Omaha daily bee., 1912-06-02

before night. Four hundred men are
Balboa.
Colonel Gaillard tells me that there has
not been one week during the last three
years when the bottom of the canal has
not been heaving and rising, but he adds
that the heaving grows less and less as
the weight from the sides of the cut Is
removed and the upper banks properly
soped. At present the only place where
the earth is so working is right under Gold
hill. The trouble occurs within length
Of perhaps 200 feet, whereas 1t formerly
extended over 1900 feet. The humps make
1t necessary to rebuild a great deal of
track, and on this account altogether
more than 100 miles of track have already
been shifted. This Is one of the neces-
stiles Of the work, however, and 1t will
ali be remedied when the canal has been
properly sloped and the earth is again
In equilibrium.
Baby Volcanoes of Culebra.
AS we make our way through the cut
with Colonel Gaillard we can see the
baby volcanoes which have alarmed the
ignorant as to the future OF thu canal.
They are not really volc eoes, but are
heated areas where the chemical con-
dition of the earth is such that 1t oxi-
dies upon exposure to the air and gener-
ates heat. In some places the cut steams
and in others the ground Is so warm that
you cannot put your hand In IL.
These hot spots are found at various
depths, and they are often Of such tenn
perature that dynamite would explode
IL put down in a hole, drilled through
them. For this reason a long iron pipe
is dropped down into every drill hole
before 1t is charged. 1t is left there for
ten minutes and then taken out. Now.
by running the hand along the pipe one
can find whether there Is a hot place In
the hole as this heats the pipe at that
place. Some premature explosions have
occurred owing to the lack Of this test,
and am told that some of the material
now being handled would fire dynamite
IL brought near it.
Investigate a Geyser.
In going through the cut with Colonel
Gaillard the other day | climbed the side
Of a hill to the place where the steam
was pouring forth like geyser. The
smell Of sulphur and birthstone was
strong, and I had to get windward to
prevent being overcome by it. The col |
onel warned me also that the gas might
be poisonous. / reached down and put my
hand In the steam. 1t was scalding At
that place the ground was yellow with
sulphur and the steam was oozing out
over an area of several square yards
Colonel Gaillard took a manila envelope
and held 1t over one Of the cracks, and
the heat was such that 1t destroyed it. 1t
even charred a piece Of White pine lum-
ber. although it did not bring 1t to
blaze. .'.-
In looking at the earth near the steam
vents it seemed cool, and put my hand
on the surface. There was no sign Of
heat, but when / scraped away a bit Of
the crust ! was almost burned by the
contact.
In loading this stuff the mass is some
times 50 hot that the brakemen cannot
ride on the loads, and they hang outside.
holding on by the irons, as the trains
move on toward the dump.
/ would say, In closing, that there is no
danger from these ht ated areas. The ge-
ologlsts Of the commission have examined
them, and they say ghey are due to the
oxidation of pyrites and other materials
which generate heat on their exposure to
air. .< FRANK G. CARPENTER.