Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1910-02-11
PANAMA EDITORIAL TRIP.
Letter No. IS.

space exigencies not forb,dding, we
leave thas subject and go back in an
orderly way to the thread Of our
narrative. Saturday before the Sun
day of which we smoke, we got our
first look at the Canal standing in it.
On this day we caught "a train out
from Panama TO the ditch and
alighting at IA small flag station just
at the mouth of the famous Culebra
cut, we proceeded at once to walk
through, same is somewhere about
two miles long. The reader will I'M
derstand that in this as well as all
portions of the Canal as IL now
stands save the eight finished miles
on each side nearest the respective
oceans, there is no water. Water
would not flow into these now dry
parts of the canal noway from the
oceans, as they comprise that part OF
the canal over which the lift will be-
made by flooding it with water turn
ed in from the rivers controlled by
the dams and locks and side drains.
In other words the lock portion of
the Canal. Imagine yourself look
ing toward sullen mountain chain
whose solid backbone rGars up UNI
compromisingly into the skies to
that height that it requires about
as much tip backward as the joint Of
your neck will allow without pop
ping it, to catch glimpse of the top
same and through this perceive an
opening that in the distance looks
like natural chasm or seam in ma
lures build of this mighty heap aud
and you will have seen the aperture
that at cost of millions of dollars
and the bankruptcy of two colossal
financial companies, has been made
and is being deepened more and
more for the canal bed.
A little way out of the main en-
trance TO the mighty gorge which
mar with his machinery has riven
through this gigantic hep of ada
mantine rock, the Panama railroad
crosses the canal on long high
bridge. Under this bridge when ]
suppose is as long from the court
house in Leakesville to the river, are
laid far below on the bottom of this
about finished portion of the cut,
many railroad tracks along which can
be seen cons tantiy, trains rushing III
both directions, some OF which are
loaded with the blasted rock TO be
hauled away to the dumps, while
others are returning with empties To
accommodate the rapid operations Of
the steam shovels which are reach
ing down and filling their capacious
maws with rocky loads like one Of
those dredgers which most OF our
readers hrve seen busy in MOBILE or
some other harbor. They dump sew
eral tons at one grabble, as this rock
is very heavy,
1t takes but few minutes for one
of them to load car. They swing
over and down. grab theil, iron
throats full of the dynamite shiverrd
rock, whirl up and round, open their
mouths and vOmit this out Tito the
car standing ON the track right by
the side of the excavation and then
repeat the operation adtinitum. In
but few minutes the locomotive
which stands with steam up on this
track, has to pull up little, placing
an empty Car along side OF 1he
eam-shovel in place of the one just
loaded, until the whole train of cars
is loaded. Then this locomotive goes
putting away with it's rocky LOAD,
and another standing ready on d
siding, the instant the switch Is
cleared by the loaded train, backs i'll
with its empties, and SO Oh oil
through the day. There are num-
bers and numbers and numbers Of
these steam-shovels and trains to
each, accommodating its output just as
we have described the one This
makes the bed OF the canal through
the Culebra cut one vast web of rail
road tracks which are kept trem oliug
with the rolling wheels of the busy
trains, for Just DIS line of steam
shovels, and they work in lines, have
cleared out space little wider than
railroad tracks and long enough to
justly, there is a train laid down on
it and the sLovels placed on the next
declenSion downward into the bed of
the canal, thus making regular stair
steps of the railroads beginning far
up on each side and traversing down
ward and downward The trains
run out to the mouth OF the cut and
wind round by gradual grades to
get out and rosa away to the dams
and grades which Serve as dumps.
The roar and CHATTER OF machinery
and throbbing activity in that cut,
despite the distance that intervenes
between some of the chain of opera
tons Supplies the ordinary mind. AS
we stood on an iminence in the
of the ravine before traversing it for