New-York tribune., 1910-10-30
WIZ 73~o c;doof To 1 viii See at 9anama's Big D1cb
Spread Ex,en!D Ox'er Central Park, Ii
Would BE Buried no Feef Deep.

? l6ruoped In Central Park if would bur e5s
whole s83 acres Of the park to the Geps5
Of 551A feet. That would I'll the lakes ana
reservoirs and bury the 100 bindings ana
the shrubbery The tops Of a few OF tls
taIIest trees would show Ike well grown
blackberry thickets; the Metropolitan
Museum or Art would be trO-thir5s
under ground and the uDbuTied tip Of Ia
CbelIsk would about eG.Ial tie local
bankers monument in country grave
. yard.
IL the material that has come out % tas
whole canal were dumped IN Cere-sf
Park. IL would raise the ground leTel ~
feet Seen from distance. the PARK
vvou1d show as a broad rableland. over
ing over the surrounding houses ard rising
in the hills about the reservoir 20 the hish-
ss, poiut on Manhattan lsiard TTees
museum ana all would be unde- ground
Rut even such a cOmparisOH Furnishes
ar tnadequa:e picture OF tic wors a. ths
c,+ Some Of the smaller details ars G'at.
as suggestive Every BODY "Ao knoEs
anv.nfng about the work at the isthmus
baz heard Of the Chasres River Fen
,ersops have heard OF the Ooispo. Or -
tributar-. the CauachO. These two st-eaWs
crossed the line OF the canal ard mad 70
be turned from their courses \ tunnel
vas driven through a hill 90 take care ot
the Camacho and FIVE miles ana TAT
~ artificial channel was dug FOR Tie
Obispo.
Tba excava atioas amounted 90 l,g7559
o,,,.i, ,-srds- NOT q shovelful OF which cams
o,,t Of the canal itself. Yet che same amount
20 excavation would have dug a trench
or rhe width and depth of the New York
sr,bv~av ffty-hve miles n length.
The slides iu the cut gre more famous.
ana i,1stIv so. TIE rock Of the isthnus IS
,reacherous stuff. as slippery and unstable
a. Welsh rarebit before the cheese Las
melted When water touches IL it tUrns
into crurnbling. gritty clay, in fact The
cut ia TO 5e lined with concrete for the
greater part of its length 70 protect tha
rock surface from the action Of the water
Although tho engineers made extremely
generous estimates in sIo2inS the sides OK
the cut outward to guard against the slip
ping Of the rock. the work had not gone far
before lerge fragments OF the walls beS-a
70 slide down inJO the trench.
In the first slide SIX ana half acres O.
gan to rnove-exactly the area Of Madison
Square Then the great CUc1Techa slide BE-
gan. A slice Of the bank SO fset long
started into the canal The trouble grew.
until half a rn.le Of the bank was c,Uuli-
ling. bringing down tweEty-seven acres o.
the adjoining countryside
Imagine Park Row. from Broadway to
Chatham Square, with all is skyscrspers
and shops, the postofflce. City Hall Park
and Chinatown, sliding into a piS nearly
twice as deep as the jump from TIE Brook
lvn Bridge That Is the Cucuracha slide
A year ago ss4oO cubic yards had been
dug away from the foot OF it, and 9ss,s9
wards were still IN motion. After SIX
months OF work, the slide at the end Of last
Nav stiu amounted 20 5000 yards, CT
enough 10 fill the subway from tie Bat
terry to 3Sd street.
Beyond the cut. where the hlllS SWEEP
down 10 the valley OF the Rio Gran1e a-9
III, locks. at Pedro Miguel. which will lower
ships from the cut to the level O. 1itrado-es
Lake. Pedro Miguel is Gatun over again,
except that there IS one GC'lbIs lock cham
Der here instead of three. and the dams en-
its fanks are less imposing Nearly one
halr the concrete is in plaee az Pelr9
Ni@uci. and at tlle present rate AL the hes'y
work should be done within eight months
The steel towers OF the concrete Tnoul5s ass
copies Of those at Gatun.- They weigh 49,
ton. each, or as much IS n good sized ez-
cursiou steamer.
| Nirafores Lake, the second water letsl
of the canal, Will reach from the locks a,
Pedro Miguel 20 the Miraffores locks and
| dam. two miles below. Like Lake CTatun,
the place IS an open valley nov. through
most OF which the channel Will be cut By
dredges after the lake has been filed ms
| railroad goes through Mira1ores F!lI IN
tunnel 500 feet Iong-a detail hardly worth
-, l. h-rT.
/ two in the middle Just after the bore vas
finished, and go feet had 10 De cjit -,-oIgl
/ again.
| The cement plant at Nirafores Is just
| getting under way. and only the floor of
the upper lock has been laid The dam
here is an ant hill beside the great work
at Gatun. yet the earth and rock that are
! already IN place IN il would bury Madison
! Square stxty-twO feet deeD.
/ From Nirafores II is only five miles 70
/ the harbor Of Panama and four miles more
. between the islands OF the shallow bay %
deep water in the Pacific. Here the Presr
dent will see the site OF the great break
water, which may be carried from the sho,t
as far as Naos Island. nearly TWO miles
I out at sea Those islands form one OF ths
Obtecrives OF his journey. for there tAs
men in charge OF the canal plan 20 mount
+ tho batteries Of nortsrs and disappearing
/ rifles that are TO guard the work on th'
( Pacific side.
/ The forts that face the AtlJDt,r VIII -
+ placed on the mainland. The engi1'ers
are anxious TO be at work on the fort'fca-
! tons as soon a. possible. for as fast as t'S
| dry excavation Of the canal Is com
pleted men will be set free from that toii
+ and something must be found 20 keep them
/ busy. The President. as commander ="
I chief Of the army and navy. has the rna
word as 20 the placing of the forts.
/ These are some Of the vvOrkaday matters
/ Of fact that the President Will see az Fan
anna. But. vast as they are. II Is safe %
predict that they are not the things re WE
remember most vividIy. They are the prose
t Of the work There f. left the canal
/ mighty poetry that surges through the men
who are there 60 make IT, Thrt>-'i'e
| thousand men. OfticereI by four thousoA .
/ varng Americans with no aIn,ISements h't
{ those or their own making. axe pablo Aed
! bv TIVE. oceans - the greatest stint "t W'i'N
dat Nss ever set for human or'HsS %
7 Del form No wonder the work takes A'.'
Of them Steam shovel races steam S-'Ne-'
the cement men az Pedro Miguel nSht -
outdO the cement men ar Gstun, t3'oiua 90
I train dyrnp.n-s. rocS channellins end d:t'-'
/ work are Kept 10 the fraction O. Il Se'''-
7 and almost eve-y week new usrNs ''N
/ g., be printed IN ."Ths Canal Record
/ Eut tho pride of the rival sections Is r''..
e 10 d