The Oklahoma State Capital. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 212, Ed. 2 Sunday, December 23, 1906 Page: 2 of 8
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fHE OKLAHOMA £T^TE CAPITAL SUNDAY MOKHlHU, UCUEWBtK i , lww.
HE
Gives Results of His Obser-
vations While on Tour of
Inspection to Congress.
THE WORK IS BEING PUSHED
Perfection of Sanitary Conditions
in Canal Zone Has Takon
Much Time.
)Va Found But Little Ground for Com-
plaints and Refutes Statements of
^ Critic*—Calli Soma Wrltcri "8l n-
derera and Liars" — Approves of
Type and Routs of Canal.
The following la the text of rretldent
Vtooanvelt'a special me HuK" to conyr'aa
on the subject of the Panama . anal:
To th* Senate and Iiousu of Kepreaenta-
Uvea:
In the month of Noven.her I visited tho
fatnraun of Panama, going over the
Canal Zone with conatderable care; and
•lao visited the cities of I'aiiamu and
Colon, which are not In the sons or
under ths United Btnlen flag, hut as to
Which the Unltod States government,
through Its ag*ntn, exercises control for
certain sanitary purposes. I chocs the
month ,#f November for my visit partly
because It ia the rglnest month of the
rear, the month In which the work gnus
lor * " •*-
anr __ p.. ,MW
medical department of t French Canal
puny round most unhealthy.
Mlowlng the Introduction to the mm-
Bompai
nSo
aage the president gives a resume of Ida
programme during the days ha was on
the Isthmus, arid then w.ys:
At tho outset 1 wish to pay tribute
to the amount of work done by the
French Canal company under very dim-
cult circumstances. Many of the build-
ings they put up were excellent and
are atill in use, though, naturally, the
houwa are now getting out of repair and
are being used as dwellings only until
•ther houses can he built, uml much of
the work they did In the Culebra cut.
and some of tho work they did In dig-
ging has been of direct and real benefit.
This country has never made a better
Investment than the $40,a0fl,WK> which it
paid to ths French company for work
and betterments, including especially the
Panama railroad.
An Inspection on the ground at the
height of the rainy season ««> ved to con-
vince me of the wisdom of congress In
refusing to adopt either a high level or
a sua-level canal. There seems to ho a
universal agreement among all people
competent to Judge that the Pannma
route, the one actually chosen, Is much
superior to both the Nicaragua and
Darien routea.
Preliminary Work Being Done.
The wladom of the canal management
has been shown In nothing more clearly
than in the way In which the founda-
tions of the work hare boen lai.l To
_ airly satisfactory working out of
the problem or getting and keeping a
sufficient labor supply, would have been
dlaaatrous. The various preliminary
nieaaures had to be taken hist; and
these could not be taken no as to allow
us to begin the real work of construc-
tion prior to January 1 of the present
year. It then became necessary to have
the type of the canal decided, and ths
only delay has been the necessary delay
until the 29th day of June, the date
When the cougress definitely and wisely
settled that we should have an fft-foot
level canal Immediately after that tha
,Work began In hard earnest and has
been contluuad with tncreaaiiiK vigor
ever aince; and it will continue so to
Progress In the future. When the con-
racta are let the conditions will he such
as to Insure a constantly Increasing
amount of performance.
f Successful Sanitation.
' Ths first great problem to be solved.
Upon the solution of which the success .>1
the rest of the work depended, was the
rroblem of sanitation. This was from
he outset under ttie direction of I r.
fW. C. Gorges, who Is to be made a lull
tnember of tha commission. It must l h
remembered that his work was not nun
ganltutton as the term Is understood In
•ur ordinary municipal work Through-
out the tone and In the two cities o|
Panama and Colon, In addition to ths
aatitutlon work proper, he has had to
do uTl IV vortt that Uic Marine hdillta!
service <i... « u* regards (he nation, that
the health department .<(11. era do in ths
ya' states and cltlep. and that Col.
V\ arlng did In N'aw York when h«
clean-d its streets. The results have
been astounding. The isthmus had been
a bywotd for deadly uijhealthfuln sa.
Now. after two years of our occupation
tt ■ conditions an regards sickness and
the dealh rate- compoc favorubly with
reiiMinably healthy localities in the
I rilled States. Kapecial i are haa been
*•-voted to minimising the risk due to th«
presence ot those species of mosquitoes
winch have been found to propagatt
m ilr.rlal and yellow fevers In all ths
settlements, the little ter-norary towns
or cities coniputted or the white and black
emplo>es. which grow up here and
there In the tropic mfle ns the needs
of the work dicta'. the oimost rare Is
exorcised to keep iu« conditions healthy.
*; very Where are to be seen the drainage
dttehes which In removing the water
hiwe rem ... 1 the breeding placet* of ths
moaqultoen, while the whole jungle It
cut avfuy for a considerable space around
the habitations, thus distroying ths
places In which the mosquitoes take ahel-
tor. These drainage ditches and cluarlngi
are Ir evidence In every settlement, ana.
together with the Invariable presence of
mosquito screens around the ptaszaa, and
of mosquito doors to the houses, not to
speak of I he careful fumlgNlInn that haa
gone on In all Infected houses, doubtless
explain the extraordinary absence ol
mosquitoes. As a matter of fact, but
a single mosquito, and thla not of ths
dangerous species, was xaen by any
found the conditions perfect. In but one
case did I And them really bad. In this
case, affecting s settlement of unmar-
ried white employee, 1 found them very
bad Indued, but the buildings were all
Inherited from the French company and
were being used temporarily while other
buildings were In thu course of construc-
tion, and right near the defective water
closet a new and eicellent < toast with •
less this did not excuse the fact that ths
bud condition had been allowed to pre-
vail. Temporary accommodatlona, even
If only such as soldiers use when camped
In the field, ahould have been provided.
Orders to thla effect were issued. I sp-
pend the report of Dr. Corgaa on the In-
cident. I waa struck, however, by the
fact that In this Instance, sis In almoat
avery other where a complaint waa made
which proved to have any Justification
REPLYING TO SPEECH OF WELCOME
place for the constant increass In the
numbers of employes. Osnsrally the pro-
vlalon la mads In advance, but It ia not
possible that this ahould always be the
raae; when It Is not there enauea a
period of time during which tho condi-
tions sre unsatisfactory, until a remedy
ran be provided; but I never found a
rase where tha remedy was not being
provided ns speedily as possible.
Improvements In Cities.
The sanitation work In the cltleg of
Panama and Colon has been Just as
important aa In tha xone Itself, and In
many reapecta much more difficult, be-
Jause It waa necessary to deal with
the already existing population, which
naturally had scant sympathy with
revolutionary changes, the value of
which they were for a long time not
ibie to perceive. In Colon the popula-
tion conalatB largely of colored labor-
•ra who. having coins over from the
West Indl a to work on the canal,
abandon the work and either take to
the bruah or He Idle In Colon itselfi
thus peopling Colon with the least de-
alrahle among the Imported laborers,
for the good and steady men of course
continue at the work. Yet astonish-
ing progrcca lula been made in both
iltlea In Panama 0 per cent of the
itreets that are to ba paved at all are
already paved with an excellent brick
pavement laid In heavy concrete, a few
if the streets being still In process of
paving. The aawer and water aervlcea
in the city are of the most modern hy-
gienic type, aome of the aervica hav-
ing Just been completed.
In Colon the conditions sre peculiar,
and It is aa regards Colon that most of
the very bitter complaint haa been
made. Colon Is built on a low coral
Island, covered at more or less shallow
leptlia with vegetable accumulations
jr mold, which affords sustenance and
•trength to many varieties of low-
lying tropical plants. One-half of the
lut-face of the island la covered with
water at high tide, tho average height
of the land being 1*4 feet above low
tide The alight undulations furnish
• hallow, natural reaervolra or freah-
water breeding places for every varie-
ty of mosquito, and the ground tends
to be lowest In the middle. When ths
In the streets or on the building sites,
io that the entire surface was prac-
tically a qucimlrn: when the auasr-
mlre became Impassable certain of the
rock or other notarial In Septembet,
1905. a systemsttc effort waa begun to
formulate a general plan for the prop-
er sanitation of the city; in February
last temporary relief measures were
taken, while in July the prosecution of
the work was begun in good earnest.
The results are already visible In tha
aewerlnr. draining, guttering and pav-
ing of the streets Some four months
will be required before tha work of
aewerage and street Improvement will
be completed, but the progress already
made in very marked Ditches have
been dug through the town, connecting
the salt water on both sides, and into
these the ponds, which have icrved aa
PRESIDENT ON A STEAM SHOVEL
i, «ap|rrt|faa, by tJadsewoeS a Onderveod, R. T.
President Roosevelt's first address at Panama waa In response to tha
fellcltoue (patch of President Amador of Panama welcoming him fto tho
lathmua. •
oreedlng places for {Tie mosquTloea. ofe
Jralned These ditches have answered
their purpose, for they are probably
the chief cause of the astonishing
diminution of mosquitoes. More ditches
of tho kind are being constructed.
Unjust Criticism.
Cara and forethought have been exer-
claed by tha commission, and nothing has
reflected mora credit upon them than
their refusal either to go ahead too fast
or to be deterred by tha foar of criticism
from not going ahead fast enough. It Is
curious to note tho fact that many of
the most severe critics of tho commission
criticise them for precisely opposite rea-
sons, some complaining bitterly that the
work Is not in a more advanced condi-
tion, while tha others complain that It has
been rushed with such haste that there
has been insufficient preparation for tha
hyglone and comfort of the employes.
As a matter of fact neither criticism is
just. It would have been Impossible to
go quicker than the commission has
gone, for such quickness would have
meant Insufficient preparation. On tha
other hand, to refuse to do anything un-
til every possible future contingency had
been met would have caused wholly un-
warranted delay. The right course to
follow waa exactly the course which haa
been followed Every reasonable prepara-
tion was made In advance, tha hygienic
conditions In especial being made as
" > ".g *"ip .rnsl > eCMently aTPT 61
quickly as possible; provided always
that nothing is done tnat Is inhumane
to any laborers, and nothing that In-
terferes with tha wages of or lowers
the standard of living of our own
workmen. Having In view this prin-
ciple, I have arranged to try several
thousand Chinese laborers. This is de-
sirable both because we must try to
find out what laborers are most
clent. and, furthermore because wo
should not leave ourselves ut the
mercy of any on? type of foreign
labor. At present the great bulk of
the unskilled labor on the isthmus is
done by West India negroes, chiefly
from Jamaica. Barbados, and the other
Knglish possessions. One of the gov-
ernors of the -lauds In question has
shown an unfrledly disposition to our
work and has thrown obstacles In the
way of our getting the labor needed;
uml it l« hlsrblv II '1 'teal r hi «• to glva
any outsiders the Impression, however
111 founded, that they are indispensa-
ble and can dictate terms to us.
The West India laborers are fairly,
but only fairly, satisfactory. Some or
tho men do very well indeed; the bet-
ter class, who are to be found as fore-
men, as skilled mechanics, as police-
men are good men; and many of the
ordinary OHV laborers a r< al««o good.
Rut thousands of those who are
brought over under contract (^t our
expense) go off Into the jungle to live,
or loaf around Colon, or work so bad-
ly nttf
f All
da v
i, ~tjrt«ta, Ir UaS^ «a4 a (MatMl, B. f.
At Pedro MIouel, Culebra Cut, Preeldent Rooaevelt wae photographed
—iti< an one ti tho Urine nee etoara ehovaia uoo4 io tho worfc of ouavatissi
families with them, schools have been
established, tha school service being un-
der Mr. O'Connor. For the white pupils
white American teachers are employed;
for the colored pupils there are also some
white American teachers, one Spanish
teacher, and one colored American teach-
er, most of them being colored teachers
from Jamaica. Barbados and St. Lucia.
The achoolrooms were good, and It was
a pleasant thing to see tba prldf that the
teachers wars taking In tlisir work and
their pupils.
Cars of Employes.
Next In Importance to the problem of
sanitation, and Indeed now of equal Im-
portance, Is ths pfi iring and
caring fur tha mechanics, laborers and
tafk has been under the control of Mr.
Jackson * Smith, and on tho whole has
been well done. At present there are
some €.000 white employes and some
19,000 colored employes on the isthmus.
I went over the different places where
the different kinds of employes were
working! I think 1 saw representatives
of avery typa both at their work and In
their homes, and I conversed with prob-
ably a couple of hundred of them all
told, choosing them at random from
every class and including those who came
especially to present certain grievances
olmost Invariably expressed far greater
content and satisfaction with th • con-
ditions than did those who called to
make complaint.
Nearly 6.UU' of the white employes had
come from*tha United States No man
can See these young, vigorous men
energetically doing their duty without
a thrill of pride In them as Americans.
They represent on the average a high
class Doubtless to congress the wages
paid them Will seem high, but as a mat-
ter of fact tha only general complaint
which 1 found had any real basis among
the complaints made to me upon the
Isthmus was that, owing to th« peculiar
surroundings the cost of living, and the
99 - tiff
money—a view, however, wn'ch the aver-
age man who stays at home In tha
I'nlted States probably likewise holds
us regards himself. 1 append figures of
the wages paid, so that the congress can
Judge tile matter for Itself. I* tcr I shall
confer on ths subject with certain repre-
sentative labor men here in the Ignited
Stales, as well as going over with Mr.
Stevens, the comparative wa^RS paid on
the xone and at home, aid 1 may then
communicate my findings to the canal
committees of the two houses
Chinese and Other Labor.
Of the 19.000 or 20.000 day laborers
employed on the canal a few hundred
sre Spaniards. These do excellent
work Their foreman told mo that
they did twice as well as the V st
Indian laborers. They keep healthy
and no difficulty is experienced with
them in any way. Some Italian la! .>r-
ers are also employed In connection
with the drilling As might be x-
pected. with labor as high priced aa
St present in ths I'nlted States, It h. s
not so far proved practicable to get
any ordinary laborers from tha United
States The American wagl-workers
on fhs Isthmus are the highly paid
skilled mechanics of the tyj . « men-
tioned previously. A steady effort la
being made to accure Italians, and es-
pecially to procure more Spaniards,
because of the very aatisfactory re-
sults that have come from their ern-
Filoyment and their numbers will be
ncreaaed aa fat as possible It h.s
not proved possible, however, to g. t
them In anything liks the numbers
needed for the work and from present
appearances we shall In the main have
to rely, for the ordinary unskilled
rock and In the harder ground,
w re sorro 26 at work during the time I
was on the isthmus, and their treinendoua
power and eiuclency were most impres-
sive.
New Records for Excavation.
As toon as the type of canal was de-
cided this work began In go >d earnt st.
The rainy season will shortly be over and
then there will bo an Immense increase in
tha amount taken out; but even during
tha lust three months, In the rainy sea-
son. steady progress ts shown by ths
figures: In August, 242,009 cubic yards;
in September. 281,000 cubic: yards, and In
October, 32'.,<j00 cubic yards. In October
new records wore established for the
output of Individual shovels as well as
for tho tonnjRe haul of Individual loco-
motives. I hope to see the growth of a
healthy spirit of emulation between the
different shovel and locomotive crews,
lust such a spirit as has grown on our
battle ships between the different gun
crews in matters of marksmanship.
Passing through the cut tho amount of
new work can be seen at a glance. In
ono place the entire side of a hill had
beeai taken out recently by 27 tons of
dyhamlte, which were exploded at one
blast. At another place I was given a
presidential salute of 21 charges of dyna-
mite. On the top notch pf the Culebra
cut the prism la now as -wide as it will
be; all told, the canal bed at this point
has now been sunk about 200 feet below
what it originally was. It will have to
be sunk about 130 feet farther. Through-
out the cut the drilling, blasting, shovel-
ing and hauling are going on with con-
stantly Increasing energy, the huge
shovels being pressed up. as If they were
mountain howltxers, Into the most un-
likely looking places, win re they eat
tfvslr way into the hillsides.
Critics and Doubting Thomases.
It Is not only natural, but inevitable,
that a wo'k as gigantic as this wliich
has been undertaken on the Isthmus
should arouse ev< ry species of hostility
and criticism. The condltiona are so new
and bo trying, and the work so vast, that
It would be absolutely out of tho ques-
tion that istakes should not be made.
Checks will occur. Unforeseen difficulties
will arise. From time to tune seemingly
wel settled plans will have to be
changed. At present 26,000 men are en-
gaged on the task. After awhile the
numbei will be doubled. Jn such a mul-
titude it is Inevitable that there should
be here and there a scoundrel. Very
many of the poorer class of laborers lack
the mental development to protect them-
selves against either the rascality of
others or their own folly, and it is not
possible tor human wisdom to devise a
plan nv wntcn mey can Invariably do
protected. In n place which has been
for ages a byword for unhealthfulness.
and with so large a congregation or
outbreaks of disease. There will now
partly upon colored labon rs
from the West Indies, partly upon
Chinese labor. It certainly ought tc
bo unnecessary to point out that the
American worklngman In tha United
*tate« lias no concern whatever in the
question ua to whether the rough work
on the Isthmus, whioh is performed bv
aliens fn any event. Is done by aliens
from one country with a black skin
I or by aliens from another country
I Cu biuiugu la
as to cause a serious diminution of
the amount of labor performed on Fri-
day and Saturday of e;^eli week. I
questioned many of these Jamaica
•laborers as to the conditions of their
work and what, If any changes, they
wished I received many complaints
from them, but k* regard* most of
th*se complaints they themselves con-
tradicted ono another. In all cases
where the complaint whs as to their
treatment by any individual it proved
on examination that this individual
was himself a West India man of color,
either u policeman, a storekeeper, or
sn assistant storekeeper Doubtless
there must be many complaints against
Americans; but those to whom I spoke
did not happen to make any such com-
plaint to me.
Work of Construction.
The work Is now going on with a
vigor and efficiency pleasant to wit-
ness. The threo big problems of the
canal are the I^i Boca dams,.the Qatun
dam. and the Culohra cut. The Cule-
bra cut must be made, anyhow; but
of course changes as to tho dams, or
at least as to the locks adja nt to
tho dams, may stilt occur. The La
Boca dams offer no particular prob-
lem. tho bottom material being so
good that there Is a practical certain-
ty. not merely as to what can be
achieved, but as to the time of achieve-
ment The Oatun dam offers the most
serious problem which we have to
solve; ami yet the ablest men on the
Isthmus believe that this problem Is
certain of solution along the lines
proposed; although, of course, It ne-
ccssltatos great toil, energy, and In-
telligence. and although equally, of
course, there will be some little risk
In connection with the work. The risk
arises from the fact that some of thu
mati rial near the bottom Is not so
good as could be deolred. If the huge
earth dam now contemplated Is thrown
acrotm from one foothill to the other
we will have what ia practically a
low. broad, mountnln ridge behind
which will rise the Inland lake. This
| artificial mountain will probably show
i less seepage, that Is. will have greater
I restraining capacity than the average
natural mountain range. The exact lo-
cality of the locks at thla dam—as at
the other dams- Is now being de-
termined. In April next Secretary
Taft, with three of the ablest engin-
eers of the country—Messrs. Noble.
Stearns and Ripley—will visit the
Isthmus, and the three engineers %vlll
make the tlnal and conclusive exami-
nations as to the exact site for each
lock Meanwhile the work Is going
ahead without a break.
The Culebra cut does not offer such
great risks, that Is, the damage liable to
occur from n, salons! land slips will not
represent what may be called major dis-
asters. Tha work will merely call for in-
telligence. perseverance, and executive
capacity. It is. however, the work upon
which most labor will have to b spent
The dams will be composed of the earth
taken out of the cut and very possibly
the building of the locks and dams will
take even longer than the cutting In
Culebra itself.
In Culebra Cut.
The main work is now being 'dons In
the Culebra cut. It waa striking and
in Missive to see ths huge steam shovels
I In full play, ti e dumping trains carrying
awuy the rock and eartn they dislodged
. Tho Implements of French excavating
! machinery, which often stand a lutie
I way from the line of work, though of ex-
! cellent construction, look like the veriest
I toys when compared with these new
i stoam shovelF, just ss the French dump-
1 Ing cars seem like toy cars when com-
| pared with the long trains of huge cars,
i dumped by steam plows, which are now
j In use. This represents the enormous
advance that has been made in machin-
ery during tho past quarter of a cen-
tury. No doubt a quarter of a century
hence this new machinsry, of w ichnve
are now so proud, will similarly seem out
of date, but it is cartatnly nerving Its
purposa well now. The old French cuts
had to bo entirely discarded. We stdl
have in use a few of the more modem,
but not most modern, cars, whloh hold
but 12 yards of earth. They can be «
ployed on certain lines with sharp
urves. But ths recent csrs hold from
dents to deluy the excavation of the cut
or the building of the dams and locks.
Each such Incident will be entirely uat-
urul, and. even though serious, no one
of them will mean more than a little
extra delay or trouble. Yet each, when
dl.-'covered by sensation mongers and re-
tailed to timid folk of little faith, will
serve as an excuse for the belief that
the whole work is being badly managed.
Experiments will continually bo tried In
housing, In hygiene, in street repairing.
In dredging and In digging earth and
rock. Now and then an experiment will
be a failure, and among thoso who hear
of it. a certain proportion of doubting
Thomases will at once believe that t!i4
whole work Is a failure. Doubtless here
and there some minor rascality will bs
uucovereil; but as to this. I have to say
that after the most palnst&klng inquiry
I have been unable to find a single reput-
able person who had so much as heard
of any serious accusations affecting the
honesty of the eommlss n or of any
responsible officer under it. I append a
letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that of the ownership of lots In
Colon: the chargo was not advanced by
a reputable man, and Is utterly base-
less. It is not too much to say that tho
whole atmosphere of the commission
breathes honesty as it breathes efficiency
and energy Above all. the work has
been kept absolutely clear of politics. I
hu\ never heard even a suggestion of
spoils politics In conne tlon with It.
I have investigated every complaint
brought to me for which there seemed
to be any shadow of foundation. in
two or three cases, nil of which I
have indicated in the course of this
message, I came to the conclusion that
there wes foundation for the com-
plaint. and that the methods of the
commission in the respect complained
of could be bettered. .In the other in-
stances thu complaint? proved abso-
lutely baseless, save In two or three
Instances where they referri d to mis-
takes which the commission had al-
ready found out and corrected.
Slanders and Libelers.
So much for honest criticism. There
remains an Immense amount of as
ret ■ j slander as has ever been pub-
lllshedf Where the slanderers are of
foreign origin I have- no concern wrlth
them. Wl.cre th -y ar • Americans. I
fc-1 for them the heartiest contempt
and indignation; because. In a spirit
of wanton dishonesty and malice,
they are trying to interfere with and
hamper the execution of. the greatest
work of the kind ever attempted and
are seeking to br : «r to naught the ef-
forts of their ■ ■ utrymen to put to
the credit of An • .i one of the giant
feat" of the ages. The outrageous
St itions of these slanderers con-
stitute a cross libel upon n body of
p'tblic servants who. Xvr Jralned.Intel*
rrteTsee, w swrnT ♦ J^^v??IvS
tetr and devotion to duty, have never
been excelled anywhere. There Is not
a man among those directing.the worfc
on the Isthmus who obUlned h
position on any other basls than m
slone. snd not one who has used bis
position in any way for his own per
son el or pscuuiary advantags.
Plan to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most of tlit
work by contract. If we can come to
satisfactory terms with the c°ntr"r't:
ors The whole work Is of a kind
suited to the peculiar of out
people; and our people have' devel-
nped the type of contractor best fltted
to grapple with It. It la '
much better to do ths work In lar*«
part by contract than to do it all bI
the government, provided ft la pos-
sible on the one hand to secure to th«
contractor a sufficient remnueratlon
to make it worth while for respon-
sible contractors of the best fcjn^
undertake the work; and provided oa
the other hand It can be done on tertni
whloh will not give an excessive prortl
to the contractor at the expense ol
the government. After mnch con-
slderatlnn the plan already P™nnil-
gn ted by the secretary of war wa
adopted. This plan In Its essentia
features was drafted after careful
and thorough study and consideration
by the chief engineer. Mr. Steven*
who. while In the employment of Mr
Hill, the president of the Oreat North-
ern railroad, had personal experlenc#
of this very type of contract. Mr
Stevens then submitted the plan ta
the chairman of the commission. Mr
Bhonts. who went carefully over 1
with Mr. Rogers, the legal adviser o
the commission, to see that all 'legal
difficulties were met. He then submit-
ted copies of the plan to both Secre-
tary Taft and myself Secretary Taft
submitted it to some of the best coun-
sel at the New York bar, and after-
wards I went over it very carefulll
i with Mr Taft and Mr. Shonts. and w«
I laid the plan In its general feature*
! before Mr Hoot My conclusion la
! that tt combines the maximum of ad-
vantage with the minimum of disad-
vantage. Under It a premium will ba
, put upon the speedy and economical
construction of the canal, and a Pen-
alty Imposed on delay and waste. Ilia
plan as promulgated Is tentative,
doubtless it will have to be changed
In some respects before we can coma
to a satisfactory agreement with re-
sponsible contractors—perhsps even
after the bids have been received:
and of course it Is possible that wa
can not come to a agreement. In whlcb
case the government will do the Work
Itself, Meanwhile the work on tha
isthmus Is progressing steadily end
without any let up.
8ingle Commissioner Desired.
A seven-headed commission Is ol
course a clumsy executive Instrument
We should have but one commission-
er. with such heads of departmenti
and other officers under him as w«
may find necessary. We should b«
e*presslv permitted to employ tin
best engineers in the country as con-
sulting engineers.
I accompany thla pTper with a mif
showing substantially what the c^nn,
will be like when It is tlnlshsd. When
the Culebra out has b-en made and
the dams built (If they are built ns at
present proposed) there will then h«
at both the I'aciflo and Atlantic endi
of the canal two great fresh-watet
lakes, connected by a broad channel
running ot the bottom of a ravine
across the backbone of the Western
Hemisphere Those best Informed be-
lieve that the work will be completed
In about eight years; but it Is never
safe to prophesv about such a work
as this, especially In the tropics.
Confident of Ultimate 8uccess.
Of the success of the enterprise 1
sm as well convinced as one can be
of any enterprise that Is human. it
Is a stupendous work upon which our
fellow countrymen are enpsged down
there on the Isthmus, and while we
should hold them to a strict accounta-
bility for the way In which they per-
form it, we nhould re-ognlre. with
frank reneroslty the pplc nature of
the task upon which they are engaged
and Its world-wide importance They
are doing something which will rc-
dotid Immeasurably to the credit of
America, which will benefit all the
THE WORLD'S
OREAT SCHOOL
Vivid Word Painting of Educa,
tional Institution! f
MIGHTY ARMY OF STUDENTS
Stevens and Dr. Oorgas this work has
started with every omen of good for-
tune. They ard their worthy associates,
from tho highest to the lowest, are
entitled to the same credit that we
would give to the picked men of a
victorious armv; for tb's commest of
peace will, in Its great and far rc-ach-
fntr «fr..e t «t n/l na nmone tl' very
greatest conquests, whether of peace
or of war. which have ever been won
| by anv of the peoples of mankind. A
badge Is to bo given to every Ameri-
can cltlsen who for a speeded tlmo
' has taken part In this work; for par-
ticipation in It will hersafter bo held
to reflect honor upon the man par-
I ticlpating Just ss It reflects honor upon
a soldier to have belonged to a mighty
army In a great war for righteous-
ness. Our fellow countrymen on the
Isthmus are working for our int rest
and for the national renown in the
same spirit and with the same effi-
ciency that the men of the army and
navy work in time of wnr. It be-
hooves us In our turn to do u!l wo
can to hold up their hands and to aid
them In every way to bring their
great work to a triumpnant conclu-
sion. TIIKODORF. ROOSEVELT.
The White House, December 17. IDOt.
PRESIDENTIAL PARTY LEAVING HOTEL
■£
*
to 30 yards aplare. and instead of the
sy methods of unloading them,
s drawn from end to end
clumsy
plo
* hole vsatlbulttL t rain, ihus j;i\-
t Wr«o*T pfc, eopy tfM. by riid*r«roo4 A TiiSerweod, g. T.
Photograph of the President and Mre. RoSeevelt and party leaving th®
Tlvoll hotel at Colon taken during tha recent inspection of tha canal t>> tha
phlef executive.
What the Lessons of the Cele-
brated Thaw Trial Bring to
Mind—New York and Chicago
Are With Each Other in Extrav-
agant Prices For Flowers
New York. Dec. 22.—With the single
exception of Russia, there is no nation
in the world whose standing army
equals in numbers the army made up
of those who attend Institutions of
learning in New York. Not six cities
in tho Untied Stales have a poulatloa
equal to it for the latent figures show
that no Ichs than 6.">0,000 pupils are
enrolled at the various schools of thu
city. This total is roughly equal to
the present population of St. Louis,
Baltimore or Boston. It exceeds by
more than 50,000 the peace army of
Germany and is two and one-half
times ns large as that of Great Britain.
The total far surpasses the school at-
tendance for any other city in the
world. Not even London can compel a
with New York in this respect. At
the public schools the total register is
irith an average attendince <>f
more than half a million. Aside from
these there are 20,000 high school pu-
pils In Manhattan and the Bronx, and
4,000 in Brooklyn. Then there are tho
pupils In parochial schools, 65,000 In
all. as well ns those receiving instruc-
tion In colleges, universities, night
schools, or from private ^tenchers. A
decidedly pleasing feature is found In
the fact thnt as the percentage of
school attendance increases, the
number of those without instruction,
Ithcr througli truancy or any other
tuse, steadily declines, the point now
being very nearly reached at which
there I" universal education within tha
official school ages in New York.
With the Thaw trial looming close
ahead, tho ubiquitous person who
backs his assertions with figures as
proof positive of their accuracy, has
been very busy with his pencil. As i
result he has discovered that reckoned
by the law of averages baaed on the
records of the criminal courts of the
country, and without reference to the
merits of tho case, the chances that
Thaw will be convicted of murder in
the first degree are only six out « f
one hundred. In other words, out <>f
every ono hundred pfcrs >ns against
whom a murder Indictment is return-
ed by the Grand Jury, only six re-
ceive the severest punishment of the
law. wlille 94 per cent inanugt. to
wriggle out of tho clutches of the dis-
trict attorney's office to a greater or
less extent. Of tho flfty-flVe persons
Indicted for murder in*the first degree
since Janutry first only three convic-
tions have been secured out of the 49
cases tried—a showing over which
New York cannot enthuse to any great
extent; especially since in Chicago
during the same period 60 out of tha
lli! persons indicted were found guilty
ns charged—a record fur convictions
of better than 50 per cent. Of course
New York takes a grain of comfort
in tho fact that her indictments were
only half as many as (^hicago't, but
there tho matter stops. The figures
would seem to show that while twice
as many murders are committed in
Chicago as hero, about nine times aa
many convictions are secured In tMfl j
western city.
Fifteen thousand dollars for a new
flower.—that is the record ever which
New York, always after the biggest < r
tho most expensive* in any line, is
proudly palpitating at present. Ac-
cording to report, a local fancier in
the Hue of rorai beauty has Just ac-
quired a brand new carnation at the
trifling cost of $15,000. This price. It
is said, gives New York the record for
such an expenditure. At the tlmo
when the famous Lawson pink became
the property of Thomas W. Lawson, it
was claimed that It cost him $30,000,
but those on the insldo who were ac-
quainted with the deal say that the
price was really not one-third of this
amount. Previous to New York's re-
cord breaking purchases, the highest
price ever paid for a carnation was
probably tho $10,000 given up by a
Chicago firm for the now famous Fi-
ancee variety. Despite the big price
paid for it, however, the Fiancee was
almost a complete failure, as was the
McKlnley which created a* furore a
few years ago. While little is yet
known concerning the new $15,000
Wlona, It Is believed that Its value
will be found in Its size rather than
In its color, since previous nttempts
to create popularity through the latter
have not been particularly successful.
Tho principal effort of rarnatlon hy-
bridists at present is for Increased
size, and next to tho chrysanthemun
the carnation Is undoubtedly the most
wonderfully developed flower.
Unless present Indications are all
wrong, this city In tho near future
will have the first memorial high speed
road In the United States. The Rapid
Transit Commission Is at present con-
sidering this projoi t and for once the
object of its consideration does not
belle the first part of its title. Rapid
transit such as this country has never
seen will be the result If the road Is
authorized, for the mono rail Is capa-
ble of "a speed of 120 miles an hour,
and for the new project a speed of C5
miles an hour including stops Is pro-
posed, so that Brooktynltea through
whose territory the roa^ runs will be
given something of a surprise. Such
speed of course Is only made possible
by the character of tho roafl construc-
tion. the single rail .which gives power
and acts as guide being elevated some
I distance above the ground, with tho
i cars hung from it The Renter of
j gravity Is thus so placed as to make
1 <Contlmicd oa 1'age If.)
(
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Greer, Frank H. The Oklahoma State Capital. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 212, Ed. 2 Sunday, December 23, 1906, newspaper, December 23, 1906; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc126401/m1/2/: accessed March 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.