El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-16

TO completion that all but II Of the so
/ miles Of the canal are under water. all
] but three miles OF the IL yet in the
/ dry are completed, so far as the tax
I ing out OF material is concerned The
/ three miles where excavation Stfll is
! going on are to be found just above
/ the Pedro Miguel lock and just below
] the MiraflOres lOCkS-less than two
/ miles N Culebra cut and a little more
/ than one mile in the sea level channel
] below MiratlOres. BY the time the
/ work on those three miles of the chan
] mel Is completed the water in the
| Gatun Lake viii have reached a level
I which VIII give 80 feet of water in
] Culebra cut, enough to float the big
| gest ship that now sails the seas to-
| ward Panama.
/ Had it not been for unexpected
| trouble with the slides at Culebra and
/ Cucaracha the canal would have been
/ ready IOr the water before the water
| was ready for the canal As far back
/ as last May the resident engineer in
| Culebra cut. Mr.. linn. announced that
/ there was channel through the cut
I which could accommodate a ship of 80
{ feet draft But a few days after he
made this announcement Cucaracha
/ Slide began to play its old trick of
I flowing down the mountain side like
: a glacier 1t spread all the way across
] the cut and turned its toe" skvward
/ up the bank of the other side. As if
! this were not enough, no sooner had
I the engineers reformed their line o.
D
Cucaracha had done until they were
! exposed to a flant attack by a great
I Dreah In the west bank thousand
Z yards or more north of CucaraCha Be
tween the two there were some rather
anxious moments for the engineers
GOcthaTs Discouraged.
One afternoon a friend haDDene0
INTO Col Geo W. GOcthaIs office to
inquire how the work was progressing
IT makes one feel hOmcsIcz.' he re-
piled, to see how persistent these
sides are. Cucaracha has ceased to
Dolner me a great deal, this morning
i tramped all over il, and found than
! about all that can slide is sliding. ]
saw the basalt rock peepinE through
at many places. and that means thar
the end IS IN sight so FAR as Cucaracha
Is concerned But over on the west
bank a CreyaSSe has opened uD which
II Il proves as bad as it may prove
VIII ada q large quantity 10 the mater
lal 70 be taken out But at their
worst the slides afford no reason why
we shall not have the canal full of
water this fall-rather, they afford
it fun.
We will have 20 feet Of water avail
able In Gatun Lake by October" he
continued, and by allowing it to come
into the cut we viii at once get the
benefit Of the hydrostatic pressure OF
the water, which viii help to hold
back any further slides that m.-ht
otherwise revelOp-
There is another consideration that
calls for our best efforts to get water
INTO the canal the coming fall II we
should nos do so we viii have to let
the water brought down nv the Cha eros
river during the present rainy season
run on to the sea Then we would
month or so later have a complete
CahaI win It's highest part high and
ory, and be compelled to wait another
run year for water to fill it In the
meantime we would lose the use of a
Sot2,yvO'vv0 investment for year; we
would lose all the advantage that has
resulted from the faithful work OF a
faithful army in Fastening the date
or completion and further than that
We would go up against the date of
the oIIiclal opening without any train
ing IN the handling Of ships without
any experience in meeting the prob
lens Of operation. and with a year Of
Losl time IN mOidlng permanent or
ganizatiOn for the operation Of the
big waterway I feel that il is al
most vital that we shall get the water
IN this 1all. and to that end the canal
army is WOrking-with no difficulties
ahead Of them, so far as engineering
achievement"
Every Preparation Made.
Every preparation is now going FOR
ward to turn the water into Culebra
cut in October. Big pipe lines are be-
ing laid through which the dredEes
viii pump the material so far out into
the jungle that it cannot find its way
lock gates in the upbound chambers
at MiraflOres is being hastened with All
possible dispatch. the contractor promfs- I
ing their completion. by October / at
the latest The railroad rrestle across /
the canal AT the south end Of Culebra
cut has been constructed so that a sec
ton can he taken out to permit the
Pacific dredges TO pass up into the
sllGe region Furthermore, a hydraulic
sIulclnS plant has been put into com
mission back of CucaraCha Slide to at
tack II by hydraulic methods from the
rear, and that plant is now in opera I
ton. Cucaracha slide reaches so far
away from the cut that part of it slopes
over into another valley. and this is be |
ing S7-tceG cu~v
Presents Difficult Problem.
Inc ntt-pd uy watch Culebra cut !
viii be filled with water is interesting
dixie built across the north end of {
The cut at Gam5Oc now prevents any Of !
the waters OF the Chagres river i'm
pounded in Gatun Lake. from flowing /
into the nine mile stretch Of the cut. |
When they get ready to blow out this 4
dixie they cannot merely blow il out ]
and let great rush of water sweep ]
through the cut to its end at Pedro 1
llSuei' Tor that would carry devasta-
uon IN its wake Rather. they will
probably build a small subway in the
dlke. and water viii be admitted slowly /
through this until the water in the cut
reaches the same level as the water on
s-NAN Va the Qlke- mis- nTO- ]
cess may be aided by large svphons /
and pumps, and also by a few small /
rivers
Now that the opening Of the canal to /
ratIlc is only few short months /
away colonel Goethals is particularly
anxious that the work of perfectinn- a {
permanent organization shall be taken !
up and completed One by one the best /
men on the Isthmus are leaving to !
enter private employment. With no
permanent head to assure them Of posi-
lions under the permanent organfza-
ton. there is nothing left for them to
90 put TO go when the opportunity pre-
Sents itself The result is that the
force gradually is disinteErati7r' as the
work moves on to completion and the
men are laid off here and there. The
canal army is the cream Of q ten wear
process Of elimination, and it is of
prime Importance that all the advan-
taEe of this skimminE process he nor
lost to the United states.
tomorrow; Camp for Sick Babies. }
Letters to The Herald