The Alaska citizen., 1913-07-21

udIt II viii ne poSSlblt, SHOHIt thg
necessity arise. TO transfer the en-
tire Atlantic fleet from the \ ,lan
tic 10 the Pacific by way OF thu
canal Early in October the Ia
dyke. that which is holding the va
er out OF Culehra cut. will be Blow
up and the cut will fill immcdil eA
10 depth Of ten seet or more. which
depth will increase until by Dcccm
Der |. with normal rainfall. the surface
f the waite, in Gatan lake ana III,
cut vii be up to It's normal Ipvc.
of cighty.five feet above sea level.
Only one complete set of locks vii
be completed by October /, but the
completion Oh the other will proceed
steadily. All the locks are twins. tie
two being side by side at each point
The filling of the canau depends sole
on the completion Of the locks
G, moe sp,ci ically speaking. the
completion Of the lock gates.
Whoa Colonel Goethals leave
Washington this week to return 20
the lsthmus ii will be With The al.
selute confidence of both the Pres
dent and the secretary Of var HI
will remain at the head Of the great
enterprise rs long as he desires al1
will be the $ lie director Of the ,aaal
The incipient insurrertien OF certain
of his associates who looked ~
exchange because of the new admin
stration is a thing of the past.
By January |. 1911. the canal will
be in condition TO handle such c III.
merce as it may be thought best 70
send through it. Then will follow
the organization of the permanent
administrative force. and the whe1r
of next year will be devoted to
training this force and getting every
thing into smooth RUNNING erler in
anticipation OF the formal oacniag
January /. 1915.
When the canal is completed and
in running order Colonel Goethals
will ask permission to step aside
just before the formal opening and
he will do so with the satisfaction
Of knowing that he had completed
the canal with an ample margin in
side of scheduled time and well
within the cost he estimated when
he undertook the work.
What step may be taken by a
grateful nation to show its appreCia-
ton of the great work this man
has accomplished and achieved il
he face of incalculable and almo5t
nconceivable obstacles is not a mat
ter with which Colonel Goethals is
willing t concern himself Like a
true soldier, he contents himself
with saying: q have merely carried
out my orders
The alleged friction and difference
OF opinion regarding the ACCESSIBILITY
of turning the water into the Gull
ebra cut as soon as possible or of
waiting until all the soil deposited
by the slides has been removed
by dry excavation, proves to be
merely an evanescent piece of ar
gumentation when the chief engin-
eer of the canal explains the stua-
ton.
Excavation with dredges is cheap
err and more expeditions, says tn
olonel. IF flooding the cut is go
ing to aggravate the slides the soon
er we know it the better. The more
time we will have to handle the
increased material
With that foresight which has
marked every phase of Colonel
Cocktails administration all the ar
engagements are made for setting the
dredge forces at work.
BY the middle of December the
i dry season vii set in and the filling
of the canal delayed beyond Oct
ober it might be far into next year
before sufficient rain fell to raise
the canal to its normal level.
Already the upper locks at Gatun
have been closed and the great lake
j GA miles in area, is steadily. filling
up, 50 that it is now up to the 80
foot level at Gatun. Colonel Goeth
ais discussed informally with the
secretary of war today the question
of the permanent organization foi
the maintenance and operation OF
the canal
The outcome of the discussion
which did net go into details, how
ever, was that Secretary Garrison
asked the chief engineer to map on,
such an organization as he believed
should be established. Much O
this work Colonel Goethals has al
ready done. When he returns to the
Isthmus he will complete it ant