The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-06-02

hump saw to-day will be all out Of
the way before night. Four hundred
mon arc working at II and sending
1t down to Balboa.
colonel Gaillnrd tells me that tbcr,
has not been ono week during ~
past three years when tho boitom NJ
the canal has not been h.avinr ,nd
rising. but he adds that tina heavtng
grows less and less as the weight
from the sides of tho cut is removed
ana inc upper banks properly sloped.
AT present tho only place whore 49,
earth Is so working is right nndcr
Gold Hill. The trouble occurs within
a length of perhaps 200 feet. wh.reaa
IT formerly extended over 1000 fest
me humps make It necessary to ro
build great deal of track and q,
this account altogether more Than 1o9
miles o. track have already beon
shifted This is one Of tho necessi,ies
OF the work. however. and il will all
be remedied WHEN the canal has been
properly slopcd and the Garth is again
In eGuilibruium
The Rainfall.
Tho surface slides will ltleoyvi.o
as soon as the natural slooo NJ ,hn
Sa,"h mas pecn reached, a!thoupn 4,
.n's account VIII have TO bc tsken
OF me immense rainfall. which adds
to 'he weight. The rains here are Of
zen exceedingly heavy. retardinr ~,
work. During the wet season INC c,a,.
lows down IKE river and IL ,ake.
'ihc 10 clear the railroad Of mud IA
an instance OF the rainfall. there .r.
s"i"e places on the lsthmus where tr
naS spurs as heavy as anywhere in
tho world. AT Porto Belio I'm Decc,,.
Der. I'll, two and half inches n.
water fen In three minutes tho r.fr
iaishs In sn"cts so thick tina, onn
So"h hardly see his hand bcfore mis-
iace' HAD 1t continued al that rat,
=" 'n, man standing still on Nat plain
ihclosed by water-t!ght walls would
nave ioeen drowned in two hours ana
ala the rain last all dag at It's clos.
the water would be 20 feet deep
Such rains arc extraordinary hsra
AoF e'en short time and the rainfall
u. 'uh ord is far less than at Porto
BeiIo Nevertheless. Il is such ina.
1t must Do rcckoned with in connection
with slides.
The hnby Volcanoes of Cuicbrn
AS we make our way through tho
cut with Col. Galllard 1se can 400 ,hn
baby yoicanoc. which have aia,m.d
the ignorant as 10 the future of ths
canal. Thsy are not really volca-
nos, brt are heated arets where tho
chemical condition OF the ear;h is
euch 'nat 1t oXidizes upon exposure
to tho air and generates heat; In
some places tho cut streames. and In
others.thc ground Is SO warm ,aat YOU
cannot put your hand in i;.
These hot spots are found at va
rious depths. and they ar. often OF
such temperature that dynamt,e
would explode II put into hole
drilled through them For this reason
a long iron pipe is dropped down INTO
a hole before & !s charged I, e. l,ft
there tor ten minutes and then taken
out. Now by running tho hand
er there is hot place in the hole as
this heats tho pipe at that place
Some premature explosions have oc-
Cured owing 10 the lack OF th!s tost
and am told that some OF the ma
terial now hcing handled would nre
dynamite II brought near It
Iuvr.tignte n Gcyser.
In going through the cut with Col.
Ga!llard the other day climed mo
SIDES OF "a h!il 10 the place where the
stream was pouring !orth like gov
ser The smell OF sulphur and brlm-
stone vas strong. and had 10 get 10
"ihdward TO prevent being Overcome
o. IL Ths colone! warned me- also
ihat the gas might be poisonous
reached down and put my hand In ,h4
stream 1t Mas scalding. ~ .hat
place the ground was yellow with
supher and the stream was oozinE out
over an area OF secsFal square yards.
ana held II over one Of tho cracks
and tn heat was such that IL destroy
ed IT, It even charrcd piece Of
white pine lumber although IL did
not bring 1t tn blaze.
In looking AT tho earth near the
steam wants IL seemed cool. and mn,
my hand on the surfase There was
no sign ~ heat but when scraped
away DIT Of the crust was almost
burned rs tho contact
In loading This stuff the mass is
something hot that the hrakemen
cannot ride on tho loads and they
hang outsid~ holding on by tna irons
as the trains move on toward the
dump
would say. In closing. tina, there
is no danger from these heated areas.
The biologists Of tho comniss on have
examined them and they say they arc
due to the oxidation of pyrites and
other materials which generate heat
on their exposure 10 air
Copyright 1912, by Frank G
Carpenter