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Show GREAT UNDERTAKING. The building of the Panama canal Involves In-volves an outlay of money and energy that few, even of those who have visited visit-ed the scene of operation, can appreciate. appre-ciate. A visitor to the canal zone dl-scrlbes dl-scrlbes the gigantic and scientific scale on which everything Is done. All told, the government has $10,-25O.000 $10,-25O.000 Invested In bullding3 on the Isthmus, and this Isn't counting tho buildings turned over by the French. Tho work on the buildings is one phase of the Panama canal construction construc-tion that is practically completed. Most of the force of carpenters originally origi-nally engaged on this work have left the isthmus for good. Altogether the government now owns 3,338 buildings on the Isthmus. The French turned over more than 2,000 buildings, and many of these are beiug used. The French buildings were of good material and good work- mansmp and needed onlv to be repaired re-paired and modernized by the addition of sanitary plumbing and screens. Most of these old French buildings had to be located by maps. They were overgrown and hidden by . ten years growth of tropical vegitation. Every now and then, even at this late period, tho canal engineers come upon a French building whose existence wasn't even suspected. It wasn't many months ago that they discovered an entire French village hidden away in the Jungle. . It consisted con-sisted of a set of married men's quarters; quar-ters; twenty-two barracks and mess halls and a machine shop, nearly all of which are now being used. The government buildings on tho isthmus aren't Insured, and to protect them a fire department consisting of forty-nine paid firemen and more than 200 volunteers has been organized. The grounds about many of the older old-er or more important buildings on tho Isthmus already bear evidences of the work of the experimental gardens conducted by the canal commission. The entrance to the Hotel Tlvoli at Ancou. for Instance, Is beautifully laid out with troDical nlants. the Jungle, wading walet deep in the mire of water and cutting his way through tho tanglo of branches. In the middle of the swamp ho found tho water black with larvae. Half a mile nway ho discovered that a culvert had become obstructed bo that the salt water couldn't enter the marsh at high tide and that tho harmless Bait marsh had gradually been converted convert-ed into a fresh bog and a first class breeding place for the mosquitoes. A little sprinkling of oil on the water and the mosquitoes and malaria rate began to dwindle. This Is only one of many Instances constantly recurring in the fight that is being waged by the sanitary department depart-ment of the Isthmus. Up to this time a particularly dangerous mosquito has bluffed the sanitary department into refusing to allow night work on the canal but now efforts are being made to brave even this night work. Dr. Gorgas is experimenting with a gang of men on a night shift and if they get along all right work will be pushed on the concretelng by night gang? under un-der powerful electric lights. Tho labor saving devices employed .Isthmus spent considerable time watching ono of them perform. 1 The rock and dirt are, however, no sooner dumped by the unloader at the side of the track than they are tackled by another machine. This time the spreader, another plow attached to a flat car, comes along and levels the pile. This simple machine, It has i been estimated, with sixteen white j men, twenty-four laborers and firemen fire-men performs a work equivalent to that of a gang of 3,000 ordinary laborers. labor-ers. Tho French at thy height or the operation op-eration took 282,523 cubic yardts out of Culebra cut with a force of from 16.-000 16.-000 to 18,000 laborers, not Including foremen and superintendents. The Americans are now taking more than 1,340.000 cubic yards out of that cut every month. In one month that has been used in comparing the American- with the French cfllclency the Americans took 815,270 cubic yards out of the cut with only 7,000 men. Including foremen. It has been estimated, In other words. I that each American at work in the cut removed 11C cubic yards, as compared with 32 cubic yards by each Frenchman. French-man. If you really want to feel proud that you are an American take a trip to the isthmus. If you are fortunate enough I after your visit to find a United States cruiser lying off Colon waiting for a president-elect, with her rails manned and the band playing "America," you will get a thrill right down to your boot tops. In these experimental gardens It has been shown that the Nlcaraguan strawberries may be cultivated on the isthmus with good results; that asparagus, as-paragus, California navel and Florida oranges, figs, Java and Malay plums, Muscatine grapes, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, beans, spinach and tomatoes may bo grown successfully. In fact, the experiments in these gardens havo gone far enough to attract the attention atten-tion of men with brains who are beginning be-ginning to consider the possibility of money making in the years to come by selling supplies to the great vessels ves-sels that will pass in and out of the canal. The work of the sanitary department depart-ment on the Isthmus is an old story, but Just as an example of the organization organi-zation of the department and what It is doing read this: Several months aro the malaria ratn on the canal were a surprise even to some of the engineers who accompanied accompan-ied Mr. Tatt on his tour of inspection. The big steam shovels .seem almost to be things of life black monsters nosing around In the cuts, swallowing whole wagonloads of dirt and rock at a single gulp. Regularly every eeenteen or eighteen eigh-teen seconds that big black snout dips down Into the bed of earth and rock, the monster groans once or twice with his chains, puffs sharply over the exertion, exer-tion, swings his Immense head out over a flat car then spits out the load as if It had suddenly become distasteful distaste-ful to him. The largest of these shovels takes five cubic yards at each dip, enough earth and rock to fill a two horse wagon twice over. In the months of December these monsters took out of Culebra cut alone 1,334,640 cubic yards or about a cartload every ten seconds of the working day. Since the Americans Ameri-cans began work on the Isthmus these steam shovels have ripped out something like 3S, 927, 664 cubic at Corozal took a sudden jump. This alone was enough to convince the sanitary san-itary inspectors that tho malaria moa quitoes had found a new breeding place. The chief inspector called for help, and several men were sent to ' assi9t him on what was really a mosquito mos-quito hunt. The Inspectors worked for some time without success, covering every foot of the district where the mosquitoes mos-quitoes might breed. Finally one of the Inspectors started start-ed a house to house hunt for adult anopheles, and from the building where he had the best luck he struck out early in the morning when the grass was wet and the skeetcrs were fiylug low. From the building the inspector ac-utally ac-utally followed tho mosquito trail, always al-ways turning to tho point where he found the greatest number. The trail led him on a zigzag course finally to a salt marsh 280 yards from tho building. build-ing. Now, mosquitoes won't breed In a salt marsh, but tbe Inspector, truo to the "scent." followed right on Into yards. The total excavations made by the Americans amounts to about 62,-751.924 62,-751.924 cubic yards. Figures compiled by one of tho engineers en-gineers in Culebra cut give some idea of the saviug In labor represented by one of these big steam shovels. It was estimated that each shoyel In the cut represented the work of 124 men and that the forty-four shovels represented repre-sented the work of 5,456 laborers, as compared with only about 400 men actually employed in connection with the machines It is estimated further that tho steam shovels require only about one third as much drilling and the use or only about cme-third as much dynamite dyna-mite as would be required for hand laborers. Some Idea of what this means may be got when it is known that in January alone the drilling on the canal amounted altogether to something like 79 miles, and that in the present fiscal year alone 11.2S3.000 pounds of dynamite Is to be delivered on the Isthmus. Next to the steam shovel the track shifter Is the most awe inspiring "creature" "crea-ture" on the isthmus. He Is a conglomeration con-glomeration of cranes. He picks up a length of track, ties and all. with one crane as a terrier would a rat, then with another crane be gives it a Blde-wiso Blde-wiso pull that bends the steel rails like two pieces of licorice. When he drops the track It has been shitted about 9 feet. One of these track shVters can move 5.400 linear feet, or 120 feet moro than a mile, in eight hours. With hand labor it would require a lorce of 500 or 600 men. The work Is done with a force of throe white men and six laborers. Then there is the unloader. a big plow that Is pulled by cable along a train of seventeen or more loaded Hat cars. This machine has a record on the Isthmus of unloading 16 traln3 in eight hours. Mr. Taft and the engineers en-gineers who accompanied him to the t |