The Washington herald., 1913-09-28


the water was running from the faucet
Naturally, the tub would hll up. Sub
stitute for this commonplace receptacle
vast basin among the hills OF the
Panama lsthmus, with the Chagres River
flowing into It. and you have like con-
! dition OF affairs-the plug in this instance
being the great dam at Gatun.
Most people do not realize that the
most important feature of the Isthmian
| Canal is an artificial lake. which will
extend two-thirds Of the distance from
ocean to ocean. Which means, of course
that two-thirds of the voyage made by
ships through the canal will be over the
surface OF this lake. The latter. to be
known as Gatun Lake, will be by far
the largest artificial body OF water ever
known in the world.
Through the middle of the great Gatun
Dam is cut a gap leo feet wide. lined
with concrete and called "spillway."
Across IL is placed a barrier of concrete,
In which there are huge steel gates that
may be raised or lowered BY raising
these gates at periods Of high water
(when the Chagres River is in fresheD,
the water can be allowed to escape with
out flowing over the dam. II is easily
understood that by this means the level
of the water in the lake can at all times
be controlled.
Lake Is Filling III.
Now. up to the present time it has
suited the engineers in charge TO al
low the water contributed mainly by
the Chagres River) to flow out of the
basin through the spiIlway into the
Caribbean Sea. But. the canal being
nearly finished, the plug" has been in
serted, so to speak, by closing the
gates. and. as result, the lake Is fill
ing up. BY the date on which these
words are printed II will be full, and
the waveIets that move across it will
be at an elevation of eighty-seven feet
above the sea.
One should clearly understand that
the above mentioned basin in the hills
was originally dry land-though
good deal of it was subject to fire.
auent inundation by freshets of the
Chagres. Thus the diggers of the Pan
anna Canal have incidentally accom-
pIIshed a very remarkable change in
the geography of the region. Now that
the lake is filled up, II will never be
possible to empty IL again CCol Goe-
thals says, because no means have
been provided whereby such thing
could be done: but IL will be practicable
to lower its surface level as much as Is
feet. if desired
Egyptian dynasty constructed a reser-
voir, known to this day as Lake Moeris,
to regulate the overflow OF the Nile. 1t
covered sixty-three square miles, and
was justly considered one of the won
ders of the world. But Gatun Lake.
when It is full will cover about three
times that area nS7 square miles,. its
object being a similar one-namely, TO
take care of the flood waters Of the
FrnrT dnfT O
mischief. II will hold $4,000 10000 cubic
feet OF water.
All in United states.
Everybody knows that the Canal Zone
is a strip exactly ten miles wide extend
ing across the Isthmus of Panama But
the lake, when it is full. will extend far
beyond the limits of the strip on both
sides In fact, no less than seventy-seven
square niles of it will occupy territory
hitherto belonging to the Republic OF
Panama But provision for this matter
was made some time ago by treaty with
the Panamanian government and IN
March, 1912, a proclamation was issued
by the President of Panama declaring
that the little republic thenceforth would
relinquish to the United States all au-
thority over the area covered by the lake
and extending beyond the limiting lines
OF the zone
The basin. being surrounded on all
sides by lofty hills, many spurs of the
latter. still unsubmerged, will extend out
into the lake. forming peninsulas- And
in the same way will be formed numer-
Gus islands There will be about thirty
of these islands west of the canal, and
twenty more east of it, outside the strip.
Over all of them the government of the
United States has absolute and exclusive
jurisdiction.
Naturally. under the circumstances,
the outline of this immense artificial
body of water will be exceedingly irreg-
ular. stretching in a multitude Of arms
far up into the land. Its shores in total
length will measure over 1000 miles.
There will be plently of room on its sur
face for all the navies of the world TO
maneuver, and 1t is not unlikely that in
time of war our own fighting ships
might seek refuge there to refit One
effect OF the fresh water of the canal, by
the way, will be TO kill barnacles. Col.
Goethals says that barnacles dropping
from ships that pass through the ditch
will accumulate to such an extent in
few years on the bottom Of the canal
that they will have to be dredGed out /
Water from the lake. passing through |
the spillway, will be used to operate an
plant. which will furnish electricity to
lift and lower the steel gates, to |
operate the machinery OF the locks, to
furnish power for great machine shops, \
to illuminate the canal and the locks.
and, later on. to run the trains of the
Panama Railroad. To insure unlnter-
rupted service. all of the equipment Of
the electrical plant will be in duplicate.
p.ttro,d Track. shifted,
The filling of the lake, by the way, has
made IT necessary to shift the tracks OF
the Panama Railroad, which henceforth
will have the appearance OF running
,yer a series Of viaducts that connect
oeninsulas projecting into the lake.
The bottom of the canal, throughout its
ength, is forty feet above sea level. All
of that part f IL which is covered by
he lake is represented. so to speak. by
, channel 1.Oo0 feet wide. In order to
make the channel of the requisite depth,
parts of it had to be dug out before the
water was let in. and the job of remov-
ng trees and other jungle growth that
we're in the way was one of no small diff
iculty. The channel will be marked on
10th sides by self-lighting electric buoys.
md there will be lighthouses. with pow
,rful electric lamps in suitable places, 50
hat navigation of the lake at night will /
De as safe as in the daytime. Powerful /
electric refiectors will be arranged to il
uminate at night the interior of the /
ocks and the approaches to the locks. II