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local commissaries along the line,
where employes could make their
purchases and where the hotels,
messes and kitchens secured their
supplies for iher-day.
The construction plant, consisting
of steam shovels, locomotives, cars,
unloaders, spreaders, trackshifters,
pile-drivers, cranes, dredges, steam
boats, tugs and barges, was purchas
ed, for the most part "knocked
down," and the shops for their erec
tion and repair were constructed and
enlarged. Some of the machinery
was built from parts manufactured
in the shops.
The distance from the home mar
ket, with attendant vexatious delays
in securing parts and material and
the necessity for keeping the con
struction plant in the most officient
condition for economical operation,
made it imperative that the shops be
equipped to meet every possible con
tingency. The capacity of the Panama Rail
road was increased by double track
ing it throughout, except from Cris
tobal to Gatun and from Culebra ito
Paraiso. Yards were enlarged and
connections made to areas available
for dumping grounds.
Laws were framed, and civil gov
ernment was established with its nec
essary adjuncts of courts, police
force, fire companies, customs and
revenue service, postoffices, public
works and treasury.
A purchasing department was or
ganized in tha United States for the
obtainment of supplies of all kinds
and descriptions. Upon arrival on
the Isthmus the supplies were ship
ped to the various sub-divisions Of
the canal work for which they were
purchased or they were placed in
storehouses along the line for issue
when required.
It was only after these various, yet
necessary, adjuncts had been provid
ed and the forces for their operation
were organized that the principal
work in hand, the building of the
canal,, .could be .pushed forward, with
any hope of success, and too much
praise cannot be given to those who
conceived and established them in a
working condition. The Department
of Engineering and Construction w. t
divided into three construction divi- '
sions. , C
The Atlantic Division embraced I
the engineering construction from -deep
water in the Carribean sea to
include the Gatun locks and dam;
the Central Division extended from t
Gatun to Pedro Miguel and the Paci
fic Division from Pedro Miguel to
deep water in the Pacific Ocean. ,
As already noted, the Americans
continued the work in progress by.,
the French in the cut commonly
known as th" -Culebra cut, utilizing r
the French machinery until it -could
be replaced by more modern appli
ances. This was the most formidable
part of the enterprise on account of
the magnitude of the cutting and also
because of the difficulties attending
it due to the excessive rainfall and to
the varying character of the mate
rials encountered. .
The French so planned the exca
vation that after the removal of, the t
peak of the divide and lesser sum
mits they could work a number of
excavators simultaneously at several f
points, so that a succession of
benches or ledges resulted, lying one
above the other, each with the nat- ,
ural surface at the point of begin
ning. By working in the direction of
the length of the cut, the face of .
the bank gave the longest cutting
possible, reducing the number of
times the excavator must be hauled
back, and secured a satisfactory,
drainage arrangement, since the cut
ting was carried up grade on either
side of the summit-
The Americans followed the same
method, the only difference -being in,
the character of machinery used. 1
The greatest difficulty encountered ,.,
in the excavation was due to slides '
and breaks which caused large
masses of material to slide or move-
into tha excavated area, closing off;
