Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-03-01
= TORE than any other undertake
MI ing in the worlds history,
AVA perhaps, the Panama canal is

NH ing in the worlds history,
AVA perhaps, the Panama canal il
due to the combined develop.
ment Of many elements of civilization.
While the French engineers failed to
complete the canal, we must remem-
Der that no one could have succeeded
at that time, and we must give them
credit for courage, engineering ability
and q creditable achievement.
Without Colonel Gorgas to first
eliminate the mosquito and make the
canal zone not only livable but COM
Portable and even attractive the canal
would never have been built. Without
the modern developments of excavat-
ing machinery and Of concrete the
great locks at Gatun, Pedro Miguel
and Mirafores and the nine-mile cut
at Culebra would never have been
completed within a reasonable time
without the repair shops at Cristobal,
Gorgona, Empire and Balboa to keep
the locomotives, steam shovels and
other machinery in operation the rapid
progress would have been impossible.
And without the selection Of proper
material to stand the climate, not for
getting the too often overlooked item
Of betting, the cost in delays and in
actual money might be difficult to
compute.
The shops at Cristobal and Balboa
handle the repairs for the dredges and
other excavating machinery at the At
lantic and Pacific ends of the canal
respectively. This includes the barges
which carry the material away to be
dumped, some being self-propelled and
called by their French name "clap-
pets,'' as well as tugs, launches and
any sort Of sea-going craft which may
be used.
The largest shops are at Gorgona
enlarged from the French shops al
this place, and here all the locomotives
and cars for the excavation work as
well as for the Panama railroad are
repaired. At times this shop has EN-
ployed 1900 men. 1t is difficult tc
see the necessity for such large shoI
until we stop to consider that thu
Isthmian Canal Commission railroad
built solely in the Culebra cut and fol
hauling the dirt Cor "spoil," as it il
called away from it, is about the sizt
Of, the Boston & Albany railroad
There are over 800 locomotives ant
1000 cars, and most of the locomo
tives are big ones, weighing over 1o(
tons each. They are very unlike thu
usual contractors locomotives w
usually think Of in connection with ex
cavation work.
At Empire the steam shovels ar
repaired and the shops employ abou
roo men at times. 1t takes a lot O
shop work to keep the dirt flying, bu
they are kept at work with as it'll
delay as possible by thoroughly or
ganized plan Of action and corps o
inspectors and workmen.
The inspectors visit each shovel a
it works away, and not only gets tn
reports Of the shovel engineers, bu
look it over for weak spots and worl
parts. Any needed repairs are re
ported to Empire by telephone so tina
repair parts and supplies can be pre-
pared in advance.
After the dirt trains have stoppe
running at 5 p. M, the repair trai
starts out from the Empire shops an
makes its rounds to the steam shovel
which are in need of its services. Thi
repair train consists of heavy loco
motive, large wrecking crane, a DO
ear, which is fairly well equippe
machine shop, and another box ca
filled with supplies and parts ordinal