Canal Rush Not For War.

New York Times 100 years ago today, May 2, 1913:
Goethals Reports Quick Work — Nothing to Do With Japan.
Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON, May 1.— No significance is attached to the quick work that is being done on the Panama Canal. It has no bearing on the Japanese situation. The report of Col. George W. Goethals, chief engineer, telling of the work in March, has been received here. It shows that rapid progress is being made toward the completion of the waterway. In the hope of having the canal open for traffic in October, Col. Goethals has been pushing it, although the March report does not indicate that the pace he had set previously was maintained in that month.
    Col. Goethals says the work was 90 per cent. completed on the eight spillway gates at Miraflores, 95 per cent. finished at Gatun, 85 per cent. completed at Pedro Miguel, and 35 per cent. done at Miraflores on the rising stern gate valves.
    The quantity of excavation done was 13 per cent. less than in the same month last year. The total of material excavated from Culebra Cut in March this year was 1,183,900 cubic yards — the lowest record in that section for the month of March since 1907. In March of that year 815,270 cubic yards were removed. That was due to slides.
    Work at Culebra last month was increased to the normal rate.