Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1906-12-18


material being so good that there Is a !
practical certainty not merely as to |
what can be achieved, but as to the |
time OF achievement. The Gatun dam |
offers the most serious problem which |
we have to solve; and yet the ablest !
men on the Isthmus believe that this
problem is certain of solution along the |
lines proposed; although, of course, IL
necessitates great toll, energy and in |
telligence, and although equally, OF
course, there will be some little risk In |
connection with the work. The risk
arises from the fact that some of the
material near the bottom is not so good
as could be desired. If the huge earth
dam now contemplated is thrown
across from one foothill to the other
we Will have what Is practically low,
broad mountain ridge behind which will
rise the inland lake This artificial
mountain will probably show less seep-
age, that is. will have greater restrain
ing capacity, than the average natural
mountain range. The exact locality of
the locks at this dam-as at the other
dams-is now being determined. In
April next Secretary Taft, with three
of the ablest engineers of the country
Messrs Noble, Stearns and Ripley
will visit the Isthmus, and the three
engineers will make the final and con-
elusive examinations as to the exact
site for each lock.
Meanwhile the work is going ahead
without a break.
The Culebra cut does not offer such
great risks: that is, the damage liable
to occur from occasional land slips
will not represent what may be called
major disasters. The work will merely
call for intelligence, perseverance ana
executive capacity. It is, however, the
work upon which most labor will have
to be spent. The dams will be com
posed of the earth taken out of the cut
and very possibly the building of the
locks and dams will take even longer
than the cutting in Culebra itself
The main work Is now being done in
the Culebra cut. 1t was striking and
impressive to see the huge steam SHOW
els in full play, the dumping trains
carrying away the rock and earth they
dislodged.
In cuebra Cut
The implements of French excavat-
ing machinery, which often stand
little way from the line of work. though
of excellent construction, look like the
veriest toys when compared with these
new steam shovels, just as the French
dumping cars seem like toy cars when
compared with the long trains of huge
cars, dumped by steam plows, which
are now in use. This represents the
enormous advance that has been made
in machinery during the past quarter
of a century. No doubt q quarter of
a century hence this new machinery, of
which we are now so proud, will SINH
larly seem out of date. but it is GER
tainly serving its purpose well now
The old French cars had to be entirely
discarded. We still have in use a few
of the more modern, but not most
modern cars, which hold but twelve
yards of earth. They can be employed
on certain lines with sharp curves. But
the recent cars hold from twenty-five
to thirty yards apiece, and instead Of
the old clumsy methods of unloading
them, steam plow is drawn from end
to end of the whole vestibuled train,
thus immensely economizing labor. In
the rainy season the steam shovels can
do but little In dirt, but they work
steadily in rock and in the harder
ground. There were some twenty-five
at work during the time | was on the
isthmus, and their tremendous power
and efficiency were most impressive.
New Records for Excavation
AS soon as the type of canal was de-
cided this work began in good earnest.
The rainy season will shortly be over
and then there will be an immense in
crease in the amount taken out; but
even during the last three months, in
the rainy season, steady progress is
shown BY the figures: In August 242 900
cubic yards; in September, POI, 600
cubic yards, and in October, 1925, 200
cubic yards. In October new records
were established for the output of in
dividual locomotives. I hope to see the
growth of a healthy spirit of emulation
between the different shovel and loco
motive crews, just such spirit as has
grown on our battleships between the
n Oft ~
craftsmanship. Passing through the
cut the amount of new work can be
seen at a glance. In one place the en- |
tire side of a hill had been taken out
recently by twenty-SeVen tons of dyna- |
mite, which were exploded at one
blast. At another place 1 was given a |
presidential salute of twenty-one
charges of dynamite. On the top notch
of the Culebra cut the prism is now as
wide as it will be: all told, the canal
bed at this point has now been sunk
about 20 feet below what it originally |
was. 1t will have to be sunk about
1870 feet farther. Throughout the cut
the drilling, blasting, shoveling and
hauling are going on with constantly |
increasing energy, the huge shovels be-
ing pressed up, as if they We're noun |
tain howitzers, into the most unlikely !,
looking places, where they eat their
way into hillsides.
Railway improvements
The most advanced methods, not
only in construction, but in railroad |
management, have been applied in the |
zone, with corresponding economies in !
time and cost. This has been shown in |
the handling of the tonnage from ships |
into cars, and from cars into ships on
the Panama railroad, where, thanks
largely to the efficiency of General !
Manager Bierd the saving i'm time and |
cost, has been noteworthy. My examin-
alton tended to show that some of the |
departments had doubtless necessari- |
ly) become overdeVeloped and could
now be reduced or subordinated with
out impairment of efficiency and with |
saving of cost. The chairman of the |
commission, Mr.. Shonts has all mat
tiers of this kind constantly in view
and is now reorganizing the govern
ment of the zone, so as to make the
form of administration both more fleX"
ble and less expensive, subordinating
everything to direct efficiency WIN I,
view to the work of the canal commits