New-York tribune., 1911-03-26
Refore Uncle Sam Is Through
Canal Defence May Exceed
in Strength Anything OF
Kind Ever Attempt
ed in the World.
lconvright. 1911. by W. A Du Puy)

fC7rvright. 1911. by W. \. pu fuyD
~,uEN the Panama Canal is COM
w pie, piete u Uncle sam may dare and
double dare any hostile fleet to
.o,,,o within ten miles Of either end of il
,,ror the penalty Of being blown out Of .
.be water He may throw down the
Gauntlet to any nation in time of war to .
,.to~,Dt 10 capturc and control this. the
..~o,coic noint Of the Americas. He will F.
,e ir q nosi,ion 10 insure peace at the
roirt of control Of half the commerce Of
,sa world. even though De has to fight
for it.
For this government has set its hand
to the task of fortifyins tho Canal Zone.
Tho President has insisted that 1t he
fortified and Congress has signifed its
arproval of the plan by appropriatng
SGOooooo for the preliminary work. \
fertilization board at the head Of which
is Major General Wood. has outlined the
needs Of the strip from the war stand
rDrt The preliminary sum approprl-
at.d and the amounts that are to fol- .
rr-- are 10 be- placed az the disposition
O. Colonel George W. Goethals, chief en-
cireer Of the Panama Canal. and the ,
forts and quarters are to be built IN
c-rfunction with the other work in this.
the greatest engineering undertaking in
all history.
The appropriation of the money for
This work. which laid down the policy of
The government with reference to forti- /
fcation. came after "a spirited fight in
Congress There were many members Of
that body who held that peace should
bc forever maintained here where the
Atlantic is % kiss the Pacific, and that
International agreements were sufficient
10 guarantee that peace. The military
authorities o. this government main
tained. however. that treaties of peace
we're not effective in time of war and |
that history showed that they We're sell /
dom observed where it was in the inter- .
es, of nations III war % violate them. .
General Woods declaration Of this policy
q nations shocked Congress, but won .
the day for fortidcations.
The Panama Canal in its simplest .
terms is an inland lake accessible at
either end through locks. In passing
through it from the Atlantic to the Pa
cifc vessel uiI enter channel with
q bottom width Of 500 feet in Limon Bay
and follow this for about seven miles /
70 Gatun. where il viii enter series of .
three locks i'm fight and he lifted eighty +
f.o feet 70 the level of Gatun Lake. II .
viii sail at ful ocean speed through this .
lake. in q channel varying from 10oo TO F.
zoo feer in width. for a distance Of about .
twentv-four miles 10 Pas ob.spo. where
j. w.u enter thc Culebra cut.
THEN THROUGH THREE LOCKS. I
II VIII san through the cut. a distance
Of about nine miles. in a channel with
a bottom width of 800 feet. 20 Pedro .
Nigue, There II viii enter lock and
be lowered 20 Is feet 10 n small lake. F.
az an elevation of - % feet above sea .
level and will sail through this for
abou, one and a half miles 20 Mirafores. /
There it viii enter two locks in series
and ho lowered 10 sea level passing out
into t.e Pacific through a channel about
eight and a half miles in length. with
bottom width of 500 feet. The depth Of
the approach channel on the Atlantic /
side. where the tidal oscillation does not
exceed T., feet. viii be II feet at mean
tide. an on the Pacific side. where the
maximum oscillation is - feet, the depth
viii be - feet ar mean tide.
The few miles 0f channel between the
locks and cavi1aalo water on either end
are mere accessories 90 the canal The L.
great Cueu-a cot is important chiefly
because Of tho work in making it. The
locks are the vital things when the work
IS done They are the portion of the
system thar demands protection. They
are the portion that might suffer great
damage from a hostile navy. Little
damage could he done until the locks
We're reached.
For these reasons the board of fOruf-
cation decided that lt was between these
locks and the sea that the great de-
fences should be built The highlands
near the sea should be the location Of
The coast defence stations. The chief Of
these on the Atlantic side would be on
Toro Point commanding Limon Bay and
the entrance of the canal. Another bat
terv would he located across the bay
with the same command. on the Pa
cihc side tho greatest point Of vantage
would bc Battle Point, with a twin bat
terry ol The opposite side Of the canals
mouth. or possibly on the Island of
Culebra in the harbor All Of these
points are on high ground and command
the waters within ten miles Of the
mouth of the canal
Military authorities to-day declare that
the coast defence is the most impreg-
rahe Of all fortdcauons Hours OF
heavy bombarding from a powerful navy
should have little effect upon it. while
in return the probabilities are that 1t
would send many battleships to the bot
tom.
COAST DEFENCE VS.. WARSHIPS.
The mainstay OF the coast defence Is
the disappearing gun. Those 10 be used
AT Panama are 10 be Of 14-inch cAlibre.
yhcv will be p14ced hack Of forti6ca-