El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-01

on the bottom Of what WIZ be the per-
manent bed OF the canal
Where Rock Moves Like Water,
Shortly after this 1 went with Col
Gaillard to one side of the canal where
the rock was such that the strata could
be plainly seen. The walls OF the cut
contained many different layers Of
rock of varying degrees of density,
lying one upon the other. Here was a
stratum Of shale, there one Of lava,
and above II one OF limestone or
layer Of volcanic dust hardened to
stone There were also strata Of lig-
mite and other soft rocks.
Now, before we began excavatilg,
as theSS strata lay one upon the other,
the weight of the mass was equally
distributed. bed upon bed, so that IL
was not possible Tor any OF the strata
to move, no matter what lay above
them Then the great ditch was cut
and the weight and pressure on that
side were taken away This allowed
the great weight above to exert its
force on the weaker strata beneath,
and il has squeezed some OF them out
into the canal lou may imagine how
this could be if you will regard some
of the weaker strata as like a thick
fluid, say molasses, or the jelly in a
layer cake. The layers above viii
force the mOlasses out a the sides, and
if YOU press on the cake the jelly viii
ooZe. Now, the Ignite strata esDec-
way to the weight above and force
themselves out into the canal bed, or II
the stratum is under the bed OF the
canal it is squeezed out so that it
humps up and throws the railroad as
I have described.
slides Can Be Controlled.
slides Of strata such as I have de-
scribed are common, but the engineers
know how 10 control them They nave
occurred so often that they are now
%
I saw today viii be all out of the way
before night. Four hundred men are
working at it and sending it down 70
Balboa
Col. Gaillard tells me that there has
not been one week during the past
three years when the bottom of the
canal has not been heaVing and rising,
but ne adds uGar the heaVing grows
less and less as the weight from the
SIDES of the cut is removed and the
upper banks properly slOped- At pres
ent the only place where the earth IS
so working is right under Gold hill.
The trouble occurs within a length of
perhaps 200 feet whereas it formerly
extended over 1000 feet The humps
make it necessary TO rebuild a great
Zeal of track, anc on this account al
have already Deel shifted. This is one
of the necessities of the work, how
ever, and II viii ali be remedied when
tne canal mas been properly slOped and
the earth is again in equilibrium.
The Rainfall.
The surface slides Will likewise stoD
as soon as the natural slope of the
earth has been reached, although IN
this account VIII have TO be taken OF
the immense rainfall. which adds to
the weight. The rains here are often
exceedingly heavy, retarding the work
Daring the wet season the clay flows
down like a river and il takes time
to clear the railroad OF mud. As an in
stance Of the rainfall, there are some
places on the isthmus where it has
scurts as heavy as anywhere in mo
world. At Porto Bello in December
1911, two and One-hdlf inches of water
fell in three minutes. the rain falling
I'm sheets so thick that one could hari-
~ see his hand before his face. Had
IL continued at that rate a man stand-
still on a flat plain inclOsed bv water
grit walls would have been drowned
in two hours. and did the rain last an
day at its close the water would he 100
feet deep. Such rains are extraordinary
here for even short time and the rain
fall at Culebra is far less than at
POerto BellO. Nevertheless. il lis such
that Fit must be reckoned with i'm con-
necttcu with slides
The Baby Volcanoes OF CuIebr1.
= we make our way through inc t.llt
with Col. Gaillard we can see the baby
vafcouOes which have alarmed the i..-
uQrant DIS to the future of the canal
I4ey are not really volcanoes but are
he4ted areas where the chemical con-
dlBon OF tie earth is such that it oxi-