The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-04-09

&1D~ III AIC
mo,I, Drehgcs and What They Are
Doine-They Suck Up Rocks and
cannon Balls Through Steel
Straus-Dynamiting the Bed Of
thc Pacific-A Trip Up the Chan
mel With Engineer Comber-Thc
tanks Look Like Those OF the Jor-
dan-Out to the Islands Where the
ror,ifiCzltiOns Are Building-Light-
inu the Canal II O Uncle Sam
Has EnSlave<i the -
rophc Joshua a Back Number.
copyright, 1912, by Frank G. Car
penter.)
BALBOA. Canal Zone, Panama.
Ny last letter described the Allan
,. cud of Uncle Sans great water
Nuv. am writing this at what will
Ia. The great port on the Pacific, the
new town of Balboa: 1t is now made
~ of shops and the homes Of en-
rloves, but rivers Of earth and rock
are pouring down into the flats to
build up the space for the Wharves,
and & mighty b~reakwater is moving
uut from the coast to the Island OF
\aos. a distance of more than three
miles. This breakwater is almost
Completed. 1t runs parallel to the
a1is Of the canal prism, and rises
above sea level to the height or a
three or four story GUS ! can see
Tie ears running out upon 1t ana
dumping their great masses Of rock
a~ write.
\ Mighty Wall.
Fhr hreakWater has almost reached
Naos island. and it now contains mil
lions Of cubic yards of earth anc
rock. all of which have come from
the crest Of the mountains at the
t'ulebra cut. TO give YOU some idea
~ 90 IF vnrE N al - r
which it has taken to make it, l vii
SAY that when completed it will con
Gain about IS,OQ0,000 cubic yards
This is enough to make a wall al
most twice as wide as Pennsylvania
avenue in Washington, taller thar
the tips OF the feathers which crow
the head Of the Goddess IN the DOM
Of the National Capitol, and Ions
enough To reach from the Whit
House clear down Pennsylvania V
nue. All the way to the Library build
ing. II would make a wall 800 fee
high. 800 feet thick and 5,400 fee
long. These quantities are SO Vas
that they amaze me. They seem to-
hi@ for my little red head. | wOul
say, however, that the estimate j
based on the figures Of Enginee
i,ousseau. who states hat a miliiO
,nhic yards Of earth and rock wi
tGAat a cube measuring 500 feet .
each side.
Fighting Old Ocean.
This great breakwater is necessarA
1t protects the canal from an Ocea
current which here whirls aTOun
through the sea, sweeping up tn
eastern shore OF Panama bay an
then coming down the western shor'
Sc that It crosses the canal from eas
to west, The current is sc stron
that il carries quantities Of silt an
refuse. and this is liza bic 10 clog tn
eanai channel. Therefore the Ell
rlBcers ave put in the breahwate
which shuts the current out frO1
the low portion Of the canal an
forces it to run north and south
the channel. The tides here rise {
high As twenty feet, and a part
the land near the hreakwater is bal
at low tide. although when the tide
high eighteen or twenty feet OF W;
ter flows over it.
4 Civilian Engineer.
But come with me and let us Ia
a trip through the canal as it ru1
n and out to the Pacific ocean.
made such a trip today with Mr.. '
Il. 'omber. the engineer in charge
this part of the work. He is a m;
b understands his job and WI
has won his way to the top by +
work as a civilian. The most of Il
engineers here belong to the arm
Ihev are graduates of West Point al
they have been on government WO
all their lives. On this Pacific {
vision there are many civilians. CO
ohel Goethals uses the best men
An get. whether they be military
'iNi. and he seems to have bunch
The civilians into this end of t
work. Mr.. COmber is now a man
nifty or more. He is an Englishm;
bN birth, but he ran away from hol
TO this country as a boy Of fife
hnd three years after began Wo
with the Mississippi river commissj
w 1913. lie started in there as
AMMAN for Il term OF three mont
ana STAYED on the job eighteen yea
AT he end OF that time he accept
q position AS resident engineer wi