The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-06-04

pIoSlVcS IttOeO on the canal, He re-
plled that the consumption of dyna-
mite for twelve months was over :
100000 pounds. Every hole ~reuuire
twenty pounds, n the consumption
IN one year would more than load
tive rains Of the Lidgerwood cars
which carry the earth and rock out
Of the cut. AS l watch them charg
ing the holes, l observe that the dyna-
mite is wrapped in pink paper. and
ask Col. Gaillard the reason. He re-
plies:
That is to keep track Of it and
prevent h workmen stealing it to
dynamite the waters for fishing.
Such a charge kills the fish, and the
rise to the surface and can be easily
caught. The loss from his source
was considerable. but this pink paper
can be seen a great distance, and
now whenever we catch a man with
dynamite SO wrapped we arrest him"
How the Earth Slides.
AS we make our way down into the
cut We can see cracks everywhere. In
some places they are 50 wide that you
could put your foot in them, and
others would hold only your finger.
There are cracks all owe the hills,
and some Of them mark out bodies
Of earth which will have to be moved,
as they are already slipping down into
the ditch.
1neIc Is one great crack mere AT
Culebra which incloSes four acres,
comprising a million or more cubic
yards, which are already moving, al
though so slowly as to be lmpercep-
tible. The crack is about a foot wide
and it steadily grows. Another move
ment of the same kind is apparent at
Empire, where Col. Gaillard has his
pointing to it facetiously say that
Mother Earth is about to take her re-
venge or Engineer Gaillard for the
scars he is making upon her old body
at Culebra-
AS we go on 1 ask the colonel to tell
us something about the slides. He
shows US that these cracks mark
their beginning, and later on in the
cut we watch the earth coming Down
There are several classes Of slides.
The first are those from the surface,
consisting Of the material lying above
the bed rock. These are composed
Of clay and other earth, and they may
} have a great deal of rock mixed in
them. Such a slide is caused by the
l digging away Of the material which
I holds it in place and ais by the in
] creased weight made by the water
of the heavy rainfalls. This aids If
carrying the earth down into the
canal.
s Watching a Slide.
e Indeed, most of such slides occur
. at that time, although there are some
e also in the dry earth moving today
5 l watched one such mass OF
earth moving to-day. It com
n prised about a million cubic yards
equal to a block 800 feet square
g and 800 feet high, and was goinf
d forward at the rate of eighteen lnche
Q per day. AS | stood in the bed Q
l the canal the place where the ella.
Joined the rock could be plainly seen
q r. :, Govt of a hollow in fine hill
where the rock Of the cut had bee1
g blasted off sheer 50 that one coul'
o follow with his eye the line where tn
n clay ended and the bed rock began
There was a ninety-five-ton stean
g shovel at the foot of the rock, an
re it was catching the earth as 1t fel
h and loading the cars. 1t was work
p ing lust fast enough, / was told. t
II keep the stuff from the slide out Q
d the way. I could see the earth ia
1t now slowly and now in great masses
6 continuously dropping down into IN
vi cut.
The Mighty Cockroach.
1t These surface slides have carrie
down great masses of material TAX
the Cucuracha on the east side or tn
re canal. The word Cucuracha NEAR
y "cockroach,' and this cockroach
Of the biggest of it's kind upon eartl
It. 1t covers an area Of forty-seven acre
,g and forms a great mass Of cart
tn which has broken off 800 feet fror
re the center line of the n
lg 1t began when the French wei
tie still working, and it has caused |
Is. trouble ever since we started TO dl
We have already moved out of it
Is. mass of earth amounting to 1000
it 600 cubic yards, and it is still actiV
he At one time it came onward at IT
~ rate of fourteen feet every da
en- Nevertheless the steam shOVels ate
C n up as it came, and there is no dout
n but that the shOvels and dredgcs w
be able to care Tor It ana al the o'h'
nd slides Of the future. The din
nd slide can be handled by one shov
ST and this is so even when the slide
as a long one. At Las Cascades I shoV
to moved up and down a slide one hu.
les dred times gong pack ana loltn al