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September, 1909 ft. square and 21 ft. 6 in. deep, from which it is pumped through 1,115 ft. of 10-in. cast iron pipe to a drainage canal leading to Manzanillo Bay. Surface water is carried directly to the sea, to the drainage canals, two or which have been. cut: across the island, admitting tide water to the swamps in the middle of the island. The maximum tidal wave at Colon is about 3 ft-; at Panama about 20 ft Closely following the installation of water pipes and sewers came the pav- ing, the two divisions being in some instances only a few hundred feet apart. The principal streets were paved with vitrified brick on a con- crete or macadam foundation; others were paved with concrete or mac- adam, and substantial concrete curbs and gutters were laid in all. Completion of Sanitation Campaign. With the completion of sewers, water supplies and paving, yellow fever eradicated, malaria under con- trol and no epidemic diseases to deal with, the first great step in Isthmian sanitation was accomplished, and since the later months of 1907 we have tried to maintain the favorable conditions then existing, improving here and there where found practica- ble. Since 1905 the annual death rate of all employes has been reduced from 33.52, per 1,000 to 12.78. per 1,000; negro death rate from 67.81 per 1,000 to 10.65 per 1,000; sick rate from 42 per 1,000 to 25.09 per 1,000; malaria, 400 cases less in September, 1908, than September, -1907. i The lateness of the hour forbids that I should dwell upon the every- day life of Americans on the. Isth- mus. Suffice it to say that out. of what we called the "tin-can period," when we lived out of cans and jars, or at the local cantinas, there slowly developed a cold storage and _ ice plant, a steam laundry, a bakery, com- mission hotels and a well-systematized commissary, which, with the comfort- able quarters, free electric lights, free running water, free coal for cooking and elaborate provision for social bet- terment make life on the Isthmus as comfortable as it is here at home. Wages are some 60 per cent higher and the cost of living somewhat lower than in the States, and it is safe to say that there is no other place in the world where men can live so comfortably and at the same time save so much of their earnings as on the Isthmus of Panama. The employee has always within his reach the means for intellectual, physical, social or spiritual improvement, and no one to dictate which he shall or "Will it ever be finished?" -the cut, THE Marine Review select. My own experience as leader of the band, whose concerts were of necessity given on Sunday afternoons; as chairman of the council of the Y. M. C. A., which rather frowns on Sunday dissipations; as president of the baseball association, which plays all its games on Sundays, and as fam- ily physician to the canal officials, gives you a sample of incongruous conventionalities reconciled by cir- cumstances. There are about 6,000 American employees at work on the canal, whose families aggregate some 2,000 women and children. Every-Day Life on the Isthmus. But time has flown and I have not told you anything about the "ditch." I believe that some of you here have asked me: since my return, "What kind of "a canal is it to: ber' "Are they really making any progress?" "When will the canal be finished?" When I tell you that as great changes have taken place in the average Massa- chusetts town in about 300 years you will understand the confidence of all the men on the work in its early and sucéessful completion. No one on the Isthmus wonders if the canal will ever be finished. On the con- trary, they are wondering down there what their next job will be. The dirt is not "flying," but it is pouring out of the canal prism like a mighty stream. To one standing on the brink of the cut at Culebra, as he watches the sinuous movements of dirt trains winding their way out of it almost seems that the earth has taken life and is crawling away of its own accord. No digging is done by hand; rock is broken by blasting so as to be loaded by steam shovels, and is plowed from the long flat cars or dumped from dump cars in which it is transported. With all our admiration for our own accomplishments in canal dig- ging on the Isthmus we wonder more and more at the work accomp- lished by the French. With their diminutive excavating machinery, tiny locomotives and dump cars, handling a great deal of material by hand, they cut the Gold Hill to a depth of 'some 150 ft. tunneled hills to divert rivers, built a beautiful hos- pital and comfortable quarters for their employees and left many exam- ples of the refinement of technical skill that characterizes all their work. The canal is to be a lock canal, about seven miles at each end 'being at sea level, about four miles at an elevation of 55 ft., and some thirty 335 miles at 85 ft. above sea level. The portion between Gatun and Bas Obis- po will form a great lake through which vessels may steam at full speed in either direction for a distance of 23 miles, and the locks are to be constructed in duplicate, so that passage will be possible in either direction at all times. That I am an enthusiast on Isth- mian life and on the prospects of the canal I admit, and if you will accept my suggestion and take a win- ter trip to Panama, you will come back as enthusiastic as 1, although you will never be able to appreciate the changes that have been wrought there in the last three years, 1 should be pleased to have you come in contact with the source of my en- thusiasm and be convinced, as I am, that the Panama Canal will be fin- ished and in use before 1915, Ss. S. LUCANIA BURNED. On Aug. 14, the Cunard Line steam- ship Lucania was seriously damaged by fire, she having been almost gutted from her funnels forward. In order to check the fire it was found neces- sary to flood the vessel at the dock. She was floated shortly after and will be towed to Glasgow for repairs. Her machinery has not been damaged but many of the hull plates forward are warped by the heat and some of the decks are badly buckled. The first saloon 'skylight was entirely destroyed. The Lucania was built in 1893 in the shipyards of the Fairfield Co. in Glas- gow. She is a twin screw steel vessel, schooner rigged, and equipped with quadruple expansion engines of 3,191 nominal H. P. Her dimensions are 601 ft. length, 65 ft. 2 in. beam, 37% ft. depth of hold, and she is of 12,000 gross tonnage. In October, 1894, the Lucania wrested the westbound Atlan- -- tic record from the Campania, making the passage in 5 days 7 hours 23 min- utes, which was 4 hours 44 minutes better than that of her sister ship. She carried the Cunard line's com- modore's pennant until the advent of the Lusitania. e The brass figureheads on American men-of-war are to be removed. This decision has been reached at the navy department after long consideration. Chief Constructor Capps some time ago made the recommendation to Secretary Meyer, and the secretary has made the order accordingly. The figureheads are usually made of brass and they shine brightly in the sun. This destroys the efficiency of a ship in time of peace maneuvers as a vessel can be much more easily seen. In time of war the ornaments are painted,