Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1909-03-24
COCKTAILS INSISTS
ON LOCK CANAL
SEA LEVEL TYPE TOO COSTLY,
APPROVED ONLY BY
IDE 4LlST.
GATUN DAf SAFE, SANE AND
PRAcTIcAL-cRITIcs
ANSWERED.


defense Of the present plan of build
ing lock canal at Panama, not only
because it is deemed more desirable
than a canal built on sea level, but
because of the saving In time and
money, is contained in a special re-
port of Lieutenant Colonel George W.
Goethals, chairman and chief engi1-
eer of the Tsthmian canal comrlis-
sion, made public yesterday. The re-
port, which is an exhaustive one, deals
with every phase of the canals con
struction, and in it Colonel Cocktails
handles without gloves those critics
who he says are predicting nothing
but disaster and failure to the enter
prise
Colonel Cocktails reviews the whole
history of proposed canals construc-
ton on the istnmus, and calls atten-
ton to the fact that after the subject
had occupied public attention for up
ward of four centuries, 1t was not un-
til the nineteenth century that any
definite action was taken looking ~
ward its accomplishment "The
United States" he says, mot unmind-
full OF the advantages of an isthmian
canal, had from time to time made in
vestigations and surveys of the vari-
Gus routes" He adds that with the
view to government ownership and
control congress directed an investi-
cation of the Nicaraguan canal for
which a concession had been granted
to private company The report of
the commission to look into the sub
ject was adverse to the Nicaraguan
route, he says, and favorable to the
Parma route and the lock type of
canal.
Much attention is given to the sub
ject of the Gatnu dam. This, Colonel
Goethals says, is to consist of two
piles of rock 1900 feet apart and car
ried up to 60 feet above mean tide.
The space between them and up to
the required height is to be filled by
selected material deposited in place by
hydraulic process. He speaks of the
slip which occurred last November
which, he says, amounted to practic-
ally nothing This slip" says lie,
probably would have passed IN
noticed, as did the former ones, out
for the fact that at the time Q food
in the Charges river had attaired such
proportions as to cover a portion of
the Panama railroad tracks just south
of Gatun. A newspaper correspond
ent going from Colon to Panama, saw
his opportunity for a sen sational story
and attributed the flood to the drop.
ping of the Gatun dam into the sub.
terranean lake under the dam and
locks, which another faker had pre-.
viously discovered, and the news OF
the destruction of the dam was cabled
to the states" The Up, he declares,
did not affect the south slope or slide
of the rock pile. 1T was entirely 10.
cal" he says, land did not In any way
interfere with the work. As a re,
suit, however, the public Is told that
dire disaster will follow the under.
taking unless the present plans
are abandoned and the Straits OF
Panama constructed: that is, a
sea level canal across the 18th
mus 500 to 600 feet wide. To ac
complish this however a lock canal
must be built first and subsequently
widened and deepened until the ideal
is reached. There is no data avail
able for such a canal With noun.
tains instead of hills to be removed
estimates are, of course, impossible
so the most optimistic figures, suitable
alone 10 the ideal, are offered as a
bait. In any event it is claimed al.
so that Bohio should have been Sc
lected for the site of the dam in lieu
of Gatun." Colonel Goethals points out
that at Bohio the gorge in its lower
strata is filled with water-bearing
gravel and that fact alone, he says
removes it from consideration. 81
venture the statement, without fear OF
contradiction" he says that the site
Of no public or private work Of any
kind has received such a thorough and
exhaustive examination and investiga
| ton as the foundation Of the dam and
locks at Gatun. There is no longer
a doubt concerning any Of the under.
lying strata: neither the impermea
biiity nor the ability o. the founda
tions to bear the loads that will be
brought upon them can be ques-
toned if the data be carefully and i'm
partially examined. The Investigations
fail to disclose any water-bearine
strata or the existence OF that under
ground stream with discharge equal
to the Charges river itself. which was
recently asserted as fact on the
floor Of The senate"
According to the 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, II says, that the solution is
not only feasible but absolutely safe.
Reverting to the subject Of Il ses
level canal Colonel Cocktails says
ITO be cure. the partisans Of the ses
level type are nov proposing 70 elm
mate both he Gambia dam and the It'd
a. lock by making the channel 50 wid'
as 20 reduce the currents that result
from The discharge Of the Chagres ant
the difference in tides but fail to OK
plain how they propose to control o.
divert the Chac~eg. the bed Of which