Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1913-10-08


neers that their work is now practical
ly finished.
CuIebra Cut Caused Trouble.
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
er portion of the big ditch" To
Col. d. 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 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 CulSbra cut, Since that
time the workrnen have been busy
removing the shovels. the railroad
tracks and other machinery used In
the excavation work There is still
some dirt to be removed from the cut
before the channel Is finished. but
this work will be done by suction
dredges floated on the waters of the
viii int Will poU
igation of the waterway by such boats
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 reTcivee, and the
creation of that lake, together with the
construction of Gatun dam. consti-
tuted another great engineering feat
in the construction of the canal.
Gatun lake is an artificial body OF
! water covering about 1874 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 Ot GdLuu IdhS llco wAoS q 10"
months ago was the valley Of the
! Chagres. dotted with native villages
and plantations. The channel of the
| canal passes through this lake for a
| distance of % 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 mile
| and a half long. Figures alone give
| an adequate idea of the magnitude of
| this dam Nearly half mile wide at
| it's 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
I of the Isthmian canal commission,
i 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 3. 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
j real builder of the canal
When Colonel Roosevelt. then prest
dent, first sought a chief engineer for
! the canal. he picked Wallace, civil
ian, but Wallace soon resigned. 1t is
! said that he almost worried himself
! into a decline because OF the fear that
| the canal would finish him before he
/ could finish the canal. John f. Stew
/ ems, a noted engineer. also a civilian.
succeeded Wallace. but he quit within
year.