The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-08-30

still at tide level Now look ahead
three miles and get a glimpse OF the
Gatun locks, that tremendous flight of
three water steps up which we are to
be lifted. In a few minutes we reach
the towering dividing wall OF concrete,
our sails are now furled and the
electric locomotives on the lock walls
take us in tow. Four of these power
full machines attach their hawsers to
our ship, two in front to pull it and
two astern to keep it steady and to
bring it to a stop when entirely within
the lock chamber. The immense gates
close silently behind us and at once
the water begins to flow into the
chamber through culverts that have
their openings in the concrete floor.
Slowly the vessel rises until it is on
level with the second chamber,
281s feet above sea level, when the
gate ahead is opened and the electric
mules move forward, this time up a
heavy grade by means of the center
racks in the tracks. Twice this opera
ton is repeated, and now we are at
the summit, IS feet above the sea.
The last gate opens and the locomo-
tives pull us into Gatun Lake.
AS we move slowly out into this i'm
mense artificial lake, marvelously
beautiful landscape is spread before
us The surface of the lake is dotted
with islets, once the SUBMITS of Tiger
hill, Lion hill and a dozen other emf
nences; on both sides are steep prom
ontories, lovely little peninsulas and
deep bays and inlets where the water
has spread into the once jungle-flled
valleys.
Before we get too far from the locks,
let us step to the starboard rail and
have look at the Gatun dam, enor-
nous stretch of rock, sand and clay
that has formed Gatun Lake by i'm
pounding the waters of the Chagres
River 1t is in reality low ridge, one
and half miles long, built across the
valley, and when we are told that it
is nearly half mile wide at its base,
400 feet wide at the water surface and
100 feet wide at it's crest, which is
twenty feet above the level of the
lake, how utterly ridiculous seem the
fears of those alarmists who predicted
the dam would be pushed over by the
Chagres in time of flood!
Nearly in the center of the dam we
can see the famous spillway through
which pass the surplus waters of the
Chagres. 1t is concrete lined chan
mel 285 feet wide cut through a hill
of rock and across it is built curved
dam of concrete on top of which is a
row of regulating gates. Just below
the spillway, out of our sight, is the
hydroelectric station which supplies
power for the operation of the entire
canal and the lighting of the whole
zone.
Our channel through the lake-for
we still must follow path indicated
by range towers on the shores-is
now a thousand feet wide and leads
us somewhat tortuously through a
maze of islands. Look down as we
near some of them and you will see
below the surface the tops Of giant
trees. For we are sailing over what
but few months ago was the valley
of the Chagres, dense with tropic
vegetation and dotted with native vii
lagos surrounded by banana and CO.
coanut plantations. Close to the
shores the stoutest of the trees still
stretch their naked, dead limbs above
the water, but before long these, too,
will have rotted and fallen, leaving
the luxuriant landscape unmarried.
Passing over the sites of Bohio,
Frijoles and Chagresito, we now come
to the place where Tabernilla once
stood, and here both lake and channel
narrow down, the latter being first
| 800, then 700 and finally 500 feet wide
On the hillsides to the right stand a
few abandoned houses, all that re.
mains of Mamei, Juan Grande, Cor.
gona and Matachin, busy places while
the canal was building, now covered
by the spreading waters. Along the
left shore of the channel runs the re
located Panama railway and here al
Gamboa it crosses the Chagres River