El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-31

are
devices to see that they do not injure
the locks or themselves on their way
through.
There are four towing locomotives,
which run upon tracks on each side
of the lock Two of them are fastened
to the front Of A vessel, moving IL on
ward, and the other two are on the
tracks at the rear holding II back so
that it can 20 only so fact. The rate
fixed it to be two miles an hour and
the locomotives will prevent it being
more or less than this.
These locomotives will run on a level
excepting where they pass from one
lock to another, where they will climb
up or down heavy grades. Between the
lower and intermediate locks at Gatun
for example, the dl1ference in elevation
| is over 29 feet.
There are to be two systems of
| tracks, one for towing and the other
! for the return of the locomotives when
! not towing. The towing tracks will
/ have a center rack, and the locomo-
| tiYes will always operate on this rack
| on the return track there will be also
/ a track on the incline between the locks.
| but elsewhere the cars will run by
The motive power for running these
locomotives viii be electricity, gener-
| ated by the spillWay of the Gatun dam.
| This it is believed, will furnish enough
! electricity not only for all the ma
/ enough to run the trains Of the Pana-
/ ma railroad.
Chains to Hold the ships Back.
In addition to the locomotives, the
/ locks have other means of keeping the
| steamers from striking the gates or
! going too fast Among these are chains
! which run across the lock chambers
! from one side to the other.
These chains are so powerful that
! they could stop a INSTRUMENTATION
vessel going at the rate of four miles
! an hour within a distance of so feet
| without inluring. either the ship or
| the chain. The chains run across from
! lock wall to lock wall, and from the
/ approaches passing down into holes in
/ the walls in such way that they play
! out gradually when struck by the yes
! sci. retarding them and bringing them
| to a stop The chains are also so ar
! ranged that they can be lowered and
! dropped down into a groove in the bot
I tom of the lock floor, so that the
/ vessel steams out over their tops
| These chains are enormous. Each
| link will be oval in shape. Its longest
/ diameter will be as big as the largest
! dinner plate. and the steel of the link
I will be about as thick as your wrist
I In addition the gates will be double. the
| upper gate acting as a protection to
! break before any damage could come
In addition to all this there are to be
/ emergency dams at the upper end OF
each set of locks which will work
something like a drawbridge and thus
protect the locks.
The Water for the Canal
One of the live questions in connee-
/ ton with the locks is whether the
/ ChagFes river can furnish enough
water to keep them full. and still ac-
J comnodate all the traffic that will
( pass through the canal The engineers
| saw that it can. The Gatun lake is
| now filling, and when the canal is COM
/ pleted we will nave 164 square miles
| of water held back by the dam. and
! this in addition to the regular flow OF
| the Chagres. We shall also have some
! thing like two square miles Of water
! in the BIirafIores lake
Engineer Rousseau says that the
/ water supply will amount to more than
/ 500, 900. 600 tons per annum, and Col
! Goethals says that there viii be plenty
] to accommodate So vessels a day, going
! through the canal and that TINS Wouid
! be more than could pass through IN
! the space of q hours 1t is doubtful
/ whether such z traffic viii ever arise
! Even 40 vessels day on the average
( for 800 days of the year would mean
/ 1900 vessels, and this is about three
( times the number which is now going
| through the Suez canal The number
! there amounts to something IKE 4VU0
/ and the tonnage is in the neigh horhood
4 of &c. eGe. 0G5 per annum. which IS Inst
about half the gross tonnage passing
! through our canal IN Sault Ste Marie.
Uncle Sans New Lake.
And just here I would like to say
: something about Uncle Sans new lake
/ which is now rising out Of the jungle
I The Gatun dam will soon be finished
and it will hold back the Chagres.
4 sheets of water on earth. The steam
] ers will enter it from the verdue-elad
| mountains at Culebra cut or from
/ the massive locks at Gatun, and viii
I move for twenty-odd miles through
1 scenery as beautiful as that OF the
Z island sea of Japan, or OF the IhousanQ
| Islands of the St. Lawrence me canal
| channel runs in and out among Islands,
/ covered with tropical plants and trees
! which will then be the home OF mon
I KEYS birds. deer and other wild game,
for the idea is to drive man from the
! Canal Zone and make 1t one great
! game preserve. These islands are well
! fitted for that as far as aquatic erea-
| lures are concerned Wild ducks are
| already beginning to come, and we
| shall have parrots and paroquets ana
| possibly the gOrgeOusly plumed macaW
The Gatun lake will drain a basin
| bigger than Rhode Island. 1t viii have
/ an area equal to 500 quarter-sectlon
/ farms. and over this the water IS fast
rising Much Of the bed is still COW
! cred with vegetation and with forests
/ half sun1en in the waters
Uncle Sam Playing Noah.
One of the interesting features Of
/ tempt to play Noah. He has warned
! the inhabitants of the basin to come
/ out, and has asked them to get on his
/ ark by which he means the highlands
J outside. The natives however, refuse
/ to believe in the deIuge. They say that
/ the French threatened them with the
! same fate, and that nothing came Some
! of them have stayed in their homes un-
! til the steam shovels have lifted their
/ front door steps, and others until the
/ water has covered their floors Now
/ they all have boats tied to their houses
and there will be no loss of life as the
/ flood comes.
The government has already torn
! down and carried away all the heavy
/ C~r
! A number of the towns have disap-
J peared, and masses Of ruins lie along
| what was once the main railroad track
/ Old Bohio has been swallowed, and the
same is true of other towns In tear
| ing down the houses one was found
/ which was built of solid mahogany.
/ The lumber of this has been saved and
! remade into furniture.
Frank C. Carpenter.