El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-06

mangroves, and am told they VIII die
II they cannot be fed by the sea They
are for the most part bushes 10 or y
feet In height, and they look just Ike
the vegetation which covers the valley
OF the Jordan opposite Jericho and the
alkaline soil running from there down
TO the Dead sea
Riding up the canal we seem to be
going through a river in from the
ocean. The scenery is beautiful and
the water. which is salt mixed sliGhtly
with the inflow from the Rio Grande,
is that OF the Pacific ocean our launch
takes us up the canal until we are
stopped By q dam Of Culebra spoil and
the mud from the dredges which is now
being built across the channel Were
ii not for this dam we cOuld % clear
to the first locks, and Mr. COmbCT tells
US that he could within 8 few months
open the canal for ordinary ships To
that point
There are but few vessels which sail
the Pacific which are over 30 1cet
deep, but this canal VIII be 45 feet in
depth all the way to the locks and
mighty dredges are still working.
What they are doing 1 VIII toll farther
on
It has been foun1. however. that
there are certain kinds vf excavation
which can be done cheaper and better
IN the dry than in the wet For this
reason IS the dam which is now rising
before US The water VIII be kept out
and the great steam shOvels and other
machinery viii deepen that part Of the
channel ana then the dam viii be RACED
and the Pacific viii flow II tile Jocks.
The completing OF this part of the work
w'thi;i time is Srre- 1t VIII al be done
4 lCng before July 81, 1912
Machinery which Does Things.
But take a, look at some OF the
mighty dredges which are working
about Us There al she right * Gns
so arranged that IL works in the wa
ter II has great steam engine upon
II and this moves a steel arm over 40
1eet long at the end Of which Is
shovel like hand which claws down
into the bottom OF the the canal and
takes up about five sons Of earth at
time 1t does this in a steel bucket
which swings around and drops its con-
tents into a barge at the side.
There are altogether I venture,
something like a score Of dredges at
work on the canal and the dredging IS
gong on on both sides Of the isrhmus.
There are other machines which
Z crush the rock in the bottom of the
canal into such pieces that it can be
taken out by the shOvels. There IS one
such at our right 1t is known a. the
LObnitZ rock dredEe. AS we look we
see immense iron piles rising and fall
ing Those piles each weigh 20 tons.
and when one Of them drops 10000
pounds Of steel fall upon the rocky toes
OF the canal They crush the rock and
II is then ready for the dredges.
We move on down the channel to an
lngersOn drilling dredge. This is to
pierce holes in the ocean bed that 1t
may be broken up by explosives. The
credge is big flatbOat containing an
engine and having three derricks like
those OF an oil well rising above fl.
Each derrick has a drill which works
90 feet under water. and makes wells
or holes IN the bed Of the canal as big
around as the leg OF man. These holes
are sunk 70 a depth OF five feet or
more and then loaded with dynamite.
" nen score or so have been made
H. - Ia
ike lightning from one charge TO the
other, and there is a series OF mighty
explosions The sea IS cast into the
air, the water boils and bubbles and
becomes muddy with the debris An
instant later IL Is quiet again and a
vast amount Of rock on the bottom IS
ready for the dipper and clam she'll
dredges.
These drilling machines 70 on per
petually. They are run day and night
with the exception OF Sundays This is
50 OF all the marine work at this end
Of the canal. The men work In two
accordingly. The 10 hour men are Amer
leans The 2 hour men are gangs of
Frensmen and other foreigners who
came here years ago and who have
stayed with the work
We move farther out to the sea. fol-
lowing a barge which Is taking thou
sands Of tons Of rock TO be dropped in
20 the deep Pacific We pass a boat
upon which SIS a great dipper lifting
waBonloads OF earth out Of the water
and throwing them into barges. That
dipper holds two wa gonlOads Of rock
and 80 looks almost human as Ii rises
and swings about through the air Il
poises over the boat and then leisurely
drops It's Jaw throwing into the dredgs
a great guild OF tObac cO-Ifke earth
Weighing four or five tons
The Great suction DredEes.
And then there is the great steamer
dredge, the Culebra, which through