Omaha daily bee., 1912-04-14

is blowing keeps the air clear.
These cars are Lidgerwood cars, which
are unloaded with plows. There are
more than 1900 of them now In use. and
at the same time an equal number OF
steel dump cars large and small There
are more than 1000 cars moving back and
forth through the work. and on the aver
age there is a train every four min
utes all the day. through.
The Lidgerwood cars are among the
wonders OF modern excavation. There
are twenty OF them In each train. and
each car Is, should judge, about thirty
feet long. One train will measure over
600 feet on the track. and eight or nine
trains make mile. They are flat. with
wall as high as your waist at one
side, and are so connected by steel aprons
that when loaded the earth and rock
form a windrow or great bank from one
end of the train TO the other.
When they shoot out on the dumps
the engines nave sucn machinery that
they drag a mighty steel pillow over the
train and Il shovels the mass at one mo-
ton far out from the side Of the track.
After a time the pile rises. and then a
gigantic spreader-another machine which
runs on the track and does the work Of
1000 men-smooths down the dump. More
rock is put on, and finally. even with the
spreader. 1t is too high for unloading.
And then what do these engineers do?
Do they seek q new dump7 Not at all,
They merely run out the track shifter, a
mighty machine which picks up tracks,
ties and all and lifts them over so that
another dump can be made. This machine
will throw more than a mile OF track
nine feet In eight hours, and It repre-
sents the work Of 600 men. Nevertheless
1t is handled by three white men and six
laborers. Single plows have unloaded
sixteen trains in eight hours. an amount
so great that 1t would take 1900 horses
to haul It II piled upon wagons.
Look at the Rock.
But let US go on. We have already
Travelled three miles and are pretty we'll
along the cut. See how the rock runs In
lines on each side. The strata vary and
they are Of different colors. As We pass
one Of the foremen hands me piece OF
rock in which a seashell has been petri-
fled. That shell must have been depos'
tied here when the ocean was over the
tops Of these mountains.
The rock Of Gold hill is Of many eolors
As we pass through 1t Is I o'clock In the
evening and the suns rays are bringing
them out. Some Of the rock Is light red
other strata are blue and there are great
patches Of yellow and variegated hues
Much Of the wall is of the same color al
the blue clay in the great diamond pipes
OF South Africa. and. like the latter. y
weathers upon exposure to air. One oil
the workmen tells me he has picked VI
stones which are a beautiful crystal anc
which. when cut shine like a moonstone
Would 1t not be strange to find diamonds
here in eur canal bed?
| At Gold Hill.
But I despair Of giving you the scenes
Of culebra. The cut Is indescribable and
It's features change every moment. w,
stop at last under Gold hill. the top Of
which is more than so feet above sea
level. We are now on the very level Of
the canal bed. just about forty feet abov,
the surface OF the Caribbean and the Pa
ciflc ocean. We are in a rocky, ragget
gorge Of numerous levels. which rise Ak,
cliffs on each side Of US. At places tn
rock Is cracked as though an earthquake
had shattered 81. Right near here wer,
the great slides when thousands upor
| Thousands of TONS roIIed doun into In,
cut. The cracks can be seen everywher'
as we move. We climb the heights I,
culebra and as we do so find ourselves
wondering whether the whole mountain
will slide. The engineers, however, know
all the dangers. They have tested ever
part Of the excavation and understand
. Just how TO handle the canal 10 any par
Of the mountain should move. Il may b
that the slope will have to be widened.
know Il is mighty steep wall to the top
went up on my hands and feet. pantini
and resting at every few steps. Tn
exertion was terrible in this tropical ait
and II took me something like q quartz
! Of an hour 10 make my way to the top.
Five O'clock In the Cut.
I shan ask you TO take q seat with M
there and lock at the view. We are jus