The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-17

lic is told that dire disaster win fol- low the undsrtaking unless the pres snt plano are abandoned and the
 Straits oS Panama constructed; that is. . ssa lsvsl canal across the Isth- mus 500 to 500 feet wide. To sseomp- fish thia. however. . lock canal must bs built first. and subsequently, wid- snsd and dsspsnsd until the ideal is reached. There is no data available for such . canal. With mountains in- stead of hills to bs rsmoved estimates are. of course. impossible; % the most optimistic figures, suitable alone to the ideal. are offered e . bait. In any event it is claimed also that Bo- hio should have been selected for the site of the dam in lieu of 0atun." Col. 0osthsis points out that at Be. hio the gorge in its lower strata is filled with watsr-bsarins gravel and that fact alone. he says. removes 1t from consideration. T venture the statement. without fear of contradic- tion." he says. that the site of no public or private work of any kind has received such . thorough and ex- austive examination and tnvesttRa- tion as the foundation of the dam and locks at Gatun., There is no longer doubt concerning any of the under lying strata: neither the impermea- bility nor the ability of the founda- tions to bear the loads that will be brought upon them. can be questioned if tho. data be carefully and impar- tially examined. The investigations strata or the existence of that under ground stream with a discharge equal to the Chagres River itself. which was recently asserted as a fact on the floor of the Senate" "'
 Solves the Problem.
 According to the1 report. the Gatun dam satisfactorily solves the problem of the control of the chagres. and there should be no doubt in the mind of anyone, who impartially examines the data. it says. that the solution is not only feasible but absolutely safe.
 Reverting to the subject of a sec lev ell canal, Colonel Goethals says:
 "To be sure. the partisans of the sea level type are now proposing to
 eliminate both the Gamba dam and the tidal lock by making the channel so wide as to reduce the currents that
 result from the discharge of the Chagres and the difference in tides. but fail to explain how they propose to control or divert the Chagres. the bed of which will be fifty feet above the water surface of the canal at the tuncture. As data is not available for preparing accurate estimates for even a offered, neither they nor anyone else can offer any figures as to time and cost for the construction of such a canal as they now advocate"
 In any comparison. Colonel Goethals adds. we must confne our attention to the look type as now building. and
 a sea, level canal as., offered by the
 Board of, Engineers, and not by the Eidealist" The risks to ships in such Fa narrow waterway as proposed for the sea level canal at Panama. Colonel Goethals adds. far outweigh all hazards in the proposed lock canal. provided
 the latter Is built so as to minimize the chance of accident to the locks.
 "This Is met" he says, "by providing every possible safety device. by build- ing the locks in duplicate and by ths | installation of a system by which the vessels will be controlled by powerful electric machinery on the lock walls thus avoiding mistakes on the part oi inc vessels crew or engine room stan which once led to an accident at tht
 Manchester Ship Canal"
 | Division of Locks
 It Is pointed out that the present l lock designs provide intermediate gates dividing the locks into length' l of 500 and 400 feet. About ninety eight per cent of all the ships, includ ing the largest battleships now build ing, says Colonel Goethals. can b' passed through the 500 foot lengthi and the total lock strength will ac commodate the largest commercia | vessels now building, which are 1,oo feet long and eighty-eight-feot beam | Tt Is true" he adds. that ships maj increase in size so as to make the pres l ent locks obsolete, but the largest snip 1 now afioat can not navigate tho Sue