The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-10-10
LAST OBSTRUCTION
IN CULEbRA CUT TO
Be REMOVED TODAY
Mr.. Wilson Presses Button
Which Will Ignite Blast
Blowing Up the Gam
boa Dixie

Panama. October 9.-Preparations are
completed for the destruction of the Gam
boa dixie which separates the waters of
Gatun lake from the Culebra cut All the
necessary changes have been made in the
cables SO that the electrical spark which
President Wilson will transmit by pres
sing key at the White House at Z
o'clock tomorrow afternoon may operate
the switch controlling the dynamite dis
charge.
The barrier has been mined from end
to end, but of i277 charges planted only
about 400 will be fired at one shot. The
others will be discharged later
While Friday will not be an official
holiday in the canal zone everyone who
can be spared from work will journey to
the scene. The danger zone will be
guarded by a strong Gordon of police.
Fourteen units of the Atlantic dredging
fleet We're successfully passed through
Gatun locks today on their way to the
Gamboa dixie and will begin operations
as soon as the barrier is shattered The
lockage took two hours and half, some
time being lost through maneuvering the
vessels into position. The lock mechan-
ism worked perfectly.
One of tomorrows guests will be Phil
ippe Beuna varille. who was closely iden-
titled with the French attempt to build
the canal and who is strongly opposed TO
the lock type of canal. He arrived here
today and was taken through the locks
in tug. He expressed himself as pleased
with the achievement.
Washington, October 9.-President Will
son will press a button at o'clock to-
morrow afternoon which will make a con-
nection that will ignite the blast blowing
up the Gamboa dixie in the Panama canal
and remove the last obstruction in Gu
Zebra cut. Members of the cabinet and
congressman will be present.
Washington, October 9.-Pressing a. key
at o'clock tomorrow afternoon. eastern
time President Wilson will release an
electric current that will travel over
land and under sea to the Panama ca
nal to explode charge of dynamite and
destroy Gamboa dixie. This dixie is the
last great physical obstruction to the
opening of water communication between
the two oceans. although the wreckage
of the dixie and two earth slides, one
at Cucaracha and another at Goldhill,
must be cut through before the canal
actually can be opened.
Destruction of Gamboa dixie will be cele-
brated not only at the White House, but
all along the Pacific coast. Originally
1t had been intended to set off the charge
a. y 'ioeN III 'iie iiioiHihS but iitSiusiit
Wilson granted the request for a change
TO accommodate points in the Pacific time
belt.
When the electric current started by
President Wilson traverses the land wires
TO Galveston and passes beneath the Gulf
of Mexico by cable to the sthmus the
canal engineers expect the spark to ex-
plode the thousand charges of dynamite
which have been buried i'm the 800 feet
of dixie which at present stands between
Gatun lock and the famous Culebra cut.
A feet of dredges will attack the
slides as soon as they have cleared the
wreckase of the dixie. and although Colo
mel Goethals in his telegram to the ca
nal commission today made no predie-
ton, it is believed 1t will be possible
to pass the lighter boats used by the
canal diggers from ocean to ocean in a
few weeks.