STATEMENT OF MR. CHARLES BERTONCINI.


 The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, this is Mr. Bertoncini, who has been a draftsman in the employ of the old French company, the New Panama Canal Company, and by the United States since the work was taken over. He is familiar with the records and plans in the canal office at Panama. He has some data you have not seen before, that I have asked him to bring here. Mr. Bertoncini, will you show us the profile of the geological section of the canal we saw yesterday in the canal office? This section is 40 to 50 feet long and it shows the character of the material as developed by borings before the year 1883 for a sea-level canal. The borings were taken at short intervals along the line?
 Mr. BERTONCIN1. According to the importance of the place. In some places very close together and in some more distant.
 The CHAIRMAN. Did they bore to the bottom of the sea-level canal?
 Mr. BERTONCIN1. Yes, sir; in nearly every case.
 The CHAIRMAN. Do you remember the name of the engineer who had this work done?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. It was made by not only one but several. There were several parties. All data were centralized in the office.
 The CHAIRMAIN. Who was at the head of that office?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. M. Roux and M. Cannelle were the two principal ones; there were several others.
 The CHAIRMAN. You have the original of this in the office?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Yes, sir.
 The CHAIRMAN. We can take this with us?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Yes, Sir.
 The CHAIRMAN. This is a longitudinal section throughout the whole canal line as derived from borings made before 1883?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Yes, sir.
 The CHAIRMAN. This was translated and copied during the last year?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Yes, sir.
 The CHAIRMAN. The notes in French translated into English and copied this year?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Yes, sir.
 The CHAIRMAN. What method was used in boring?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Some were made by diamond drills and some in a different manner. You have seen the cores we have in the office showing samples of the material taken from these borings.
 The CHAIRMAN. Did you use a pipe with a jet of water?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. In some cases; yes, sir.
 The CHAIRMAN. Were there any test pits?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Some pits were made, but very few; they were made in 1886, 1889, and 1892, and later in 1896 also.
 The CHAIRMAN. Did any of these pits at Culebra go to the bottom of the proposed canal?
 Mr. BERTONCIN1. The pits in the low ground did, but not in the central part of the cut.
 The CHAIRMAN. Is the route of this profile substantially the same as the route of the present canal?
 Mr. BERTONCINI. Yes, sir; we have always used the same axis for the sea-level canal; the one that was traced at this time.
 Mr. STEARNs. These later borings are with the diamond drill?
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