Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-11
CANAL READY IN 1875,
PREDICTS COL. COCKTAILS
Magnitude of the Undertaking
Described Before the Ma ].
tionaI Geographic Society.

Col. George w. Goethals. chief engineer
of the Panama Canal. forecasted the
competition of the waterway by January
j, 1915. in an address before the National
Geographic Society last night at the new
Masonic Temple. On that date the lee
turer predicted, the canal would be in
charge of a force Of trained men pre-
pared to manipulate the immense locks
and it's other mechanical devices, with
small chance of accidents or delay.
Col Cocktails confidence in assuring
his audience that the connecting link be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
would be in operation on schedule time
aroused the one thousand more WASH
ngtonians present to enthusiasm. The
engineer prefaced his predictions with
the statement that only breaks or the
caving in Of cuts might delay the work.
Fertilization Not Discussed.
Col. Goethals hearers. many of whom
were army and navy officers and men,
bers of official life, were disappointed
that he refrained from discussing the
proposed fertilization of the canal. A
general reference. at least, was expected
relative to Notifications at Colon and
Panama. The only mention of the canals
military value was its value to naval
fleets in reaching either coast in the
quickest possible time Col. Goethals
spoke of the trip of the battleship Oregon
around Cape Horn in the Spanish war
as showing the advisa biIity of the canals
construction.
After that trip and the, many weary
weeks of waiting for the ship to join the
naval forces off Santiago the military
need of the canal was settled for all
time declared Col Goethals.
Military Value of the Canal.
Had the canal been built then. the
mobilization of every big fighting ma
chine in the navy would have been COM
pleted in several weeks instead of two
months The need for the Oregon was
imperative. There is no question then
that it would have been agreed generally
by military and naval men as We'll as lay
men that the canal a S5IJ,60.o0O was
worth while. 1t was the trip of the Ore
gon around Cape Horn ana the picture
that cruise drew in the minds of the
country's legislators which first began the
agitation for the canals construction
Much of the lecture was devoted 10 de-
scriDing the advance of the construction
work at the Gatun dam. the Gatun locks,
the Pedro Miguel LOCKS and the handing
OF the overflow OF the ChaSres river.
Col. Cocktails explained in detail the ell
gineerirs tasks involved in these works.
and while they were great problems TO
SoiNe hun tue eHShlcCl StdHupoiHl' anu
entailed an immense amount of labor,
they We're decidedly more advantageous
than the structural and excavation cifti
culties that would have been encountered
were water-level canal being con-
Strdcted.
III there is any one in the country To-
| DAY who favorS the water-level cana!
/ ever the lock system ali lie has to do is
| TO visit the isthmus and see what has
| been accomplished. He will come back
| an enthusiastic convert to the lock SyS-
| tenn" said Col. Cocktails
Overflow of the Chagres.
| One of the creates difficulties the en-
gineers have to deal with is the overflow
! CT the Charges river. This stream is
| the largest on the route of the canal. and
| I'm the wet season rises at times to a
| height of twenty-five feet in twenty-four
| hours. The overflow is 10 be taken care
| of .by an immense spillway that will di-
| vert abnormal pressure and the excess Of
| water from the neiGhboriag dams. Ste
| rcopticon views were shown giving an
idea of the magnitude. of the work un
! dertaken TO complete this spIllway.
| In addition TO Stereopticon views from
| rhotoeTarhs Of various parts of the work
| Col Goethals used a series Of moving
pictures taken recently at tn instance OF
! member of Congress. The moving pic
| lures showed steam shovels. dirt trains.
| blasting gangs and the concrete workers
at the Gatun dam in active operation.