The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1912-01-04
INTERESTING DATA
OF BIG CANAL

George Palmer Putnam, owner and
editor of the Bend Bulletin. who was
recently married in the East, with his
bride is spending his honeymoon in the
Canal Zone. Mr.. Putnam, who is a
son OF the noted publisher, is special
correspondent Of the 0regonian, and
writes Interestingly of the work that
Is progressing on Uncle Sans big
undertaking in the Panama region.
The following is clipped from last
weeks Oregonian:
1t is well worth the trip to Panama
Just to stand on the porch of the resi-
dent engineers Office at Gatun and
look down upon the chaos of orderly
work below the breezy little hill. The
rapidly forming Gatun Lake, the grow
ing cam, and the monoliths of the
locks below, all are visible. There are
aerial cranes, cableways, engines, con-
crete mixers, thousand and one in
genlous contrivances for the accom-
plishment of big things in little time.
Above it all hangs the smoke of the
steam workers. The dull noise of
countless horsepower, expended in
countless ways, floating up through the
hot tropical morning air, punctuated
now and then by the sharp explosions
of the 'dode" blasts, as boulder, too
large to handle comfortably, is splin-
tered by a dynamite charge. And in
vivid contrast to the scene of concen-
trated activity is Its environment, the
placid Panamanian landscape. crumpled
little hills. tousled with dull green
jungle, sleepy ard quiet and inactive
as they were when Balboa first fought
his way through them 400 years ago.
1t is fashionable for Americans
rather to scott at anything even ap-
preaching the poetic. Yet it is an un-
poetic man indeed who can look upon
this as personifying the age of energy
creating physical marvels in the torpid
land of its adoption, despite all the
enervation of its environment, sur
rounded as it is by climate and q
people whose every characteristic spelt
Incidence and incompetence until the
advent of the Gringoes, with their
science and their persistency.
The Gatun Locks are characteristic
of all the SIX locks of the canal. Here
there are three pairs. by which vessels
will be raised from the Caribbean Sea
level to the Gatun Lake, at an eleva-
tion of 85 feet. At the other end of
the lake, after 3l-mile inland cruise,
the Paciic-bound vessel will be lowered
one pair at Pedro Miguel to a level 80
feet'lower. and further, on, by means
of double pair of locks at Miraflores,
again lowered 81 feet to the Pacific
level. Eastbound boats, of course.
will simply reverse the process.
At Gatun the lock work has pro-
gressed so far that the final appear
ance is clearly evident. In fact, only
about 80 per cent of the concrete work
remains to be done.
The lock chambers have a dimension
of 1000 feet in length and 10 feet in
width, with walls and floor of con-
crete, and mitering gates at the ends.
the surface of the floor, and thence
upward will narrow until they are
eight feet wide at the top. The middle
wall, which separates the two locks of
the same flight, will be 60 feet wide
and 81 feet high, with vertical walls.
In this middle wall is being con-
structed a tunnel, divided into three
stories. or galleries. The lowest gal
lery is for drainage of the locks, the
middle for the wires that will carry
the electric current to operate the
valve machinery, and the upper for a
passageway for the operators.
The lock gates, which are now being
installed, are steel structures seven
feet thick, 65 feet long and from AZ to
50 feet high. They will weigh from
300 to 600 tons each, and will be oper-
ated by turbines from the head created
by Gatun Lake.
This head, by the way, will supply
all the electricity used along the canal,
for lock opening, lighting and minor
purposes, as we'll as for the motive
power of the Panama Railway.
The locks will have intermediate
gates, dividing the l000-foot length
into two compartments of 400 and SOC
feet. By using the smaller chambers
for vessels that they can accommodate.
a great saving in the amount of water