The Hayti herald. (Hayti, Mo.) 1908-1922, 1913-10-09
WORK ON PANAMA
CANAL NEAR END
Waters of Gatun Lake Turned
Into the CuIebra Cut.
BIG Dixie is 70 BE REMOVED
This viii Mark the Practical Compile.
tlon 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 CON-
lplete.
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
blowing into the Culebra cut. Within
IA few days, 1t is expected, enough wa
ter will have flowed into the cut to
form cushion and prevent the dam
a age that might be done il the dixie
were were blown up and the waters al
lowed to rush into the empty cut.
The final destruction Of the big dixie
Us 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
she dixie. but will weaken 1t and loos-
en- the dirt SO that the force of the
waters from Gatuan lake will carry 1t
away. Steam shovels will remove the
remnants Of the dixie. leaving an open
-paEsageway 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 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 all
been accomplished. the excavation
work practically has been completed,
and the great locks have been con-
structed. The work that remains to
be done is largely detail. and Is but
child's play as compared with that
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 finishing
touches to be placed upon the locks,
hut this work will take comparatively
little time and presents no enginee.-
ing difficulties such as have been en-.
.couatered 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 It's completion is one OF the
remarkable features OF the work
When Count de Lesseps, the great
Wrench engineer, abandoned his ef
Rorts to build the Panama canal aftei
eight years OF labor. he had scarcely
made beginning upon the gigantic
task. In nine years. the American en-
gineers, starting almost at the same
point as de Lesseps. for the latter
work was of little value to the Amer
deans. 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
90 the American army engineers VIII,
eave more than kept their word. dc
spite unforeseen difficulties that hay
beset them at every hand.
Goethals to Make Final Test.
me first vessel to pass through tn
canal probably viii be boat of tn
Isthmian canal commission, Co
George w. GoethAls. chairman OF ID
commission and chief engineer OF tn
canal. and his principal assistant