The Democratic advocate., 1909-02-12
THE PANAMA CANAL.
Wonderful Things Accomplished by
American Brains and Energy.
From Lhe sclentlflc Ameriean.

y
work necessary to prepare the way
for this enterprise mas been fully as
great Never before in the history OF
the world has any government UNDER
taken a more difficult task than ours
TO make fit for habitation an unsani-
taTy district. In little over three
years time. and at a distance of two
thosand miles from the base of sup
plies. small country or state has
been organized: towns and villages
built and decrepit railway converted
into modern double-track system.
All this has been done In addition to.
and much of II contemporaneously
with, the actual construction OF the
canal itself These things In them
selves constitute a formidable task:
but greater works than these have
been accomplished The canal zone,
once yeritabie pest hole, has become
q sanitary district. Yellow fever,
once the scourge of the lathmms. has
been unknown there siuce May, 1906 !;
and the death rate is now lower than
in many cities Of the United States.
The difficult problems Of engineering,
sanitation, feeding and housing en-
ployees have been satisfactorily solv-
ed. Many millions Of dollars were
expended I'm this work. and two cities.
Colon aud Panama. we're renovated.
paved and provided with waterworks
and sewers and other improvements.
To appreciate how tremendous has
been the task, one must reflect that
this work was done two thousand
miles away from the base OF suppliea.
and the locality furnished practically
nothing. Lumber. machinery. nails.
paint engines. cars. plumbing mater
ials. furniture. cooking utensils, food.
all had "a be shipped entire or IN parts
ready 10 he pnt together. aud adjusted
after u reached the lsthmus II was
necessary TO erect extensive machine
shops in which 10 assemble and erect
ready Tor uNp the various engines and
machinery received az tho ports
What haa been the result ? with
but few exceptions, people who have
visited Panama agree that affairs are
conducted on husineas-iikc basis,
that the isthmus Is becoming more
safe as regards disease. and that the
hospital system Is surpassed by none
The supreme achievement has been The
routing OF yellow fever. II IL we'll
understood that the disease Is carried
by The SteEomyla mosquito. aud 40
successful have beeu the governments
methods OF determination that this
particular mosquito has been practical
y driven from the Isthmus Gases Of
fever cannot enter from outside be.
cause Of a riEid quarantine. Other
mosquitoes are fought by rsgidiy-en
forced sanitary methods. Houses are
carefully screened. stagnant water Ia
not allowed 10 accumulate; streets
afe regularly cleaned: fumigatiun 4
carried on. aud ~ result not only
yellow fever bst malaria has baefl
brought under thorough control
The rapIdity with which theas
things have been done In part os The
marvel Al Gulehra built upon bluffs
overlooking the great cut, is town
of hyc thousand Inhabitants which has
sprunE up 10 three years time. u
mas q sewerage system and pure wa
ter Other sanitary towns have Rfis.
en out Of piles Of lumber deposited ln
forlorn looking iungles When the
Americans took the canal they obtain.
I'd poaression of about two thousand
buildings. many honsea for sfnployers
some good hospitals and machine
shops The excaynting machinery aud
much of the rolling stock for the rail-.
road sna loo old.fashiuned and out of
repair To be ot muen use. Neverthe.
less the $4,000, 600 pasd for Fr. nrh
rights. privileges and property has
been considered fair aum
The principal engineering features
OF the Panama Canal are so we'll
known 20 the readers Of the Scientific
American, that II will be sufficient 10
give here merely brief recapltuIa.
ton. The total length OF the canal
from deep water in the Atlantic 10
deep water IN the Pacific la about
30 miles. Ten miles OF this. however.
consists 0f deep channels dredRed
through the harborH nj either end
the total length from shore line 10
shore line being about 40 miles. The
plan Of construction ia to build a
series Of massive dams not far from
each shore OF the IaihmuB; create a
large artificial lake between them;
connect the lake with each ocean by
canals. and series Of locks BY which
shipping viii be raised or lowered
from the canals 10 the lakes as thus
formed. Commencing on the Atlantic
side, the canal ls dredged for ~ miles
through the shoal water OF LImon Hay
TO the shore line. Two and a half
miles beyond the shore Il reaches the
site OF the Gatum dam. huge easthen
structure mile and a half long. over
half a mile vide. aud $50 feet In
height, which will serve to impound
the waters OF the chagres River. and
form a lake OF over 100 miles area
and 30 miles In length, whose level
viii be maintained AT an elevation OF
~ feet above the sea. The frat 7
mlles OF the canal. from deep-sea
AonndingH 10 the Gatun dam, Will be
az sea level, and the 65 feet difference
OF level between the canal and the
lake Will be overcome by q series OF
double blocks In three fiIghts,one set OF
locks being used for ascending and
the other set for descending vessels.
These locks VIII be 1l0 feet wide and
1000 feet In usable length. They will
be built of reinforced concrete. and
because OF their great dimensions
viii far exceed any construction OF
the kind yet built. For the irst II
miles OF their progress through the
Gatun Lake, ships will have from so
10 30 feet depth OF water, aud from
800 10 1000 width of channel through
which TO navigate Az the lake mar
rows down between the hills which
inclose the chagres River, the canal
VIII decrease in width to 500 and 500
feet until IL reaches the Culebra range
OF mountains, through which II viii
pass, still at the Lake level of S5 feet
above the sea, by a channel with a
maximum width OF 200 feet. This
200-foot channel will be about S miles
In length. On the Pacific side of the
mountains. al Pedro Miguel, descent
will be made by a single lock 10 an
artificial lake formed nv n dan, ~