St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1913-02-28

lily used, such as bolts and nuts, pack
ings, and similar pieces.
The train takes the small machine
shop directly to the shovel to be re.
paired and In most cases does all that
Is needed without its leaving its posi-.
tion or losing n minute from the work,
an excellent example of real efficiency.
Sometimes n whole new arm or boom
Is swung into place by the wrecking
crane and n trip TO Empire with It's
attendant delay Is avoided. And these
arms or booms weigh several tons and
are not easy 20 handle. But the aim
Of everything Is 20 keep things NOV.
ing and push the job through TO com.
plotion.
AZ Empire, too, is the main air.
COMPRISING plant Of the largest air.
COMPRISING system In the world
Three stations-Las Cascndas, Empire
and Rio Grande-pump into about IL
miles OF 10inch pipe limo, which car.
rics compressed air TO drive the drills
for preparing the rock for blasting.
Aside from the strictly repair work
20 the locomotives and cars the shops
Mt Gorgona can be called the manu-.
featuring shops Of the zone. A good
sized foundry equipment Is provided
for making iron, brass and steel cast.
ings for all purposes needed In the
canal work. And while II IL the intcn.
tion 90 buy as much material ns pos.
siblo, II has been found necessary TO
make many repair parts which should
have been made In the States on ne.
count Of the short sighted policy Of
some manufacturers In charging exor.
bitant prices for repair parts. II has
repeatedly been found cheaper to
make n pattern and casting and then
machine the casting than 10 pay tho
price asked aud wait for II 10 be made.
Nearly all the machinery which has
gone 60 tho Isthmus has been found 10
require strengthening 10 stand up un.
der the severe work Of the canal OK.
cavation. Crane arms have 20 be rein
forced, ear sides strengthened and
other machinery parts increased In
proportion. The old French rails have
been largely used for such reinforcing
aud there seems to bc no end of them.
They make excellent l-beams for the
sides of dump aud other ears and are
also used in reinforcing concrete
structures in many places, even includ-
ing the edges of curbing for street
sidewalks. Bridges Of short spans have
also been built of these rails, aud they
have been put 10 more uses than can be-
mentioned offhand. Whoever bought
them bought them with great liberal
ity, 10 put the matter mildly,
Everything about the whole canal Is
on a big scale. oven though the sue
cess Of the largest may depend on the
proper working out of the smaller de-
tails. The locks at Gatun will lift tho
vessels SO feet from the sea level 10
that Of the lake, which Is formed by
the huge Gatun dam. The lake will
cover l6i square miles and flow the
water from the locks at Gatun through
the great Culebra cut and 20 the locks
ON the Pacific side at Pedro Miguel. |
The locks will accommodate vessels
| 900 feet long by 40 feet wide and
drawing As feet of water. But as the
average vessel in the tropical trade is
under 600 feet long, auxiliary or in
termediate gates are provided so that
40 per cent of the water for locking |
vessels can be saved unless the vessel
exceeds 600 feet.
The Gatun locks are about l 1-3
miles long, of solid concrete, and form
the largest concrete structure in the
world. They are double, to allow the
passage of vessels in both directions