El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-05

Z
These men, together with their fam
HES, fetal about $1,000 persons, an OF
whom are dependent upon the govern
| ment- The task Of feeding, clothing
, and housing these people, VINO are
/ scattered along the entire length Of
I the canal has been carried on by the
subsistence department Every morn
I ing at a. m a supply train leaves
1 Cristobal It is composed Of retFige1-
( atOr cars containing ice, meats and
! other perishable articles, along with
{ number of cars containing other sup
/ plies. These are delivered at the sta
1 tiOns along the line and distributed by
! the Quartermaster's department in the
/ various settlements
Is Really so Miles Long.
The Panama canal does not, as is
! generally supposed cross the lsthmus
! in an east and west direction On the
/ contrary it's general direction is from
/ northwest to southeast. The Pacific
I entrance near the city OF Panama is p
| miles east of the Atlantic entrance
J near Colon. The length of the canal,
/ from shore line to shore line is about
I 40 miles but the additional dredging
/ of deep waterway IN both approaches
/ really makes the canal so miles long
IN passing through the canal from
I the Atlantic to the Pacific, vessel
/ viii enter the approach channel In
/ Limon Bay, which has a bottom width
/ OF 500 feet and extends to Gatun, a
enter a series Of three locks and be
J raised 81 feet to the level of the lake
/ Steaming through the dredged out
/ channel Of the lake it will enter the
CuIebra cut The channel in the lake
varies in width from 500 to 1000 feet
After passing through the cut, which
has a bottom width Of 800 feet, the yes
sci viii enter the Pedro Miguel lock
and be lowered 80 T-2 feet to Mira
flores lake. which has an elevation OF
81 t-2 feet above sea level. Steaming
for 1 1-2 miles through the lake the
vessel will then enter the two Mira
flores locks and be lowered to sea level.
passing out into the Pacific through a
channel about S1-2 miles in length.
and having a bottom width Of 500 feet
The water in the Culebra cut, as well
as the approaches in both the Atlantic
and the Pacific viii be IS feet deep In
Gatun lake the depth Of the water
varies from As to IS feet
Creating Artificial Lake.
In order to form this gigantic arti-
fetal lake it was necessary TO i'm
pound the waters Of the Chagres river
behind a big dam This huge barrier
called the Gatun dam, is located about
seven miles south of Colon at the
northern end Of the lake It IS a mile
and half long and nearly half mile
wide at its base, about 400 feet wide at
the water surface and about 100 feet
wide at the top, which is about los
feet above sea level or 20 feet above
the normal level of the lake. It is in
reality a low ridge uniting the high
hills on either side of the Chagres val
lev so as to convert the valley into
a huge reservoir. The dam contains
about twenty million cubic yards OF
material, most of which is spoil from
the Culebra cut
Almost in the center Of the dam is
located the spillWay- At the head OF
this spiIlWay are vertically sliding
gates 10 regulate the flow Of water, so
that at all times the level Of the water
in the lake viii be under almost per
feet control By raising the gates TO
a higher level the surface level of the
water in the lake is also raised and By
lowering the gates the surface level IS
reduced It is estimated that even IN
the three or four months OF the dry
season enough water viii be impOunded
in the lake to give a minimum depth
Of 80 feet of water in the canal, which
will be ample for all navigation, as no
ships at present draw this amount OF
water.
Vessels to BE TOvTed ThrOuSh.
No ship will be allowed to pass
through the locks under its own power
Electrically operated towing locomo-
tives viii be provided for this purpose
To each ship there will be four lOcOmo-
tives, two on either side of the bow
and two at the stern The towing
cables viii be attached to the lOcOmo-
tives by winding drums so that 1t VIII
out or taken in while the locomotive is
stationary on the tracks Thus the big
ships will be under absolute control
at all times. To further safeguard the
locks from accident, fender chains viii
be stretched across them. These chains
viii be capable of stopping a 10000
ton ship running four knots an hour
within IS feet. which is less than the
distance that will separate the chains
from the lock gates. These chains
he n
bottom of the locks when the ship is
ready to pass out
Time of Transit 10 to Il Hours.
The time of transit through the ca
nal for a vessel Of the largest type has
been estimated at 10 to u hours, de-
pending on the rate of speed main
tanned in passing through Gatun lake
It viii take an hour and half to send
a ship through the three locks at Gatun
and the same time to pass it through
the three locks on the Pacific end, the
Pedro Miguel and two MiraflOres locks
The feat of raising a large ocean go
ing vessel, with a full cargo aboard 81
feet and lowering it TO its initial level
in the space of three hours would have
been declared impossible half century
ago Yet that is exactly what can be
done and what viii be done when the
canal is thrown open for navigation
Total Cost S4OO.OOO.OOO.
The total cost of the canal, 1nclud-
ing the lle New EdudAlA8
Canal company, the French combine
and the payment to the Republic OF
Panama, will closely approach the four
hundred million dollar mark Three
Gfths of a billion dollars to dig a 40
mile ditch This is by far the most
costly engineering project in the world
No other engineering marvel has cost
ten million dollars a mile to build as
has the Panama canal.
over fifteen million dollars OF this
sum has been spent in making the
,anal zone hapitable and sanitary. At
first glance this seems to be an enOur-
nous amount of money to spend in
cleaning uD place in which few peO-
pie viii reside permanently. yet the
engineers say that the sanitation of
the canal zone was the chief factor in
making a canal a reality. Much OF the
failure of the French was due to the
fact that wOrSmen could not survive in
The fever and pest ridden country.
OF the 1876 square miles Of zone ter
-itory, the United States owns about
'63 and 73 are held in private owner
ship Under the treaty with Panama,
he United States has the right to ac-
fuire hv uurohase or X the exercise Of