The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1913-09-02
/ PASSENGER SHIP
FIRST IIICANAl
Panama Railroad Liner VIII
Have The Honor.
COCKTAILS DISDAINS P0M|P
With Other Officials, Without Special
Ceremony, Engineering Chief Will
Board Vessel on Regular Trip on At
lantic Side When All Is Ready-Ore-
aon to Go Through Later.

BOARD peSSSi on Regular rip on AZ
lantc Side When All Is Ready-Ore-
/ aon to Go Through Later.
NetheE the batteship Oregon nor
| the whaler FRAN is to be the first ship
~ 20 through the Panama canal when
| that waterway is ready for the pas
| sage Of a vessel early next year. In
| stead, L regular passenger boat of the
/ Panama Railroad and Steamship COM
pany le;ryiug New York on a regular
| trip Will be scheduled to 60 to Pana-
ma city and will 60 directly through
| the canal.
i At Colon Colonel Goethals and other
officials viii be taken aboard for the
| first trip. but otherwise there will be
! 10 attempt to make ! great display OF
! the first passage.
| Colonel CoetIlnis himself has insisted
upon this plan being followed and has
put his foot down upon any sugSes-
| ton Of sending the Oregon through
| first The Oregon may be the first Of
| the battleShipS to 20 through, and the
/ Fran may be the first foreign ship to
I use the waterway, but Colonel Goe-
| tllals, never ;in advocate Of pomp and
display. believes that whatever honor
is coming to any steamship belongs to
| the Panama railroad boats.
No Decision as Yet.
AS matter Of fact, the opening OF
| n +
rival at Colon of one of the regular
boats, 50 that there will be no delay
at the Atlantic end. 1t has not been
decided which boat Willcmake the trip.
but the choice lies between tWo-the
Advance and the Alliance. Whichever
one is due in Colon about the time the
cana! is ready will be selected for the
journey to the Pacific.
There is to be no official opening of
| the canal. to be followed by its closing
| for Il period while more work is being
done Of course work will go on all
tie time. but when the Advance or the
Allianva makes the trip any other boat
can follow 1T once.
| At the same time the harhors and
docks at each end. the supply depots
where ships Of All nations can get coal.
oil and food and the great repair
shons-greatrr than any navy yard or
shipyard lin the world-WlH be prac-
tically finished. 50 that once the wa
i terway is thrown Open everything will
be ready for amy emergency, from
docking and supplying the requisites
Of thousand foot ship to the repair
ing Of batt|cships Of the navy.
The terminal facilities for the canal.
now under construction provide for
system Of piers at both entrances to
the waterway. with appliances, many
OF them never before used for the
rapid handling Of cargo.
IT should be understood that q large
amount of the trade by way OF the
canal will not be through traffic. That
| is, ships from New York. New Orleans,
liverpool and other ports will touch
at Cristobal. on the Atlantic side, I'M
load part of their cargo and then sail
| TO other ports on the Atlantic sea-
board Ships for the west coast of the
Americas and for the orient will pick
I'D this freight and carry it to its des-
| tinatioD.
Great Harbor Built.
! At the Atlantic entrance, where
there was no natural harbor, great
harbor has been built by the construc-
ton of mole, at right angles to the
canal channel for distance Of three
quarters of mile out into the sea.
Projecting from this mole inland will
be the great terminal docks A quay
wall and two piers are being built, and
space has been arranged for three
more piers should the traffic demand
it. The piers are 1000 feet long and
the ships between them 300 feet wide;,
so that two 1000 foot ships can dock
at one time without entering the canal
itself
The piers and quay walls will be
equipped with cranes and modern ma
chinery for rapid handling Of cargo.
The direction of the mole is such with
relation to the canal and the immense
breakwafer. which ints out from Toro
point. that it Will break the force of
the heavy seas. which the violent
''northers" Of winter pile mp III Colon
halhor. 1t is now thought that this
method Of construction will make nm
necessary the binding Of ali eastern
hreakWater, originally provided for III
the plans Of the canal