The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-03-26

Moon or 1lJCfrn Dig hog unncIS
From One Side of the Globe to h
Diicr-The Height of the Canal as
compared With Champ Clark
lact, About II Great Ditch in a
Nut,helI-A Jamaica Official Who
fears for the Gulf Stream-Snap-
,nol, on the ZOne-Riding Under
Gatun Lake and Over the Culebra
tut.
downright. 1912, by Frank G.. Car
penter.)
rfepli Hotel, Ancon, Canal Zone,
p,HafnI.-I have come to Panama to
-r:t. some plain, simple letters about
h., canal. want to show you how
.aiass look to the man on the street,
ia np% they would look to you il you
am, down to the isthmus. l am not
ia engineer, and [ shall turn the Zig
mos into concrete examples. The
,.aqnt5 are 50 vast that they can
t,t il. realized in figures. And, be-
.ii.s. figures mean nothing but dizZl-
na,. 10 any one but the confessed
mathematician and scientist.
Yoti remember the story Of the
,.ati,t who Sneered at the poet who
wrote:
livery moment dies a man.
Every moment one is born.
The scientist said: why, maj
ran - absolutely wrong. Every one
who has looked into the latest sta
tissues OF the nUiiiuu IdtS eiihe
il Is in every one n One-third MN
u..s that q man is born, and that 1t
i, :. the same time that one dies.
49,. not sure as to the fractions in TINS
statement. ;,
Nell. in treating Of the canal shall
ga only in round numbers. y cuolc
ylri of earth is roughly a ton, ana q
y4rt Of earth and rock is Z big two
horse wagon load. | sna reduce the
amounts Of rock and dirt we nave
t,a.n out To bitches, u yard VIDE ana
...rd deep, and the linear length OF
TIE bitches to miles, using o,ooo dSet
I, the mile, for easy fSuflnS. lhe
actual mile is ESQ feet. put ne "
pros IF the canal are 50 vast tnat Il
4 a.. hing like that Ices not matter.
What the Excavation Means.
E,r yamDl 100, 900 cubic yardS
ot excavation would equal q ulecn q
,,yd wide, d yard deep, and 10000
wards. or 300, 900 feet, long. Now ol-
vil.as by 5000 feet to the mlle, our
d.t,h would be sixty iniies 49, ~
better. q ditch three feet woe ahu
tar.a feet deep to any locahty JUS
sisty miles from your home. A mn
E,. cubic yards would be ten tinlcS
IL, length Of 10000. 1t would equaI
steh 4 ditch 900 miles long, ana ~
10000 would equal n 6.ooo nue.
long. or twice as long as from NC"
York to San Francisco.
81. this canal deals not IN mn
Ion, and tens Of millions only. ~
~r.ares rum into the hundreds OF mn
Ions. The total amount OF our sAe"
lltian when completed, Will nav
lren $1,000, 900 cubic yards, or say
2a).Do0.OOv for easy figuring. lha
would equal a ditch q yard VIDE ant
ard deep and 12O, 900 miles long
f. would equal a ditch 50 big that lnt
ftttnst hog ever killed at ChlcaSt
could walk through 1t with its Dact
lavei with the top, ana the u.ool
would be long enough to reach lou
times around the earth at the equd'o
aad still leave 10000 miles 70 spare
II would require enough excavation I
MAKE ffteen tunnels through the cen
ter Of the earth from one SIDE 10 IN
other. and each tunnel would De oi}
enough for that fat hog to era"
through. More, it would equai
great column three feet square reach
inc from here on the earth just hal
VA to the moon. IL the tunne
through the earth was Increased |
ten or twelve feet square 1t Would no
hotd the total excavation ana Ina
tlnnei would be large enough TO driV
through the biggest wagon load Q
hay ever hauled by four horses.
The above estimates will give yO
sone idea of the work Uncle sam ma
done and is doing in lifting earth her
Ct punlma.
At the Top OF the Canal.
The canal, as every one now knows
Il - be a lock canal. The ships WI
be dragged up and let down by TN
lhasres river, which is being har
nsssed by the Gatun dam so that 1t
level viii be eighty-fve feet abOV
thtt of the Caribbean and the Pacifi
t'eean at either end Of the WaterWa!
How nigh is eighty-iye feet? 1t
ABOUT the height Of a seven-story fla
ar iess than one-sixth the height Q
tue Washington Monument. Let U
hiaNe the reduction even more con
6fetH. Take some man that every
one tnoWS. You have all seen Cham
'iark. the stately Speaker OF tn
HouSe Of Representatives. The Speak
y IS SIX feet tall. If fourteen me
'i the height of Champ Clark stOo
1'e on the head Of the other and tn
lAai Slllla nlaA tLa nart &c Atlac u