 113,
+      125, 126, 130
+       "       "     "     "    on the future of the white race in the
+                                  tropics, 144-5
+    Gorgona, workshops at, 97
+    Grant, President, recommends construction of Isthmian Canal, 1869,
+      34
+    Greeks as labourers, 107
+    Gulf ports, _see_ Distances
+
+
+    H
+
+    Hamburg, _see_ Distances
+    Harbours, at terminals of Canal, 78
+    Havana, yellow fever at, 123
+    Hotels, Commission's, for employees, 111
+
+
+    I
+
+    Indies, East, original objective of Canal project, 26
+    Ismailia, effect of malaria at, 14
+    Italians as labourers, 107, 108
+       "     as peasantry in the tropics, 149
+
+
+    J
+
+    Jamaica, effect of Canal on position of, 164
+    Jamaicans as labourers, 104
+        "     as policemen, 105
+    Japan, steamships of, to use Canal, 169
+       "   _see_ Distances
+
+
+    K
+
+    Kiel Canal, dimensions of, 59-61
+      "    "    cost, 173
+    Kingston, _see_ Jamaica
+
+
+    L
+
+    La Boca, tide at, 65
+     "   "   scheme for locks abandoned, 67
+    Labour on the Isthmus, Chinese proposed, 106
+      "     "  "  West Indian, 101-106
+      "     "  "  European, 106-110
+      "     "  "  skilled, 110-112
+      "    white, in tropical countries, 140-150
+      "    Panamanian, 134
+    Limon, Bay of, discovered by Columbus, 25
+    Liverpool, _see_ Distances
+    Lock at Pedro Miguel, depth of water above, 68
+      "  gates described, 63
+    Locks, dimensions of proposed, 60, 62
+      "    at Gatun, distance from deep water, 62
+      "     " Gatun, course of Canal below, 62
+      "     " depth of water above, 68
+      "    at Milaflores, variable lift of, 65
+    Longitude, meridians between which distances _via_ Suez and Panama
+      are equal, 162
+
+
+    M
+
+    McKinley, President, 35
+    Magellan, Straits of, discovered 1520, 26
+    Malaria, 132-137, 146
+    Manchester Ship Canal, cost of, 173
+    Manila, distance from New York _via_ Suez and _via_ Panama, 159
+    Marines, U.S., force of on Isthmus, 118
+    _Mauretania_, s.s., dimensions of, 59, 60
+    Meteorology of Isthmus, 76
+    Mexico, war of United States with, 28
+    Milaflores, _see_ Dams and Locks
+    Mississippi, basin of, 164
+
+
+    N
+
+    Naos, Isle of, 67, 92
+    New Granada, treaty of U.S. with, 28
+    New York, _see_ Distances
+    New Zealand, _see_ Distances
+    Nicaragua, canal route through, 28, 37
+
+
+    O
+
+    Obispo, change in course of Chagres River at, 48
+    _Oregon_, battleship, voyage of, 1898, 34
+    Organisation, efficiency of, in 1907 and 1908 compared, 86-88
+
+
+    P
+
+    Panama Canal Company, First, formed 1879, 31
+      "      "      "       "    in liquidation 1889, 33
+      "      "      "     New, formed, 33
+      "      "      "      "   accepts  offer  of $40,000,000, 37
+      "      "      "      "   work of, 50
+      "    Isthmus of, topography, 47
+      "    Province of, revolts, 38
+      "    Railway, completed 1855, 29
+      "       "     purchased by First P. C. Company, 32
+      "       "     relaying of, 97
+      "    Republic of, independence guaranteed by U.S., 38, 39
+    Pedro Miguel, _see_ Dams and Lock
+    Peru, Spanish possessions in, protected by Isthmus, 27
+    Police, force of, 117
+    Pneumonia among negroes in the tropics, 139
+    Plague, bubonic, 139
+
+
+    R
+
+    Rainfall on the Isthmus, 51
+    Reed discovers cause of yellow fever, 124
+    Rio Grande, valley of, 49
+    Ross, Ronald, discovers cause of malaria, 123
+    Roosevelt, President, 53, 96
+    Root, the Hon. Elihu, 168
+
+
+    S
+
+    St. Lawrence, the, a supposed route to China, 26
+    San Blas route, 36
+    Sanitation, Department of, 118, 125, 128, 133, 139
+    Sea-power, importance of, in Isthmian affairs, 39
+    Societies, benevolent, in the Canal Zone, 144
+    Spaniards as navvies and as peasantry in tropics, 108-110, 149
+    Spanish War, voyage of _Oregon_ during, 34
+    Steam shovel, rate of loading by, 91
+    Steamships available for Canal transit, 165-169
+        "      relative cost of operating American and European, 169
+    _Stegomyia_ mosquito, mode of infection by, 124
+    Stephens, John F., chief engineer 1905-1907, 113-114
+
+
+    T
+
+    Tide, range of, at La Boca, 65
+    Tolls on the Panama Canal equal for all nations, 43
+    Tourists, attractions for, on the Isthmus, 89
+    Track-shifter, the, 91
+    Transportation of spoil in Culebra Cut, 91-93
+    Treaty between U.S. and New Granada, 1846, 28, 38
+       "      "     "   Great Britain (Clayton-Bulwer) 1850, 29
+       "      "     "   Great  Britain  (Hay-Pauncefote) 1901, 19, 37,
+                          40
+       "      "     "   Republic of Panama, 1903, 39, 40, 42
+    Tropics, future of white race in, 140-150
+
+
+    U
+
+    United States, civil war in, interrupts Canal scheme, 30
+    Unloader, the, for dirt-cars, 91
+
+
+    W
+
+    Wages on the Isthmus, _see_ Labour
+    Wallace, John F., chief engineer, 1904-1905, 113
+    Water supply for high-level canal, 74-77
+    West Indians, relations with American employers, 102-104
+      "     "     immunity from yellow fever, 122
+      "     "     _see also_ Labour
+    White race, future of, in tropics, 140-150
+    Women, white, life of, on Isthmus, 142
+
+
+    Y
+
+    Y.M.C.A. and management of clubs, 144
+
+
+    Z
+
+    Zone, the Canal, 19
+
+
+UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF CANAL ZONE.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Panama Canal and its Makers, by Vaughan Cornish
+
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