The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1912-11-28
TO open CANAL
OCT 70, 1913; !
Panama Waterway Is Fast
Nearing Completion.
OREGON TO LEAD THE Way.

BattIeship May Have the Honor Of the
First Passage In Recognition of Her
Famous Trip Around the Horn Dur
ing the Spanish -American War.
The Panama canal will be opened for
traffic Oct. %, 1918, and the first ship
will pass through the great waterway
On that date. ~.....-
An American battleship, probably the
Oregon, will have the honor of first
gliding through the waterway that will
connect the worlds two greatest
oceans. 1t will be sent on up to San
Francisco. The official date for the
opening Of the canal is Jan. 1, 1915;
but, barring mishaps, it will be opened
to commerce long before that. The
lam, locks and spillways are complet-
ed, and the digging will be finished by
next September.
The passing of the first ship through
the canal will be a momentous event
IN all parts Of the world, except pos
slbly in Panama itself. It is not prob
able that there will be any ceremonies
connected with the first actual demon
stration of the working of the big
ditch. The formal celebration Of the
opening Of the waterway will be post
poned until the canal is thrown open
to public use about Jan. 1, 1914, a
year ahead of the date originally set.
1t has been urged that the battle
ship Oregon have the honor of the first
passage, but because it is a big vessel
and the men who will operate the
canal mechanism have not yet learned
their work it may be that a small gun
boat will be the first to be ''tried out"
In the waterway To the Oregon GER
tainly will go the credit of being the
first battleship to make the passage
In honor Of her famous trip around the
Horn during the Spanish-American
war
No Trouble With Locks.
Officials anticipate no trouble in the
working of the electrically operated
locks. The excavation and concrete
work has reached such a stage that
there will be little difficulty in getting
all the mechanism Of the big project in
full working order by Oct. %, 1913.
The amount of water in the big
Gatun lake dam, one Of the canal chan
nels, the fall from which generates
power for operating the locks, can now
be figured 70 within a thousand gal
Ions, and the exact level of the lake
will be known to fraction of an inch.
The pressure on the gates and rate Of
intake and outflow will be also known
with such scientific accuracy, the en-
gineers say, that when the canal is
opened all they will have to do is to sit
quietly and watch the operation
Hence there will be little fuss and
feathers about the opening. The real
big time will come when the formal
ceremonies are held on Jan. 1, 1915, or
as near that time as will be convenient
to Uncle Sans officialdom.
From Oct. %, 1913, to Jan. 1, 1915,
when the canal will be open informal
" to commerce, the men who will op-
crate the canal Notwithstanding lock
controls, electric towing engines, etc.
will be ceaselessly drilled in their work
so that they will be absolutely familiar
with their duties.
Details to Be Settled.
There are still some details of opera
ton that remain to be settled Out of
the working Of the canal will grow a
new species Of job-canal pilot Each
vessel going through will be compelled
to engage a specially licensed govern
ment pilot
Whether a charge will be made for
this service is one Of the things the
officers must decide during the coming
winter.
No vessels will be allowed to go
through the locks or the approaches to
the locks under their own steam. Upon
approaching the locks they will be COM
PEELED to shut off their own motive
power and tie up with the electric loco
motives, which will pull them through.
The rate of speed at which vessels
may go will be limited. Atpoints where
the canal banks diverge to space of
over 500 yards and in Gatun lake they
will be allowed to steam as fast as
they want to. At the narrower points
extreme precautions will be taken to
prevent collisions between vessels or