East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-12-03
Big Ditch Cannot Be Used
Until One Year After it Has
Been Completed.
COCKTAILS WOULD TRAIN
OPERATORS THOROUGHLY
Now Estimated That Actual Work
VIII BE Completed by December,
1913-Canal Not to BE Used Until
About January 1, 1915.

Washington. u. c., Dec. 3.-The
Panama canal, as it is today-as
President Taft saw it upon the trip
to the zone from which he has just
returned-presents the most marvel
Gus engineering feat in the world be-
cause of its magnitude and its bear
ing upon the future history OF the ma
tions of the world.
The executives plan in inspecting
the isthmus was to gain first-hand
knowledge of working conditions
there, to confer with those on the
ground as to future legislation, to re-
fute baseless rumors of the contem-
plated annexation of the republic OF
Panama, to stimulate the diggers to
renewed efforts, and to bring back his
opinions on the work-opinions tha'
are soon to be made public in his d'-
nual message to congress.
Astonishing progress has been made
with the canal work in the 22 months
since President Taft-then president
elect-was last on the zone. The
work is on such gigantic scale that
heretofore II has required the trained
mind of an engineer to trace the
course OI tHe IL bc
stated at the outset that the PAnama
canal will be more of an artifically
constructed river than the prim, reg
ularly cut canals with which the av-
erage American is familiar. When
completed probably the only feature
which will suggest that II Is canal
will he the locks and dam spillways,
OF concrete. Ror the remainder Of
the distance, the interoceanic canal
viii appear merely as a river, winding
through canyons and valleys.
At the present time II is predicted
by canal officials that the canal will
be completed by December, 1913.
This does not mean that II will be ac-
tually in use by that time. 1t Will re-
quire n rainy season-eight or nine
months--to store up water to fill the
ditch and In addition, Colonel Geo.
w. Goethals, chief engineer, desires
that the force OF men who will oper-
ate the locks and handle the vessels
passing through the canal shall have
several months in which to become ex-
pertly proficient in their work. The
canal will be ready for commercial
business by January 1, 1s1b-the date
set a year or more ago.
The date of completion Of the ca
nal depends upon the continuance Of
the present speed OF excavation in the
so-called Culebra cut. Save for this.
there Is very little real digging to be
done. The locks and dams are more
nearly completed than the Culebra
cut Upon the maintenance of the
present rate of progress here, and
minimum of set-backs, caused by cav
ing in of the banks of the cut, depends
the realization OF the phophecy that
the canal will be ready for use on
January 1, 1915.
The Panama canal is of the So
called lock type. with six locks to OBJ
tain a height of SIS feet. The future
Atlantic to Pacific liner will enter a
channel with a bottom width of 500
feet, Mt Port Limon, around Colon. II
will steam seven miles through the
river-like canal, to Gatun. Here It
will enter a series of three locks and
be lifted IS feet to the level of Gatun
lake. It will sail at full ocean speed
over n marked channel of from 1000
to 500 feet in width in this artifically
constructed body of water for about
"a miles to Bas Obispo. Here 1t will
enter the Culebra cut. The cut ex-
tends for nine miles and the channel
will have n bottom width Of 800 feet
Pedro Miguel stands at the Pacific
end of the cut and here the vessel
will enter lock of 1 1-2 miles to Mi
raflores. At this point a series of
locks will lower the vessel 54 2-3 feet
to the level of the Pacific ocean. and
1t will sail out to sea through a chan
mel 1-2 miles in length and with a
bottom width of 600 feet. Great
locks, coaling stations, machine
shops and supply stations will be To-
Gated at either end of the canal From
deep water on the Atlantic to deep
water on the Pacific the distance will
be about 80 Ia miles.