Arizona republican., 1908-08-16

three main walls of the locks. ;.ggre- gating some 5000 linear feet, it will be possible to work twenty concrete mixing plants at once. In a recent piece of construction work in the states a single mixing plant maintained for a considerable time an average of 400 cubic wards Of concrete put in place per day. and a maXimupl of 800 cubic feet was req ,hed.
 Assuming that on the Zone only ten plants work constantly, with m out put of 250 cubic wards each per day, they could finish the locks in 52G working days, or two ard d quarter years. At this rate they would be us ing about 1000 tons, or about 125 car loaads of material a day. which is less than a fifteenth of the weight of ma terial taken from CuebTd cut every day. Add to this time the four years the board of consulting engineers es- timated it would take to make the oX- cavations for the lock sites, and the one year they figured it would take to build the lock gates, and even if the three operations could not be carried forward at the same time, if would be only a little more than seven years from the time the work began until it is completed. But the excavations are proceeding so much more rapidly that the work will probably be done several years earlier than the board of cngin- eers expected.
 It is therefore pretty safe to assume that some time not long aftetr the end of the year 1912, that eventful day will dawn when the canal will ba opened to traffic. It is easy to imagine that it will be a great day. No nation ic so remote from the center of civiliza- ton that it will not feel the benefits the canal will afford. It is probable that no nation will consider itself too far removed from the scene tO have representatives of it's navy. it's mer- chant marine, and it's people there to take part in the great celebration. Long before the last shovelfu of dirt has been disposed of the United States probably will send out invitations to the nations of the earth to help cele- brate the successful termination of the immense task of breaking down the barrier which. since the beginning of time, has separated two oceans War ships. steamships, sailing vessels, ev- cry kind and condition of craft will bray the dangers of the deep to help make memorable the event.
 No one is prophet enough to foretell how much the completed canal will mean to the worlds commerce We know that it will bring every port of Europe nearly 1000 miles nearer to the western part of the United States. Canada and Mexico. We realize that it will bring our own Atlantic sea board 5000 miles closer by water to our Pacific coast than it now is. and that Canada will enjoy a correspond ing benefit We recall that Il took the oregon siXty-five days to sail around Cape Horn wher. had the canal been built. she could have made the trip in nineteen days. We are told that million tons of merchandise are annually landed OF the isthmus by the 1000 steamers which visits it's ports in that time. We recognize that the vast trade which now goes trough the Straits of Magellan and around the Horn will pass through the Panama canal. But we cannot more than roughly predict the great diversion of trade which will take place, or the