Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-05

COLON. PANAMA. Oct. Next
Friday the Panama Canal will become
a reality. on that day the great
Gariboa dixie, the last obstruction
separating the waters of the Atlantic
and the Pacific Oceans, will be blown
mn and the two bodies will be united.
Then the canal will be truly COM
pleted. There Will be some work to
he done before heavy draft vessels
can be sent from one ocean to the
other. but that work consits merely
Of the removal OF distractions from
the channel and is relatively insig-
nificant.
Already four 26-inch pipes have
been inserted in GambOa dixie, through
which the waters of Gatun Lake may
flow into Culebra cut. The flow, prob
ably. will be started tomorrow.
But next Friday will come the real
union Of the two oceans, when the
Gamboa dixie will be dynamited. The
engineers in charge will allow the
water TO trickle through the pipes in
the meanwhile to settle in the Guile
bra cut, and 10 form thus a cushion
to receive something OF the force of
the shock that comes when GambOa
dixie is dynamited. Already workmen
are drilling 30-fOot holes in the dixie
10 take the charges of explosive.
Jungle Must Be Removed.
But these charges will not demolish
the dixie They will merely loosen the
material so that the water will be
able to trickle through and cut its
own channel. The steam dredges will
complete the work of opening the
channel, and once this is done. a clear
passage from the Atlantic to the Pa
cifn viii result.
Then there is work to be done in
removing the dense tropical vegeta-
ton from the channel, where it has
grown since the cutting was done.
The canal flora grows rapidly Guile
bra cut is covered in many places by
trees and rank underground and much
vegetation there is in the bottom Of
Gatun Lake
And because there is work vet to
he done, Colonel Goethals has put his
foot deCisiveIy. on all projects for a
great celebration. 1t will all be done
quietly, said the Colonel, without fuss
OF feathers. Even when the great ex-
plosion comes that will demolish
Gamboa dixie, there will be no dem
onstratiOn, nor any crowds to watch,
rOr any notice taken, it Is believed
Explosions are common enough in the
Canal Zone to warrant that this one
should 20 unnoticed.
Climax Truly American.
So the union of the Atlantic and
the Pacific will be a secret nuptial.
and the end of nine years work. of
30 years of great visions, will be eff
iected quietly, in manenr typically
American.
Il is expected that by December the
waters IN I oil ~
high enough to bring the waters in
the entire canal up to the deep water
level when the large ships can be
sent through
Gatun Lake is the keystone of the
entire canal, the one secret of its
being. Ii is a large artificial body of
water made by impounding the wa
terS Of the Chagres River in the val
ley Without its construction the en-
tire canal system would be a failure.
Gatun Lake is the feeder for the ca
nal At one end is the Culebra Cut,
leading down through the Miraflores
locks into the inlet from the Bay of
Panama. At the other end of the
AXE the canal leads through a series
OF three pairs of locks into the chan
mel which has been dug to Limon
Bay. The water level in Gatun Lake,
''''A the luH supply Is accumulated
VIII be 5 feet ABOVE sea level.
II IS the wall between Gatun Lake
ana Culebra Cut that is being tapped
ny pipes, and that will be dynamited
next week.
Canal Virtually Finished.
IL is to be seen that the canal viz
l4dIIy can be called complete, for the
.rnalning work will be mere child's
l-aN compared with the hercu1eau
Eats already accomplished Thus the
americans have finished in nine years
me task which baffled the French
after many years of work.
hen the Americans began work in
t5V4 the world sCoffed. But after the
american engineers had been on the
700 year or more the world began
10 lose its scornful smile and to
realize that the Americans means
business. Many mistakes were made.
twice as much earth has been exca-
Sated as the plans originally called
LOT and 1t has cost twice as much
money as was at first estimated