PREFACE. In the following pages I have endeavored to relate the story of the Panama Canal from the earliest explorations to the present time with as much avoidance as possible of technics and in a manner that shall be comprehensible to the general reader. A certain degree of familiarity with the scene of the operations on the Isthmus and a somewhat close study of the subject may have enabled me to achieve my purpose. The book has been withheld from the press for sev eral months pending the decision as to the type of waterway to be adopted. The 85-foot level plan, upon which the Canal will be constructed, is described in detail and illustrated by maps. For the purpose of comparison a description of the counter project has been included. Since the manuscript was placed in the hands of the publishers a number of magazines have published articles treating of the Canal from the pens of other men who made special investigations on the spot. There is a close correspondence between my statements and those of the most reliable of the magazine writers. As I have depended chiefly upon official sources for my facts regarding the work and conditions on the Isthmus during the past two years it is evident that the information offered freely to the public by the Canal Commission since the inception of the undertaking has been of an entirely trustworthy character, and there is every reason to believe that it will be so in the future. C. H. F-L. AMADOR GUERRERO, PRESIDENT OF PANAMA THE CHAGRES RIVER AND LABOR CAMP RESIDENCES OF FRENCH DIRECTORS, CRISTOBAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMISSION, PANAMA LABORERS' QUARTERS ALONG CANAL LINE HOTEL FOR EMPLOYEES BUILDINGS OF THE ANCON HOSPITAL FUMIGATING BRIGADE IN PANAMA |
