The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-12-26
VESSEL TO CROSS
PANAMA lSTHMUS
SOMETIME IN 1913
Commission Purpose to Ad-
vance Opening Date Official
ly January /, 1915.

Washington-Speclal: SoHle lin
next summer or fall--no exact Date
being specified-a vessel will pass from
tha Atlantic to the Pacific across what
IN now the isthmus of Panama, which
consequently must disappear from the
worlds geography, and by the same
human agency the western hemisphere
will be divided into two continents
The vessel will not be the Oregon or
any other famous ship, blu one OF
the many small craft in daily use by
the canal builders; n roraply the
only passengers will be Col. George w.
Goethals and the staff American
engineers who for the la eight years
have peer carrying on The greatest
engineering work the world has ever
seen,
It will be later than that, anywhere
from six months to 4 year perhaps
before the formal opening of the wa
terway will take place and a naVal
fleet, headed by the famous old Ore
gon, will pass through into the west
ern ocean and the canal may be fairly
said to be open to trade.
These facts are not Of official rec
ord as yet; the date Of January l.,
1915, still stands for the opening pre-
dicted by Colonel Cocktails. But that
the opening will be anticipated to a
great extent has been promised by the
canal builders In unofficial statements,
and now comes a clear intimatiOn Of
their purpose to advance the opening
date in the annual report Of the canal
commission, just published.
Great Locks In Duplicate.
1t Is disclosed that while the com
pletion of the great locks ny January
i next will not be possible, owing to
contract delays, within six months
thereafter the channel will be finished,
while, to insure the safe passage Of
the. locks, the contractor has been
called upon to finish the gates in n
flight first. so thar if the rest of the
work IS In condition passage of shipsCan
be permitted without waiting for the
completion Of the other flights. This
statement Will be understood when it
is known that the great locks are be-
ing built in duplicate, side by side,
not only to add to the capacity OF the
canal, but to insure its continuance in
operation in case of Il serious accident
to a ship in one of the locks.
The report shows a most sa~tisfac-
tory state Of progress OF the whole
great work, though, in view Of the
fact that 1t Is dated September 10 last,
the figures regarding excavation. plac-
ing OF concrete, erection Of dams and
locks and subsidiary works are not
as recent as those contained in the
regular monthly reports.
Naturally, the most Interesting fea-
t1re of the report relates to the opera
tons In the great Culebra Cut Here,
great landslides, many ranking with an
Alpine avalanche in magnitude. have
30 increased the amount Of material
10 De eXcavatcd that were il not found
possible to steadily reduce the cost
per yard Of dredging and steam shovel
ing through the growing experiences of
The, employees and improved engineer
ing methods, the total cost of eXcaya-
ten would have been vastly greater
than the estimates.
Damage Caused BY Slides.
During the last year nearly lG. s 0
600 cubic yards If earth were taken
OUT or this cut, leaving nearly 10000
600 to be displaced before the canal can
pc opened. The damage caused bv the
slides may be appreciated from the fact
that nearly 5000, 900 yards Of earth
eScaVated was so composed. or nearly
90 per cent OF the total excavation,
There is only one way to deal with
these slides, and that is to dig them
OUT as they occur, though some helm ia
gained by terraCing the uppe banks,