is the uniformity of strength, after all, that is the great desideratum. So it is with Portland cement. We have got to have the uniformity. I merely make the suggestion, begging the pardon of the committee for delaying the committee about it, because the matter is one that I have thought over a good deal, and made several reports to the Senate about, and I think that you will find that this very point that I mention now is one that will require the most careful consideration and legislation on the part of this Government. Senator DRYDEN. It is on the ground that the entire structure can not be any stronger than its weakest point? Senator MORGAN. Yes. Senator HOPKINS. I think there is much force in that. Senator KITTREDGE. Have you any specifications, Mr. Ross, that have been prepared? Mr. Ross. For cement? Senator KITTREDGE. For cement. Mr. Ross. Yes, sir; I have here a copy of our specifications. Mr. Ross. Yes, sir. Senator KITTREDGE. Have you specifications prepared upon which the purchase of locomotives has been made? Mr. Ross. Yes, sir. Senator KITTREDGE. Have you them here? Mr. Ross. Yes, sir. Senator KITTREDGE. Will you leave them here? Mr. Ross. Yes, sir. Senator KITTREDGE. And also in regard to steam shovels? Senator KITTREDGE. Who made the specifications for the last order of locomotives? Mr. Ross. They were prepared by or under the direction of Mr. Stevens. Senator KITTREDGE. I Would like to look at them. Mr. Ross. Here they are [handing papers to Senator Kittredge]. Senator ANKENY. Coming back to this steel-rail question, you spoke of the difficulty of getting them when you wanted them. Is the weight, quality, etc., of the steel rails uniform? Do you buy steel rails of one weight? Mr. Ross. Yes. Senator ANKENY. Of what weight. Mr. Ross. Seventy pounds to the yard. We had no difficulty in getting rail when we wanted it, on this last order. We got very prompt shipment on it. Senator ANKENY. It was before that you had the trouble? Senator TALIAFERRO. What did you pay? Mr. Ross. $26.45, delivered alongside the vessel at Baltimore. Senator TALIAFERRO. What was the market price? What was the quotation? Mr. Ross. The price generally charged the railroads is $28 at the mill. These came from the Carnegie mill, and they had to pay the freight on them to Baltimore. This purchase was on an export basis. We purchased them through the United States Steel Products Export Company. Senator MORGAN. They sold them on the basis of what they could get for them in the London or Liverpool market? Mr. Ross. They put their price down, I presume, for the reason they figured that they might have foreign competition. Senator TALIAFERRO. You got these rails at $26.45? Mr. Ross. Yes; delivered alongside the vessel at Baltimore. Mr. Ross. As against $28, which is the usual charge to the railroads here this year. Senator TALIAFERRO. At the mill? Mr. Ross. Yes, sir. Senator TALIAFERRO. Which shows, Mr. Ross, that these people sell these rails abroad how much cheaper than they sell them here? Mr. Ross. Well, it is hard to tell. Senator TALIAFERRO. You might figure that out and let us know to-morrow, when you come to take up the subject again. Mr. Ross. It depends on the place of delivery, of course; but that shows that in this case they delivered the rails to us alongside the vessel at Baltimore at $1.55 a ton less than they usually charge at the mill. Senator TALIAFERRO. That is, they delivered it to you in Baltimore for foreign use? Mr. Ross. Yes, sir. Senator TALIAFERRO. At $1.55 less than they charge for American use at the mill? Mr. Ross. Yes, sir. Senator TALIAFERRO. I will take up this question with you to morrow. (The committee thereupon, at 12 o'clock m., adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, February 21, 1906, at 10.30 o'clock a. m.) (The following are the Isthmian Canal Commission's specifications for the Portland cement, steam shovels, and locomotives, requested by Senator Kittredge in the foregoing proceedings:) ISTHMIAN CANAL COMMISSION. Specifications for Portland cement. 1. The cement shall be Portland, dry and free from lumps. By a Portland cement is meant the product obtained from the heating or calcining up to incipient fusion of intimate mixtures, either natural or artificial, of argillaceous with calcareous substances, the calcined product to contain at least 1.7 times as much of lime, by weight, as of the materials which give the lime its hydraulic properties, and to be finely pulverized after said calcination, and thereafter additions or substitutions for the purpose only of regulating certain properties of technical importance to be allowable to not exceeding 2 per cent of the calcined product. 2. The cement shall be put up in strong, sound barrels, well lined with damp-proof paper, so as to be thoroughly protected against moisture. Each package shall be plainly labeled with name of the brand and of the manufacturer. Any package broken or containing damaged cement may be rejected or accepted as a fractional package. 3. Bidders shall state the brand of cement which they propose to furnish. The right is reserved to reject a tender for any brand which has not established itself as a high-grade Portland cement and has not for three years or more given satisfaction in use under climatic or other conditions of exposure of at least equal severity. 4. The average weight per barrel shall not be less than 375 pounds net. If the weight, as determined by test weighings, is found to be below 375 pounds per barrel, the cement may be rejected; or, at the option of the chief engineer, the contractor may be required to supply, free of cost to the United States, an additional amount of cement equal to the shortage. 5. Tests may be made of the fineness, specific gravity, soundness, chemical properties, time of setting, and tensile strength of the cement. FINENESS. 6. Ninety-two per cent of the cement must pass through a sieve made of No. 40 wire, Stubb's gauge, having 10,000 openings per square inch. SPECIFIC GRAVITY. 7. The specific gravity of the cement, as determined from a sample which has been carefully dried, shall be between 3.10 and 3.25. SOUNDNESS. 8. To test the soundness of the cement, at least two pats of neat cement, as taken from the package, mixed for five minutes with about 20 per cent of water by weight, shall be made on glass, each pat about 3 inches in diameter and one-half inch thick at the center, tapering thence to a thin edge. The pats are to be kept under a wet cloth until finally set, when one is to be placed in fresh water for twenty-eight days. The second pat will be placed in water which will be raised to the boiling point for six hours, then allowed to cool. Neither should show distortion or cracks. The boiling test may or may not reject at the option of the engineer officer in charge. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES. 9. Not more than three per cent, by weight, of magnesia, one and three-tenths per cent of sulphuric anhydride, or two per cent of sulphate of lime will be allowed. TIME OF SETTING. 10. The cement shall not acquire its initial set in less than fortyfive minutes, and must have acquired its final set in ten hours. The pats made to test the soundness may be used in determining the time of setting. The cement is considered to have acquired its initial set when the pat will bear, without being appreciably indented, a wire one-twelfth inch in diameter, loaded to weigh one-fourth pound. The final set has been acquired when the pat will bear, without being appreciably indented, a wire one twenty-fourth inch in diameter, loaded to weigh one pound. TENSILE STRENGTH. 11. Briquettes made of neat cement, after being kept in air for twenty-four hours, under a wet cloth, and the balance of the time in water, shall develop tensile strength per square inch, as follows: After seven days, 450 pounds. After twenty-eight days, 540 pounds. Briquettes made of 1 part cement and 3 parts standard sand, by weight, shall develop tensile strength per square inch as follows: After seven days, 140 pounds. After twenty-eight days, 220 pounds. In case quick-setting cement is desired, the following tensile strengths shall be substituted for the above: NEAT BRIQUETTES. After seven days, 400 pounds. After twenty-eight days, 480 pounds. Briquettes of 1 part cement to 3 parts standard sand: After twenty-eight days, 180 pounds. 12. The highest result from each set of briquettes made at any one time is to be considered the governing test. Any cement not showing an increase of strength in the twenty-day tests over the seven-day tests will be rejected. 13. When making briquettes, well-dried cement and sand will be used, neat cement will be mixed with 20 per cent of water by weight, and sand and cement with 12 per cent of water by weight. After being thoroughly mixed and worked for five minutes the cement or mortar will be placed in the briquette mold in four equal layers, and each layer rammed and compressed by thirty blows of a soft brass or copper rammer three-quarters of an inch in diameter (or seven-tenths of an inch square, with rounded corners), weighing 1 pound. It is to be allowed to drop on the mixture from a height of about half an inch. When the ramming has been completed the surplus cement shall be struck off and the fine layer smoothed with a trowel held almost horizontal and drawn back with sufficient pressure to make its edge follow the surface of the mold. 14. The above are to be considered the minimum requirements. Bidders will be prepared to place at the disposal of the Commission a sample barrel of the cement which they propose to furnish under their bids if called upon to do so. If this sample shows higher tests than those given above the average of tests made on subsequent shipments must come to those found with the sample. 15. A cement may be rejected in case it fails to meet any of the above requirements. An agent of the contractor may be present at the making of the tests, or, in case of a failure of any of them, they may be repeated in his presence. All tests shall be made on samples taken by the Commission from cement actually delivered to it or its agent. The foregoing specifications are general, but the right is reserved to call for quicker setting cement, in which case it shall not acquire its initial set in less than 20 or more than 30 minutes, and must have acquired its final set in not less than 45 minutes or more than 24 hours. The right is also reserved to call for cement adapted to salt water, in which case it shall not have more than 2 per cent, by weight, of magnesia, about per cent of sulphuric anhydride, or 1 per cent of sulphate of lime. There shall not be more than 25 per cent of the quicker setting cement or of the salt-water cement called for. In all cement special care shall be taken with the packing, to meet tropical conditions. General specifications for 70-ton steam shovels. 1. As each manufacturer of steam shovels has some specialty, these specifications are made general, to avoid limiting competition to shovels of any one make. 2. The weight of shovel should approximate very closely 70 tons, and must not be less than 65 tons or more than 75 tons in weight. 3. The capacity of dipper not to be less than 3 cubic yards. 4. Height from point of boom not less than 26 feet nor more than 30 feet. 5. Height of "A" frame not less than 17 feet or more than 20 feet, and should be arranged to lower to 16 feet. 6. Clear height of lift above rail between 15 and 20 feet, and reach below top of rail at least 8 feet. 7. Minimum width of cut at 8-foot elevation, 40 feet. 8. This shovel must be first-class in every particular, and fully up to standard specifications of similar shovels furnished by the bidder to previous purchasers. 9. No bids will be considered for any type of shovel which has not actually had service tests in stiff clavs and heavy blasted rock work. 10. All bids must be accompanied by detailed drawings and manufacturers' standard specifications; also by a list of shovels of the same character furnished to other parties, together with a certified record of the work actually performed by them where the shovels have been used in materials specified above, signed and certified to by the purchaser or user of the shovel. 11. These shovels should have a loading capacity of from 2,000 to 3,000 cubic yards per day of ten hours in stiff clays and heavy blastedrock work. 12. All bidders will be required to accept the responsibility for the shipment of the shovels to Culebra, Canal Zone; set them up, and furnish the necessary men to operate them successfully for two continuous weeks, during which time the shovels will be required to excavate and load 2,000 cubic yards, solid measurement, per day of ten hours for six consecutive days. These shovels will not be accepted or paid for by the Commission until this service test has been made to the satisfaction of the chief engineer. 13. The price offered shall cover delivery, c. i. f. on dock at Colon (Atlantic port) or La Boca (Pacific port), Canal Zone. The Commission will bear the cost of transportation from Colon or La Boca to Culebra. Such action shall not be construed or held to be a delivery or acceptance by the Commission at Colon or La Boca, but said act shall be considered as being done and performed for and on behalf of the steam shovel company. 14. All shovels will be subject to inspection as to quality of material and workmanship by duly authorized agent of the Commission at the |