The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-20
Naval Member of Canal Csm- mission Comes Direct from
 Isthmus With Views
GIANT SHIPS CANNOT
 PASS THROUGH CANAL
Progress In Shipbuilding Demands . Change In Plans of the Canal Com mission Which Will Take Time
 and Millions More Money.

Washington, October 19-The locks of the projected Panama canal must be made wider than they were originally planned is the opinion of the naval mem Der of the Isthmian Canal Commission, Lleutenent and Civil Engineer H. H. Ros- seau, who arrived in Washington today direct from the Isthmus. It is presumed that he bore this message from the com mission itself, but the fact could not be determined owing to the departure of the officer from Washington for New York only few hours from the time of his arrival in this city, just sufficient time here in fact to enable him to lay his message before Secretary Metcalf.
 Undoubtedly naval exigences, supple mented by the building of the giant Sun arders, Lusitania and Mauretania, was the basis for the projected change of plan which will involve the expenditure of many additional millions of dollars and perhaps the extension or time required for the completion of the canal project.
 It is also probable that the mere sug- gestion of such a considerable change of plans as that proposed by Lieutenant Rosseau would precipitate a general de- bate in Congress and reopen the whole issue of sea level versus lock canal, which was believed to have been finally settled by President Roosevelt and Sec retary Taft, when they gave the order for the beginning of work on the lock canal plan The fact is that when Congress was so warmly discussing the two pro- jects about two years ago, the sea level canal advocates made the point that theirs was the only plan that would have Sufficient elasticity to meet the needs of rapidly increasing tonnage in marine construction. Their plan involved the use of but one lock merely ito offset the tidal difference between the eastern and western seas, a comparatively low and insignificant lock which could be easily widened when required. But they made strong point of the difficulty, eX- pense and loss of time in the use of the canal that would follow the attempt to widen the complicated and massive locks required for the high level canal
 Note of Warning.
 Possibly for the force of that argu- ment, the canal commission apparently feels that 1t would be wise to make the locks of the canal wide enough in the beginning to accommodate the giant ships not only of the navy, but of the merchant marine, that are sure to be constructed in the near future. The three 18th milan canal commissions which have dealt with the detailed plan of the canal have each in turn been impressed with necessity for en- larging the capacity of the projected waterway and each commission has not hesitated to increase the width of the canal prism and the size of the locks from those planned by it's predecessors. Now the last commission goes beyond this by revising it's own plans before they have got beyond that point in execution where it is feasible to do so without actual waste of money. For up to this point substantially all of the work that has been done upon the isthmus has been upon the canal prism in the great Culebra cut. On the twenty-odd miles of low lands and In the bottom of the harbors only the ground has been cleared and the holes dug for the great flights of locks in cident to the plan, so that 1t is merely a matter of widening the foundation that Is involved in the last proposition.
 Fortunately the canal prism itself as projected in the plans now under execu- tion, will probably be wide enough at the narrowest point in the Culebra from Las Casiadas to near Paraiso. dis tance of AT miles. where the minimum width is 200 feet through rock. But the locks themselves. originally planned by this last commission to be 300 feet long and 95 feet wide at Guan were subsequently, increased by the en- gineers in their design to the width of 100 feet and a length of 1000 feet It Is a simple engineering task to in crease the width and depth of the canal prism at any time while the canal is in operation, but the locks cannot be broadened without seriously inter- fering with the operation of the canal and at great expense owing to their complicated character.
 Necessity for Wide Locks.
 Already the dimensions of the locks are being closely approXimated by na- val ships actually building and it is re- garded as certain that the Atlantic lines will in the near future build great turbine ships which will never pass through the locks as heretofore planned and so would be well nigh unless as naval auxiliary ships in time of war
 The famous British battleship Dread naught. now afloat, measures S3 feet in beam and our own Delaware class, two of which class are building, will measure S5.3 feet beam. The 25,000 ton ships which our naval designers are talking of suggesting to Congress will measure SS feet in the clear which would leave only six feet clearance at the side of the locks under the exist ing designs.
 These facts have been laid before Secretary Metcalf and it will be for him to make some recommendation to inc President in the matter.
 "Details of the new plans cannot be obtained at present but the change is said to be costly, though of its neces- sity few naval officers have any doubt.