Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1913-10-09

neerS tnat tnelF HOrk IS now pTdClIcal'
ly finished
The excavation OF the Culebra cut,
into which the water has just been
turned, has been one of the engineer
ing feats connected with the building
of the canal, and has caused the en-.
gineers more trouble than any 9th
err portion of the big ditch" To
Col ID. d. Gaillard the engineer Of
the central division, is given the
! credit for carrying this portion of the
work through to a successful termina-
ton,
The disastrous slides In the cut
were discouraging to the engineers,
multiplying in a few hours the work OF
many weeks, but Colonel Gaillard and
his assistants have kept untiringly at
their work, and at last have conquer
ed the treacherous banks Of the deep
cut.
A little more than a month ago the
giant steam shovels finished their
work in the Culebra cut. Since that
time the workmen have been busy
removing the shovels, the railroad
tracks and other machinery used in
the excavation work There is still
some dirt 10 be removed from the cut
before the channel is finished, but
this work viii be done by suction
dredges floated on the waters OF the
canal, and will not interfere with nav
igation of the waterway by such bRats
as may be allowed to pass through.
Immense Artificial Lake Created.
Gatun lake, the waters of which are
now flowing into the Culebra cut, is
the pivotal point about which the EN-.
tire canal system revolves, and the
creation of that lake, together with the
construction of Gatun dam, constr
tuted another great engineering feat
In the construction of the CanaL
Gatun lake is an artificial body of
water covering about 164 square miles
of territory, and was created by the
building of the immense Gatun dam
and the impounding Of the wild wa
tiers Of Chagres river Beneath the
waters of Gatun lake lies what few
months ago was the valley of the
Chagres, dotted with native villages
and plantations. The channel of the
canal passes through this lake for
distance Of 20 miles with width vary
ing from 500 to 1000 feet
At the northern end of the lake
is the Gatun dam, which is in reality
an artificial ridge more than a mile
and half long, Figures alone give
an adequate idea of the magnitude of
this dam Nearly half mile wide at
its base, about 400 feet wide at the
water surface, and 100 feet wide at
the top, the dixie which many engi-
neers predicted would never with
stand the rush OF the Chagres' wa
ters. is admitted now to be SO strong
that nothing short of an earthquake
such as has never been known in the
Central American region can harm
It. The Gatun dam, Gatun lake and
the Culebra cut, so gigantic are the
proportions of each, dwarf the other
engineering works of the canal that
in themselves have challenged the ad-
miration of the world.
World Gives Cocktails Credit.
To Col. George Goethals, chairman
of the isthmian canal commission,
chief engineer of the commission and
governor of the canal zone, the world
will give the credit for the successful
completion of the Panama canal. Col.
onel Goethals could not have accom-
! plished his task without the assist
ance of such men as Col. H. F.
Hodges. Lieut.. Col. David Du B. Bail
lard and Lieut.. Col William l.. Sibert.
army engineers, who have had charge
of various phases of the work, but
Colonel Goethals Is recognized as the
real builder Of the canal.
When Colonel Roosevelt, then presi-
dent. first sought chief engineer for
the canal. he picked Wallace, a civil
ian but Wallace soon resigned. II is
said that he almost worried himself
into n decline because Of the fear that
the canal would finish him before he
could finish the canal John #. Stew
ems. a noted engineer, also a civilian,
succeeded wallace, but he quit within
a year.