The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1913-10-07
To Meet Next Week When
Dixie Is Blown Up
The Panama Canal Is Nearly
Ready For Use

dixie, which will mean the flooding of
Culebra Cut and the practical COM
pletion of the water connection be-
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific
ocean. Gamboa Dixie is a great arti-
fetal embankmnet at the northern
end of the famous Culebrs Cut. 1t
was erected to prevent the waters of
the Chagres River and Of Gatun Lake,
created artificially by impounding the
waters of the Chagres River. from
flowing into the Culebra Cut while the
excavating work was going on there.
This dixie is nearly 1000 feet long, 4S.2
feet high, 1S3 feet wide at the base
and 65 feet wide at the top.
Gatun Lake, the waters of which
will be released by the dynamiting of
the Gamboa Dixie, came into existence
on April %, 1910, when the western
diversion dam at Gatun was closed
and the flow from the Chagres and
Trinidad rivers was forced through
the artficially constructed spillway
channel Since then the waters in the
lake have risen gradually and last
Fall the rising of the lake caused the
waters of the Chagres River to back
up against the great dixie at Gamboa,
which protected Culebra Cut. The
flow and the rising continued and for
several months the water backed up
against the Gamboa Dixie has been
higher than the bottom of the finished
portion of Culebra Cut
Since the morning OF June 27 last
the gate of the sluices through the
ogee of the Gatun spillway has been
closed. At that time the surface of
the water Gatun Lake was 4S.3 feet
above sea level. having been main
tanned at that level since January l,
1913, when the sluice gates were open
ed. The spillway has been completed
and the sluice gates will not be open
ed again before the final completion
of the canal. This means that the
lake on is final rise to. the operating
level. Under conditions of normal
runoff of the Chagres and other
streams which are pouring their flow
into Gatun Lake, where the water is
held confined, it is believed that Ca
tun Lake will reach its final level of
,h
about December l of this year. If the
calculations of the engineers have
been correct, the diversion of the wat
ers of the Gatun Lake into Culebra
Cut next week should give twenty
one foot channel through the cut. The
town of Gorgona would be covered
with water and wiped off the map.
The top of the dke at Gamboa is
7S2 feet above sea level, but, even
if the dixie should not be blown up
the water in the lake would not reach
that height for some time. The wa
ters now impounded in Gatun Lake
represent the draining of basin com
prising 1,20 square miles. When the
surface of the water in the lake rises
to 85 feet, the level at which it will
| be maintained for the operation OF
the canal, the lake will have an area
of 164 square miles. 1t will be the
| largest artificially created lake in the
world. There will be 18S,000,0 100000
cubic feet of water in the lake When
the level of the lake is IS feet above
sea level there will be depth of 4,
| feet in Culebra Cut.
After Gamboa Dixie has been dyna
mited and the water from Gatun Lake
has flooded Culebra Cut, great dredge:
will be put to work to dredge the
channel and to remove the enormou!
mass of material that will naturally
be swept into the Cut by the thrush
ing waters of the lake and any mass
es of rock and soil that may slide
into the cut, having been shaken loose
by the shock of the explosion.
Although the flooding of the Guile
bra Cut will be an event of great i'm
portance, highly significant in its bear
ing upon the final achievement of tbs
canal, as it will mean the supplying
of the last link connecting the Allan
tic with the Pacific ocean, the blow
ing up of Gamboa Dixie will not b'
made the occasion of any extensive
official celebration. There will be nj
elaborate exercises and the program
for the occasion is extremely simp!
and matter-of-fact
Col. Goethals, the guiding genius Q
the canal, clad in the white soldier
uniform which has made him cor
spieuous figure during the work u
the canal, will occupy position jus
beyond the mud of the Gatun dan
With him will be a little staff of ot
] II 4. - IT,,