The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-12-09

haps the most interesting portion
the Panama work to the layman, il
that being done in the Culebra cut
The task here is the severing of tn,
backbone Of two continents. The
same chain Of mountains that twists
through the far west in the States,
and is known as the Rockies, appears
in dwarf form on the slender link
between the North and South Ameri-
can continents, to break out later in
majestic peaks and mountain grand
eur, as the Andes. in South America.
The severing of the backbone of two
continents is Gargatuan surgical
operation of nine miles of cutting
The French did portion of the
work, but on small scale. At pres
ent horde of steam shovels is eat
ing away the ground, dirt trains hus-
tie back and forth carrying the de-
bris, and there is constant roar OF
blasting, for much of the cut is thro
black, volcanic rock.
At the bottom the Culebra cut will
have width Of 800 feet. From the
lowest level the side walls slope up
gradually to the banks. 1t is here
that the greatest difficulty is en-
countered in canal digging, from
| cave-ins Of the banks. Much of the
volcanic rock disintigrates under the
action of the air. and the side walls
slide down to the bottom. There is
no preventive measure against such
accidents. All there is to do is to
remove the slide. Eventually the
slope at the sides will be so gentle,
after hundreds of slides, that there
will be no danger. Meanwhile they
| occur daily, and down on the canal
the engineers shrug their shoulders
philosophically and get down and
sweat moving the extra dirt. Up in
! the States citizens who don't know
better shake their heads and prophe-
sy dire things.
BY the time the canal is completed
the passenger on liner utilizing it
! will probably never notice the ia
nous Gatun dam--notwithstan
it is one OF the marvels of multi
tude of gigantic engineering feats on
the isthmus. The beholder will see
the dam as a natural mountain prov
Iidentially placed by Almighty hands
to hold the lake in check AS a mat
ter Of fact, it is mountain but built
by human hands with infinite care
and patience.
The Gatun dam will impound the
waters Of the Gatun lake, an irregu
lar shaped artificial body Of water
covering about 164 square miles Il
is nearly one and one-half miles
long, nearly one-half mile thick a
its base, and about 11o feet high
The miniature parallel mountain
chains are being heaped up here, ant
between them, mud and clay is be
ing pumped The interior case o
mud and clay hardens, and when tn,
: water is let in against the dam, tn,
earth, being Of a kind which become
impervious under the action Of waite
| likewise hardens. The mound o
earth becomes a rocky mountain.
Vegetation grows with such aston
ishing speed and rankness in the eli
mate on the zone that within a fey
months after the Gatun dam is com
pleted all the earth above the waite
will be covered by an imperviou
tropical growth of brush and tree:
To the man from the states the luz
uriousness of tropical growth
: amazing. G. S. Blackburn, who wa
e formerly governor of the canal zone
n used to declare that he was afraf
r to let his cane stand upright out {
doors over night, lest in the mornin
e he would awake to find it rooted
I the earth and sprouting branche
/ The banana, orange, cocoanut an
}, sugar cane grow wild over the istI
d mus. If American energy could fin
I, some method of revitalizing tn
: shiftless natives, and inspiring thel
r to steady work. millions may /
made in the cultivation of thes
) crops. AS it is, natives pick the
o crops wild, or at most can be on
i induced to give half hearted after
r ton to small section of land.
n The sun beats down mercilessl
4, Until few years ago the natl,
n children, unembarrassed, flaunte
o their chubby dark charms, sans ga
IS ments. Even at the present tin
1t one may see swarthy youngsters
1t the bath in front of the shack,
natures garb. Strangest to all Ar
% erican ears, is the Spanish, Frenc
" or English accent of the negroe
1t They are alike in feature with Il
IL American negroes, but their enviro
X ment in Trinidad, or Martinicu