REPORT BOARD DIRECTORS PANAMA RAILROAD COMPANY. 17

affected and was lined with concrete during September, October, and —
November. Work was discontinued in the earth section until the
beginning of the dry season, January 1, when the tunnel was again
opened up on the original center line and grade, and was completed
ain April, 1909.

BRIDGES AND CULVERTS.

On the completed line there will be two steel bridges carried on
reenforced concrete piers and abutments. One of them, spanning the
-Chagres River where it enters Gatun Lake at Gamboa, was built
during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908. The other will be a
Bascule bridge at the Gatun River. All of the other rivers and
streams will be carried by culverts below sub-grade, so there will be
a continuous ballasted roadbed. ‘Three types of concrete culverts are
used: Reenforced concrete arches, reenforced boxes, and vitrified pipe
culverts. Gravel concrete has been used almost exclusively during
the fiscal year. 3 |

LABOR.

Three systems of labor have been used:

1. Construction by the railroad company’s own labor forces.
2. An outright contract at a fixed price per cubic yard.
38. What is known as task work.

The outright contract is of the usual form, except that the railroad
company furnishes tools, Decauville cars and track, and the con-
tractor supplies labor and supervision only. ‘The inaccessibility of
the work makes it impracticable to do contracting on a large scale.

Task work has developed unsuspected working ability in the West
Indian laborer. He is paid for each Decauville carload of material
(about one-third cubic yard) moved. Engineers of the company give
stakes and direct the work. The railroad company furnishes Decau-
ville cars and rails and picks and shovels. No classification of mate-
rial is made, as the company does all of the blasting necessary to get
rock into small pieces to be handled by one or two men. A number
of negroes cooperate, some doing digging and loading and some
dumping and spreading. They work hard and steadily until their
“task” isdone. The company requires that at least 15 cars be loaded
by each man for his day’s work. The work is thus advanced more —
rapidly than if the men were allowed to determine the length of their
own task, and the equipment furnished by the company is kept ©
more constantly in use. —

MATERIAL STORES DEPARTMENT.

The consolidation of the storekeeper’s material at one convenient
point has brought about its economies and resulted in reducing the
pay roll expense for the year $9,685.54, or 15.23 per cent. :

During the year we have changed our method of distributing sup-
plies by sending over the line once each month several special apply
cars, which not only increase the efficiency of the department, but also
allow it to gather. up monthly the surplus supplies which may have
accumulated at various points. es

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