The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1913-10-14
Waters Of Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
Not Actually United. First Craft
to Enter viii be Dredges

afternoon. Tn destruction Of the dix
! was successful in every wa7.
Washington, Oct. 10. Elk ,ctly d
2 o'clock eastern time this afternt OF
President Wilson pressing Il but,ol
, in the White House sent m electric
current flashing more tnal 400
miles over land and under seas Il
J blow up the Gamboa dixie in the Fan
ANA canal and remove the last prac
teal obstacle in the great INFER ocean
water way.
A little electric spark, originating
when President Wilson pressed the
button in the White House sped more
than 1000 miles overland and under
water, ignited the immense charge of
dynamite and practically cleared the
Panama canal. Electrical experts
calculated that within four seconds
after the initial impulse, the current
threw a small switch at the Gamboa
dixie, which in turn set in motion 9TH
er apparatus, furnishing the current
which exploded the charges.
Elaborate Preparations
Elaborate preparations had been
made by the Western Union Tele.
graph company for the practically In.
Simultaneous transmission of the pres
ident's signal. From Washington to
Galveston, Tex, 1866 miles "a single
wire carried the spark. There it was
taken up instantaneously by sensitive
instruments and sped over the cable
along the bottom of the Gulf of Mexi-
co to Coatzec-oalcos, Mexico, 1893
miles further. From that point It sped
over land across the Isthmus of TIE.
huantepec, 1SS miles to another cable
station at Salina Cruz, on tie Pacific
ocean, where other sets of sensitive
telegraph instruments snatched 1t up
and hurried it 766 miles through an
other cable on the bottom of the Pa |
ciiic ocean to San Juan del Sur, Nj |
a cabue station. There 9TH
er delicate machines transferred It
to still another cable and shot II us
niles more to Panama. When the
spark emerged from its long subma.
Inc journey, 1t took the overland tel.
graph wires of the Panama railroad
company and completed its mission at
he Gambia dixie.
Hours before the time set, experts
If the telegraph and cable compan-
es were busy perfecting their ar.
so the presidents flash
nay nave an unobstructed passage.
The Atlantic and Pacific oceans
we're not actually united today when
he Gamboa dixie WAS DESTROYED and
he waters of Gatun lake were allow
ID 10 flow into Culebra cut, as lake
md cut are, at the normal surface
# the water So feet above the level
# the sea.
Inc destruction of the Gamboa dixie
However, removes the last obstruc.
ion to the navigation Of the greater
'art of the canal by light draft YES.
'els and opens up direct connection
between the great Gatum lake, which
already is practically ready to dis.
'harge vessels into the Atlantic thru |
he Gatun locks, and the Pacific diyl- |
sion The waters of the lake rushing
through the broken dixie at Gamboa
sweep through Culebra cut until they
reach the great locks at Pedro Mig
lel, which mark the beginning Of the
descent from the top level OF the CO
nal to the Pacific.
First Craft to Enter
The first craft to enter will be the
great steam dredges, whose work Is
to clear and deepen the channel. The
presence OF small craft in portions of
the canal, however, does not as yet
mean ocean to ocean navigation. This
will be first possible when each
link in the canal has a sufficient