Omaha daily bee., 1912-03-31

sheet. with many islands spottIng the
surface. Later on It will be seventy
feet higher and will cover such a vast
extent that sitting on the steamers some
parts of 1t extend beyond the range OF
the eye.
The Locks at Gatun.
Now take a rapid view of the locks
They lie below US In three pairs OF 81.
gantic stone chambers. one above the
other, covering a distance OF more than
half mile. and containing material
enough to build a little city OF sky
scrapers. The material is concrete and
II looks like stone. Connected with that
In the dam its amount is altogether more
than 20o.0Oo cubic yards, or more than
enough to make wall six feet wide
and six feet high OF solid concrete from
New York to Washington. The dam
alone contains more than 100000 cubic
yards of material. and enough earth has
been put there TO build q roadway foot
thick and nine feet wide, IL earth and
rock could be laid on the water from
Shanghai in China across the Pacific
ocean TO the United States. and across
the United States and the Atlantic 10
Europe, and 1000 miles farther on into
the heart OF that continent.
Looking at the dam and the locks from
here. you get a faint conception OF their
immensely and cost. This impression will
be even less when the water is turned In.
Then everything will be hidden and It
will be hard to realize that S40,0oO.0oo or
So.ooo,ooo have been spent in making the
construction now lying below Us.
The 2oo,0oO cubic yards Of concrete
alone, so Colonel sibert tells me, cost
something like 81 per yard. or sl4Ooo.oOo.
while the excavation cost upward Of :S-
oOc,ooo more. The gates to all the locks
of the canal are TO cost over s50p.Ooo
This is a pretty penny. and It is only
when you see the mighty doors, as tall
as an eight-story house, made in hun
dreds Of thousands of pieces. fitted to-
gether like a watch. that you realize
where that money has gone.
A Look at the Dam.
But let me give you look at the dam.
II is more like the side hills Of a great
field plowed by the gods than like any
kind Of masonry construction. II is, IN
fact. mountain Of earth and rock. which
the slaves Of Uncle Sans Aladdin lamp
have lifted up bodily and dropped down
between two other little mountains, shut
ting In the valley Of the Chagres and
making lake which will be 1s4 square
miles in extent. II Is dam Of earth and
rr74o -
terisl a mile and half long and a half
mile wide at the base. 1t will be less
than 100 feet high. The ground slopes UP
gradually from the lake and slopes grad
ually down on the other side. II Is more
like q hill than anything else, like a bar
rier created by nature rather than man.
At the top It viii be only 100 feet wide,
and the water VIII come within perhaps
thirty feet Of II. At the back, or facing
the Atlantic, il will probably be smoothed
off and sodded; and. a. Colonel sibert
facetiousiy says. It might be turned into
a golf links using the sIllway for
hazard.
And now Just a word about the spill
way. This is the overflow OF the dam.
II Is right in the center and It con-
sists Of a concrete-lined opening. 1T
tie more than q quarter Of a mile long
and 30 feet wide. which runs down
through the dam TO a point about
ten feet above sea level. The crest Of
the dam viii be Us feet above that level
The spillEay dam will be fitted with
gates: and the machinery which will
regulate the water level Of the lake. This
masonry is all In place. IT Is semi
circular in shape and II looks as IL It
were made Of Berrea sandstone.
Making n Mountain.
In ny trip today I was shown how the
dam was constructed BY a succession