Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-09-24
OPENING OF THE CANAL.
Big Ditch Will Be Ready for Traffic Next
September.

will be thrown open to the commerce
of the world.
This date is the latest estimate Of TIT
Isthmian Canal Commission. Whil
the formal opening Of the great water
way may not occur until 1915, the orig
inal time set, Colonel Goethals, TIT
genius who has built the canal, sait
recently that ships can pass through
it as early as the date mentioned.
This gigantic work successfully com
pleted by the United States, after fail
ure Of France to build it, will revolu'
tionize the ocean commerce OF TIT
western hemisphere, shorten the route
from the Atlantic seaboard to the Orr
ent, replace the American commercial
flag on the seas, and immensely In
crease the foreign commerce OF thi:
country.
The canal will bind the pan-Ameri'
can republics closer to the United
States, make the Mississippi river
channel through which American ex'
ports can reach the vast Asiatic mar
kets quicker than through the Sue;
waterways, and double the warlike ef'
ficiency of the American navy, with.
out the addition of single ship, by In
creasing its mobility between the At
lantic and the Pacific.
The canal opening will be celebrated
by the two great international gather
ings. The Panama-Pacific exposition
at San Francisco in 1915, and the fifth
annual convention Of the Southern
Commercial congress at Mobile, ir
September, 1918, will mark the rush OF
water which connects the Atlantic with
the Pacific. The San Francisco cele-
bration will be participated in by ma
tions Of the world, and the Southern
Commercial congress convention by the
pan-American republics and the six
teen southern states.
The Canal Zone contains about Az
square miles. 1t begins at point three
marine miles from mean low water
mark in each ocean and extends fol
five miles on each side Of the center
line of the route of the canal. 1t in
cludes the group Of islands in the Bay
of Panama, named Perico, Naos, Gu
Zebra and Flamenco. The cities OF
Panama and Colon are excluded from
the zone, but the United States has
the right to enforce sanitary ordinances
in those cities and to maintain public
order in them in case the republic OF
Panama should not be able, in the
Judgment of the United States, to dc
so.
OF the 443 square miles Of zone ter
ritory, the United States owns the
larger portion, the exact amount OF
which is being determined by the sur
vey. Under the treaty with Panama
the United States has the right to ac-
quire by purchase, or by the exercise
of the right of eminent domain, any
lands, buildings, water rights or other
properties necessary and convenient
for the construction, maintenance
operation and protection Of the canal
and it can, therefore, at any time ac-
quire the lands within the zone boun-
daries which are owned by private per-
sons.
The entire length of the canal from
deep water in the Atlantic to deep wa
ter in the Pacific Is about fifty miles
It's length from shore line to shore line
t. % Tn, fhrnl1
it from the Atlantic to the Pacific
vessel will enter the approach channe
in Limon Bay, which will have a bot
tom width of 500 feet and extend tc
Gatun, a distance Of about seven miles
At Gatun 1t will enter series Of three
locks and be lifted eighty-five feet tC
the level of Gatun Lake. 1t may steam
at full speed through this lake in 6
channel carrying from 1000 to 500 fee
in width for distance Of about twenty
four miles, to Bas Obispo, where it viii
enter the Culebra Cut. 1t will pas!
through the cut, a distance Of abou
nine miles, in channel with bottom
width of 300 feet, to Pedro Miguel
There it will enter lock and be low
cred thirty and one-third feet to
small lake at an elevation Of fifty -fou
and two third feet above sea Level, ant
will pass through this for about on
and a half miles to Miraf1ores. Their
II will enter two locks in series and b.
lowered to sea level, passing out int
the Pacific through a channel abou
eight and a half miles in length with {
bottom width Of 500 feet. The deptl
Of the approach channel on the Allan
tic side, where the maximum tidal os
cillation is two and half feet, will b.
forty-one feet at mean tide, and on tn
Pacific side, where the maximum os
cillation Is twenty-one feet, the deptl
will be forty-five feet at mean tide.
Throughout the first sixteen mile
from Gatun the width Of the lake chan
mel will be 1000 feet; then for fou
miles it will be 500 feet, and for fou
miles more, to the northern entrance o
Culebra Cut at Bas Obispo, 1t will b.
OUU lSSl. lhS uSPlh VIII NoAy A1OA'
IS to As feet. The water level in tn
cut will be that of the lake. the deptl
As feet and the bottom width Of tn
channel 300 feet.
Canal of Many Angles.
Three hundred feet is the minimum
bottom width of the canal. This widtl
begins about half a mile above Pedr'
Miguel locks and extends about eight!
miles through Culebra Cut, with tn
exception that at all angles the chan
mel is widened sufficiently to allow 1
thousand foot vessel to make turn
The cut has eight angles, or about on
to every mile The thirty-foot width
are only on tangents between tn
turning basins at the angles. Tn
smallest of these angles is seven de
grees, thirty-six minutes, and the larg
est is thirty degrees.
In the whole canal there are TWEEN
ty-two angles, the total curvature be
ing 600 degrees 81 minutes. OF tn
curvature 2S1 degrees 10 minutes ar
measured to the right, going south
and 319 degree Al minutes to the left
The sharpest curve occurs at Taber
o.a io and IN minnie