Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-10-10

llIGu IOQd1 AAAA0ANO
the waters Of the two oceans, Is sit
uated, eight or ten miles nearer the
Pacific than the Atlantic upon the Pa
mama canal route. AS the blowing up
OF the Milaflores dixie on August 81
admitted to the canal for the first
time the water of the Pacific, so to-
days explosion admits the water OF
the Gatun lake toward the Atlantic
into the Pacific end of the great ditch.
With this performance the operations
of steam shovels in the stupendous
Culebra cut end, to be taken up by
marine dredges. By the removal OF
the Milaflores barrier Pacific water
was introduced into the part of the
canal between the Milaflores lock and
the Gamboa dixie, when dredges at
fonce superseded the land-grubbing
machines in that section.
For the Milaflores blast 1880
pounds Of dynamite were placed in
Sal separate holes, each cache being
reached by an electric. wire, and on
the turning of a switch hundreds of
tons of mud and stones were thrown
high In the air as the thunderous roar
of the explosion re-echoed in the
nearby hills. Although it was one of
the largest blasts ever set off in the
canal, the big gap 1t tore in the bar
rier was not deep enough-it being
low tide-to start the inflow of sea
water. A workman seized a shovel
and made small trench through
which q rill trickled Gradually it
widened until an hour later a raging
torrent, with 35-foot fall. poured
through an opening 400 feet wide, and
in five and a half hours from the
blast the cut in the locality already
mentioned y is 5000 feet long.
500 feet wide and Al feet deep below
mean sea level WRs2 entirely filled,
when the waters. of the Pacific for the
first time laved the solid floors of the
Milaflores dam.
Dredges Into eulebra Cut
Dredges were introduced into the
cut just mentioned and began opera
tons two days later, and as a result
of their work, with the Gamboa bar
rier removed, dredges from the Pacif-
lie can now proceed with the excava-
ton Of the Culebra cut bottom. By
the same token, boats may now reach
the Milaflores locks from both ends.
About three miles west of the Milaflo-
res locks are the Pedro Miguel locks.
the former being of two flights and
the latter of one flight, and it is
through the Milaf1ores that boats are
lowered to a Pacific sea level, the ter
minus on this ocean being at La Boca
spanish for mouth a suburb of Pa
mama. Going from the Atlantic to the
Pacific ocean a boat enters the canal
on the north side OF the isthmus, at
q small suburb Of Colon called Cristo-
bal. Seven miles inland it comes to
the Gatun locks. These lift the boat
to level of So feet above the sea,
which level is maintained through the
Gatun artificial lakes and the Culebra
cut, on to the Pedro Miguel locks, SO
miles from the Atlantic and IL miles
from the Pacific ocean. From Colon
to Panama the traveller will expert
ence the odd sensation of going south
and east instead of west On awaken
ing in Panama of morning he will
find that the sun rises and sets in the
Pacific, because Panama is on point
of land jutting out into the ocean.
Some Canal Details.
The Panama canal generally follows
the valleys of the Mindi and Chagres
rivers on the north or Atlantic side,
and the Rio Grande on the south or
Pacific side. It crosses the height of
land at the deep cut in Culebra hill,
between the two oceans, about IA
miles from the Pacific. Culebra, the
lowest hill on the divide, was about
$40 feet above sea level The French
made a cut in the hill to a point $40
feet above sea level, and Goethals
brought the elevation down to IS.
feet Slides in this immense cash
were among the most serious obsta-
eles met with in building the canal.
They began in 1897 and some of
the worst occurred in 1912, there be-
Ing one of million cubic yards in
June, another Of 100000 cubic yards
in August, and third avalanche of
one and quarter million cubic yards
in September Besides doing much
damage to the plant, the slides let
In great volumes of water that ham,
pered the work.
The high level of the canal is that
of Gatun lake, formed by the huge
Gatun dam. This body of water COW
ers 164 square miles, it's waters flow
ing from the locks at Gatun through
the Culebra cut, and to the locks on
the Pacific side at San Miguel. The
dam consists of core of automatically
deposited, impervious silt, between
two rock fills. 1t is one and a half
miles long and contains $1,000, 900
cubic yards of concrete.
To lift vessels to the IS foot level
the Gatun locks are three in num-
Der, each raising its burden twenty
eight and one-third' feet. These locks
are about one and one-third miles
long, Of solid concrete. forming the
largest concrete structI re in the