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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1910)
LA GRANDE, UNION COUNTY, OREGON. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1910. PAGE 3. iio piiio USUI THE SEWAGE COSSTKLtTIOS TO COMMENCE SEXT MONDAY MORMNG. ripe to Amount of Seventy Carloads Will Be Bnshed Here. Many are not aware that a-modern sewerage system 13 about to be real ized in this city. Contractor Davis of Tacoma, whose bid was accepted re cently by, the counsel, arrived last evening and comemncing Monday, will start on construction of the sewer sys tem In this city and also the erection of the disposal plant north of the rail road track and east of the flouring mill. " Seventy carloads of pipe will be rushed to this city, and the contract for hauling it has been let to Joe Jones. The sewer system already built un der the paved streets will connect and run trt th dAnrwol nlnnt n tha construction of the main pipe lines will comemnce at the plant Itself, and work toward the city. riant a Modern One. Plans for the disposal tank were drawn by Engineer Darley last win ter. It Is a modern disposal system, and will purify . the sewage perfectly and leave the water fit for Irrigation purposes. A huge air tight tank 70x80 feet will receive the sewage which is in variably 99 per cent water, and the balance solids, principally nltrgogen eous matter. ' At the entrance to the tank there Is a baffle wall which main makes the flow airtight and throws the waterto the bottom and the sol Mw femaln on thn purfaee. At the other end of the tank there is another baffle wall, which repeats the process, uuu vue naicr tuiuco uui m a niiiaii rectangular tank, and Is acted upon by the air and sun. In the air-tight tank the bacteria thrives on the nitrogen, and the bacteria consequently are instantly killed, when they come In contact with oxygen. As the water pours out from the secondary baffle wall, the solids are left on the sur face of the water in the airtight tank, and the bacteria are Instantly killed by the action of the air. From the 6uter tank, the water can be piped away for any use whatever as it is purified. The sediment which remains in the ah tight tank, gradually settles to the bottom, where Incline floors crowd It on to a series of pumping station pipes, and once a year or so, the sedl ment is pumped out, dried and hauled away. This sediment will be princi pally dirt, for the bacteria In the tank consume practically all the colhls in the water, except the pure dirt. This will precipitate and be pumped out. Notice. Local residence subscribers of The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, will please note that from this date, all bills are-to !? paid at the office of the company opposite the postofflce. Hills ' will be collected from the business houses, as usual. . C. II. CLARK, Commercial Manager. (Continued from Page One.) s pon s I bl 1 i t ies, a n (Ft he success of'their efforts to meet them. Now, there Is no use of a nation claiming to be a great naiVn unless it Is prepared to play a great part. A nation such as ours cannot possibly play a great part In -International af fairs, cannot expect to be treated as a weight Ineither the Atlantic or the Pacific, or to have its voice as to the Monroe But. line, or the nianage meat of the Panama Canal, Indeed, un less It has a strong and thoroughly efficient navy. Within the lust decade hu American navy has been about trebled in slreliglu, and much more than trebled In efficiency, due to its ex; raordinary progress In marksman ship and maneuvering. So far from this nt strength represent ing on . our part either a menace oi aggression to weaker nations or a menace of war to stronger nations. H has told most powerfully for peace. Everywhere In Europe the cruise of the battle fleet around the world was accepted, not only as an extraordinary feat, reflecting the highest honor upon our navy,' but aa soon as the move ments which tended markedly to pro mote peaceful stability In international .relations. No nation regarded the cruise aa fraught with any menace of hositlity to itself; and yet every na tion accepted it as a proof that we were not only desirous, ourselves to keep the peace, but able to prevent the peace, being broken at our expense. No cruise in any way approaching It has ' ever been made by any fleet of any other Power; and the best naval opin ion abroad had been that no such feat was possible, that is, that no such cruise as that we actually made could be undertaken by a fleet of such size without innumerable breakdowns and accidents. The success of the cruise, performed as it was without a single accident, immeasuably raised the prestige, not only of our fleet, but c our nation; and was a distinct help to the cause of International peace. As regards the Panama Canal, I really think that outside nations have a Juster Idea than our own people of the magnitude and euccess of the work. I wish our people realized what is being done on the Isthmus. If a man of Intelligence who had never left this country asked, me whether I would advise him to maken short trip to Eu rope, or a trip to the Panama Canal, I would, without hesitation, advise him to go to the Panama Canal. He would of one of the great feats of modern times. Colonel Goethals and the men working under him are rendering a service to this country which can on ly be paralleled In our n,ast history by some of the services rendered in cer-' tain years. Six years ago last spring the Amer ican government took possession of the Isthmus. The first two years were devoted to the sanitation of the Isth mus, to assembling the plant and working force, and providing quarters food and .water supplies.. In all these Ijuiuis iu success was exirauruiuurj . From one of the plague-pots of the to Plant globe, one of the most unhealthy reg-' Ions In the entire world, the lainiuus has been turned Into a singularly healthy place of abode, where the deathrate is small, and where bund reds of children are now being raised under as favorable conditions as in most parts of the United States. The quarters, food, and water supply are excellent, and the plant the best ever gathered for such a purpose. Active excavation on a large scale did not begin until January 1907. Three years ana a half have gone by since then, j anj three-fifths of the total excavation has already been accomplished. The , amount taken out has passed anything ' which previous experience warranted j us in believing to be possible. In 190S ! and 1909 the monthly average of rock i and earth removed was three million ; cubic yards, notwithstanding the fact that nine months of each year const I-j tuted a season of very heavy rainfall. : There remains to be excavated only' about sixty million cubic yards. If we ' could keep up the past average of ex cavation, this should be done In twen ty months: but it Is Impossible to maintain such a ration as the depth i Increases; for the output necessarily diminishes as the field of operation narrows; Still, It Is certain that such a rate can be maintained as will en able the workers to finish the exca vation considerably in advance of tn? date fixed for opening the Canal, Jan pary 1, 1915. Indeed, I shall be sur prised if the Canal cannot be opened six months or even a year In advance ui lue time bet.- The work has two great features: The Culbra Cut, which I have been considering, ' and the great dam at Gatun. The latter is to imprison the w aters of the Btreama into a Chagres and other lake with an area of 164 square miles. This work Is ad vancing steadily, and just as suc cessfully as the work on the Culebra, Cut. The water which is ultimately to to fill the lock is now flowing through the concrete spillway in the center of the dam, the Chagres having been di- verted from Its bed alpnadced789 verted from its bed and placed under complete control. The construction of Tr Tl Tim iespect DsTI Satarday O Uj cf fo) fo) 79 (c r . " 1 1 11 1 - " '. 1 1 -"- -Sn :Vt . the dam has advanced sufficiently to convince the engineers in charge of the work of its absolute stability and imperviousness. The concrete work on the lock is advancing so rapidly that the- first double-set at Gatun will be completed this coming November, and the engineer in charge has announced tnat all the concrete In' all the locks will be in place two years hence. The date of final completion and formal orenlng of the Canal to the commerce of the world will be determined by the time consumed in placing the great Veel gates, emergency dams, and all appliances for operating the docks. But those In charge of the work an nounce without hesitation that every thing will be finished well in advance of January 1, 1915. This is a stupendous record of achievement. As a people we are rath- er fond of criticising ourselves, and . sometimes with very great Justice; but even the most pessimistic crltltc 1 KCISTfltft. om New 7 to 9 o'clock w Lay mi The Hat Question? STRAWS make you look a bit chilly now days. You can't brush that old one up to have that smart effect our new arrivals will give you. Ju3t step inside and we'll help you to choose something becoming. 0 ..- Most any color or shape tnat your looking for. Better do it now. Every Day a THE should sometimes tfilnk of what Is to our credit Among our assets of the past ten years will be placed the ex traordinary ability, Integrity, and suc cess with which we have handled all the problems inherited as the result handled ourselves In the Philippines, In Cuba, in Porto Rico,' in San Domin go, and in ranauia. Tne cruise 01 tue battle Heet around twheolr7890$$ battle fleet around the. world was a striking proof that we had made good with the navy; and what we have done at Panama represents the ac complishment of one of the great feats of the ages. It is a feat which , re flects the highest honor upon our country, and our gratitude is due to every man who has taken an honor able part in any capacity in bringing about its performance. We now have a further duty to per form In connection with It, and that Is to fortify It. We are m nonor Douna ; to fortify It ourselves, ana oniy oy so HH evening trom dry Bargain Day at FAIR doing can we effectively guarantee Its neutrality, and, moreover, effectively guarantee that it shall not be used against us. The chief material advan tages which we shall gain by its con struction is the way In hwich It will, for defensive purposes, double the power of the United States navy. To tciuoe tu iwtuijr it, auu auove ail, to consider for a moment such an act of utter weakness and folly as to in vite other nations to step in and guarantee the neutrality of this purely American work (and thereby really to make It certain, that in the event of war we should find the Canal used against us, as our fleets would be for bidden to pass through it, or else our opponents' fleets permitted to), would be to incur, and quite rightfully, the contempt of the world; it would be a wicked blow to our prestige on the Pacific; and, moreover, it would be in its essence -treason to the des tiny of the Republic. ' ' ' 3 I