The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1912-05-03

we would get to worship the Lord one da,
in the Republic of Costa Rica. How wei
our hopes were founded will be told in oul
next chapter.
SOME DESCRIPTIONS OF WORK, PEOPLE AMI
CONDITIONS, FINANCIAL POLITICAL, ECO
N0NlICAL, RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL AS
WE SAW THEM ON THE CANAL ZONE
PANAMA.
In the preceding ch9ptor we told of being
in Colon and Cristobia We now turn aside
before leaving for Port Limon, Costa RIGA,
to give description of these places.
1.-THE WORK OF THE CANAL.
There are many of our readers who, like
ourself, have possibly formed curious ideas
of this great ditch" that is being dug by
he United States Government and wonder
how and why it will possibly take 5000, 000,-
600 to accomplish the task, when the canal
will only extend AZ miles, from the Carib-
bean Sea or Colon Bay tC the Pacific Ocean
or Panama Bay. They have wondered and
asked themselves how deep and how wide
must This Canal be dug across this Isthmus
of onlv AZ miles? To all of these questions
we have no accurate answer; but if YOU will
90 back with US from Colon to Panama or
Balboa, we will try to give you few descrip-
L"nS.
Starting out from Colon or Cristobia.
there are practically low, level, marshy or
swampy flats for about six or seven miles:
and riding on the train it looks like very
short distance when we strike the noun
tains The reader must understand that the
lsthmus is very mountainous. The little
mountains begin and rise SUCCESSFULLY high
er and higher like great mole-hils. and thew
run entirely across the Isthmus. Thew ex-
tend upward from one hundred to five hun
dred feet. We find that there is a river
running lengthwise the Isthmus with it's
course northward It's source is somewhere
in Columbia. It runs down through the
State or Isthmus of Panama in northerlv
direction, turns eastward and enters the
Bay of Colon This river, in Spanish. is
called Chagres.
We now start out of the Bay of Colon.
and go up the canal on sea-level water till
we reach Gatun. Here we strike the moun-
tains In these mountains we find Gatun
Lake The water of this lake is IS feet
above the level of the sea or the water in
Colon Bay, and here comes the great task
OF the stupendous work It is here that the
Government has to dam the Chagres River.
change it's course and turn the waters of this
river into one great lake, known as the Ca
tun Lake. The area of this great lake when
completed will be about 1914 square miles
and the depth of the water somewhere he
tween 70 and 80 feet
The work of this lock and dam is the most
wonderful engineering feat that has ever
been undertaken by civilized people. II
IS here that the great ships of commerce
and great men of war, great vessels drawing
from 20 to 40 feet of water, measuring in
length from one to eight hundred feet.
Weighing many thousands of tons. must he
taken up by the force of water and lifted
from the salt waters of the Atlantic or Ca
lbbean Sea and carried to the fresh waters
If Gatun Lake, which is made up from the
ain water flowing down the great Chagres
ilver. Here is the plateau level of the
janal, winding through the mountains:
lere train loads of earth are being excavated
o make the channel, this dirt being dumped
pom the lowlands; here may be seen the cut
ing down of the highlands and blasting out
ne rock to make a channel anywhere from
90 to 500 feet in width. The bed or chan
el of the canal must be on a dead level, so
hat the back waters from Gatun Lake will
ow back into the mountains from 40 to so
eet in depth, that is, clear back to the Pedro
l.lguel and Mirafores locks, fully 81 or 30
lilies between.
AS to how much dirt must be excavated,
ow much rock must be blasted, we cannot
ndertake to tell in this article. But it is
Efficient to say that the rock, dirt, sand
nd clay taken out of this great excavation
ould possibly build walk-way, three feet
Ugh, six feet wide on level from Wash
lgton City to Los Angeles, California.
his we do not give as exact measurement.
ut to give the reader some idea of the mil
ons of cubic yards of rock, clay and sand l
lat will be excavated to complete the canal
appeared to us from passing over the rail