REPORT OF BOARD OF CONSULTING ENGINEERS, PANAMA CANAL.


 Mr. STEVENS. As far as my experience and observation goes, the shovel-steam shovel.
 The CHAIRMAN. From your experience in the United States and your experience on the Isthmus, what is the comparative measure of efficiency of a steam shovel there and at the Culebra throughout the year?
 Mr. STEVENS. My experience on the Isthmus is not enough to justify me in giving an opinion, General. If you will allow me to explain I will tell you why. I came here practically on thirty-six hours' notice, and on my arrival I found a state of chaos. I have been trying to get an organization that was sufficient to tide over until the type of canal was decided upon. It required a vast amount of work to get the men quartered. I have taken very little time, practically none, for studying the type of canal or the problems involved, first, because I have not had time it was beyond human power to do it--and second, because I considered that the type would be settled for me, and when that was done I would take up the study of that particular type. I know that it is a very weak thing to say that a man is overworked, but I have had five hours' sleep in the last sixty. I have been kept constantly moving, and as as a matter of fact, there is not one of the salient points that is under discussion here to-day to which I have given a careful examination-not even the Gatun dam site or the Bohio dam site. I merely mention this, for there is a limit to everything.
 The CHAIRMAN. Would you like to postpone this hearing until this afternoon?
 Mr. STEVENS. No; I want to go ahead.
 The CHAIRMAN. We observe that you are preparing dump tracks that have a considerable extension, and this certainly looks to the disposal of spoil. It looks to the transportation of the material taken from the summit cuts and carried to some distance. Now I will ask this question I will try to make it as broad as possible and hope that you can enlighten us somewhat: Assuming that you have the whole Isthmus of Panama for a dump and the Caribbean Sea and the Panama Bay for a dump, without limit or restriction,. except that no material is to be placed so that it can get back into the canal-suppose everything else is at your command, and suppose you have entire free scope as to the accumulation of plant and its installation for taking out 100,000,000 cubic yards from the Culebra divide-this in connection with perhaps an equal amount of excavation from the remainder of the canal, and supposing that your plant is such as you wish in the number of units and their distribution, can you tell us something about when you could get ready for a maximum output, and how much we could rely upon per annum, or how much you think it safe to presume you might accomplish per annum-for this matter of time of construetion as laid down in the instructions of the President is very important indeed?
 Mr. STEVENS. There are quite a number of things that have got to be determined before any definite answer can be given. First, the proposition has not been worked out in detail. I found after I came here that there had been no systematic examination, no surveys showing the heights of dumps, which is a very important consideration in the disposal of the material in this cut. I made a thorough examination of what I call the long-distance dumps, between Bas Obispo and Bohio. It would seem that wherever they found a place to put some material they established a dump ground. Now, the area that is available, that probably would be practicable, is small. IEdo not really believe that when you figure the transportation, and figure the difference in the dumps properly laid out in long straight tracks (and no dump ground Should be laid out that had not three long straight tracks on it), I do not believe that as far as capacity is concerned that there will ever be over three or four million yards disposed of on one of the sitesI mean alongside of the canal, close to it-for the reason that the dumps are small. They are not well located; they are badly located in regard to their shape and general conditions. That means that the bulk of the material has got to be hauled long distances.
 Regarding time--that is a hard question. Theoretically we can say that one unit, under first-class supervision, can do so much; we do not know whether it can do it or not. Theoretically, this mass in the Culebra shown by our soundings and all the data we have, we ought to move offhand, say, 1,000 yards a day per shovel. But it is a totally unknown quantity and it has got to be experimented with before we can tell. All I can say is that we hope to do it. Now, as to the number of units we can use-that is unknown. The cut is not in good shape. It will take a long time to shape it up. The fact is, if the new French company had left two


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