The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-04-14

gagged in drilling. There are gangs Of
Italians moving the tracks, and other
gangs of negroes and whites, in water
up 10 THAR waists. repairing the snow
els. The drilling goes Oh everywhere.
and venture you have never seen
such drilling before. The drills have
d.rricks above them. They are, in
fact, derricks on wheels, and you can
see thicket OF the derricks In clumps
as YOU look UP the cut. Each drill
consists OF one OF these derricks and q
longest shaft, which rises and falls.
making dynamite hole as big around
az your arm anu twenty-siX feet deep
for the blasting. The force which
moves the drill Is compressed air. SEM
through pipe as thick as the waist OF
your sweetheart. which runs from one
end of the cut TO the other. Th:re are
altogether more than thirteen miles OF
such pipes. the air coming from COM
pressers at Rio Grande. Empire and
Las Cascades.
Her= they are charging the drillings
with dynamite. That long line OF holes,
running LOCO yards up the cut. is
ready Tor an explosion. The nlen are
testing them before they put in the
candles. By and by they will go Oft
with tn. noise OF battleship in action.
FARTHER on is another gang drilling In
front OF the steam shoveIs, which are
working on the explosions of yesterday
night That Is the way the mountain
is cut down. The rock Is nrst broken
to pieces and then loaded b. steam
shorels into the cars and carried on
the railroad out of the cut.
But let US move onward Watch out
for your feet. You may trip on the
wires and an electric schock send you TO
heaven or the reverse. Don't you SEE
that train coming? You must get far
off the track. Those cars are loaded
with rocks and earth. and huge rocks
frequently fall and men arc killed by
them. Tho air is full of sharp dust.
carried on by the motion. The train
is 600 feet long and every car is load
ed with that mighty blue rock
Giants Which Have the Strength of
Hundreds.
But let us stop at this great steam
shovel and watch II. See how it
gouges out the rocks and earth en-
ploded BY dynamite. There are scores
of other shovels at work in the cut,
aud each is accomplishing more than
the labor of 500 men.
There are altogether more than loo
shovcls on the isthumus and they equal
force half as large as the whole
United States Army Fifty thousand
D O.
We take a scat on the stones on
the level above the ditch where the
shovel is working. The huge monster
makes one think of a giant on wheels
with mighty arm at the front which
ends in Il mouth Of steel az big as a
hoEshcad. This mouth has four long.
sharp cruel. steel teeth on the edge Of
its lower lip, and 1t gouSes ont ten
tons OF earth at bite and raising It
head in the air, il swings the bite OH
{" TIE cars.
See, i, is taking bite now. 1t has
swallowed Il rock which weighs three
or four tons and has carried IL with a
mass of debris. There are eight tons
! inside Its square checks, but II lifts
the load a sthough il were feathers.
! and, loosening it's lower lip. drops II
, into the car. The mass falls with a
loud explosion and the car has not nm
ished HniVering before the giant has
bitten out five more waEonlonds or
earte and dropped them on top.
Look again. The shovel has taken
up rock too big to pass ,l,rourn II
II has bitten off more than IL can
| chew Sec how IL throws the rock
pack on the dump. and, Knocking it
THIS way and that with its checl,s
TWISTS and turns IT so that it may pass
inside the shovel That rock weighs
over zen TONS and the engine roars
ana the steam puffs as the great law
jerks and rises ana falls. ioltinr n
down on the car.
Now look once more Mt the machine
| and see the brains which make It move
as though it were human. 1t all comes
from that white pygmy in blue cotton
! clothing, That is a steam shovel man.
tic has small rope in his hand. and
with this he jerks the machinery watch
makes the mighty giant move at a
touch
The Wonders of the shovels.
! We walk on a few yards TO another
shovel which Is taking up wagonloads
Iof rock at each mouthful and drop
ping them down into tho cars with
| its alliSator-lilSe Jaw. See how intel.
| ligemay it works. AS the pile grows
uneven it smooths out the rocks Will,
Its chin, II turns gigantic niassAa