Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1913-10-09
WORK ON PANAMA
CANAL NEAR END
Waters of Gatun Lake Turned
Into the Culebra Cut.
BIG Dixie IS TO BE REMOVED
This Will Mark the Practical Compile
ton of the Big Waterway After
Nine Years of Labor by an
Army of Men.

Colon, Panama, Oct. 1.-The Pan.
anna canal stands today virtually com
plete.
The preliminary steps toward the
destruction of the Gamboa dixie, which
until the present time, has held the
waters Of Gatun lake out of the Gu
Zebra cut, were taken today when the
valves in four great 26-inch pipes
which pierce the dixie were opened
and the waters Of the lake began
flowing into the Culebra cut. Within
a few days, it is expected, enough wa
ter will have flowed into the cut to
form a cushion and prevent the dam
age that might be done If the dixie
were were blown UP and the waters al
lowed to rush into the empty cut.
The final destruction of the big dixie
is scheduled for October 10, when
charges Of dynamite placed in holes
already drilled in the dixie will be ex-
ploded. The explosion of these
charges will not completely destroy
the dixie, but will weaken it and loos-
en- the dirt so that the force Of the
waters from Gatuan lake will carry II
away. Steam shovels will remove the
remnants Of the dixie, leaving an open
passageway from ocean to ocean.
Canal Really Complete Now.
Although the canal will not be Off.
cially declared completed for some
time, and the formal opening of the
waterway to the commerce of the
world more than a year distant, the
canal engineers look upon the de.
struction of the Gamboa dixie as mark.
ing the real completion. of the canal
The big engineering feats have ali
been accomplished, the excavation
work practically has been completed
and the great locks have been con
structed. The work that remains tt
be done is largely detail, and is but
child's play al compared with thai
which has been done. More dirt is
to be removed from the channel, but
this will be done with suction dredges
floating upon the waters of the canal
There still remain some finishinf
touches to be placed upon the locks
but this work will take comparatively
little time and presents no engineer
ing difficulties such as have been en-
countered in the past.
The fact that the canal stands prac
tically complete more than a year be
fore the time originally set as the
date for its completion is one Of the
remarkable features of the work
When Count de Lesseps, the grear
French engineer, abandoned his eff
forts to build the Panama canal afteI
eight years Of labor, he had scarcely
made a beginning upon the giganti,
task. In nine years, the American en-
gineers, starting almost at the sam,
point as de Lesssps. for the latter
work was Of little value to the Amer
leans, have virtually completed tn,
undertaking. When the work wa
started the world scoffed at the ide;
that 1t would be completed within tn,
time limit set, but hats are now OF
to the American army engineers VIII,
have more than kept their word, de
spite unforeseen difficulties that hav,
beset them at every hand.
Cocktails to Make Final Test.
The first vessel to pass through tn,
canal probably win be a boat OF tn,
Isthmian canal commission, Col
George W. Goethals, chairman Of tn,
commission and chief engineer Of tn,
canal, and his principal assistgnts