Semi-weekly herald., 1913-04-03

ferent pairs. They range in size from
fifty feet high to lightweight fee
nigh. They are hung so as to swins
against the walls when opened ant
shut against one another in V-shaps
on a ground joint. Each gate can b,
operated independently by its owr
clockwork machinery which consists OF
powerful, heavy cog wheels and pin
ions geared backward, an electric dy
namo of forty horse power being at
tached to each leaf to operate it singl,
or many in the tower overlooking
all of them, can open them all at once
by pressing the button for that pur
pose. However this would rarely bt
done. The weight of these gates i.
from 300 to 900 tons each. Several Of
them are already swinging in theil
places and did not settle as much a!
one-fourth of an inch This is giving
you only the merest outline of things
but / must hurry on to other mat.
ters of Importance.
In the Gatun dam is also located the
great spillway to regulate Gatun lake
This, like the locks, is another tremen-
dous pile of concrete work thirty-five
feet high where the water begins to
spill over, constructed in the shane of
a crescent of $50 feet in length with
piers running up at intervals of twen-
J ty feet on top of wall, between which
spaces are now being placed steel
gates to slide up and down for the
purpose of retarding or allowing wa
ter to escape. The waste water will
also be used here for power purposes
| to operate the locks and generate
electric lights for light towers, etc.
In the rainy season Gatun lake viii
rise to very high level, then the wa
ters will spill back into the Chagres
river, thence into the sea. Gatun lake
is already beginning to form, backing
up against the dam and gates. It will
still take many months to find its
I highest level and will then form a sur
face area of 1e4 square miles. 1t is
even now beautiful sheet of water
as one travels along the Panama rail-
road. Here and there little islands are
seen and the tops of tall cocoanut
palms are waving to and fro only q
few feet above the water. This wa.
ter at present is said to be very poi
sonous for the reason of the great
amount of vegetation the lake is alb
sorbing
Empire and Culebra are two of the
governments large work towns and
are situated within one mile of each
ether, near and on the very banks
of the great and world-famed Culebra
cut. Here is where the Frenchman
stubbed his financial toes against the
rock and quit, as well he might. This
colossal piece of work is at once baf-
fling and unique but will most GER
tainly be accomplished, and behold
great water way cut boldly through
moutain range At present visitors
may view the great workings within
the cut, from a wire suspension foot
bridge spanning the cut near Empire.
IT is sometimes said that first i'm.
pressions are more or less correct.
Nov if mine were not, you all will
have to allow me another guess.
Standing there on the bridge holding
fast to the wires | had my first
glimpse of the biggest ditch on earth,
with all the diggers in it a-digging.
But digging is not the term, it was
something different that surged
through my head. A grand indus
trial circus, it might be called, where
human skill and genius and the force
Of steam combined certainly are the
most potent factors. The incessant
roar Of moving trains, the terrific
pounding and whirring of powerful
drilling machinery arranged in bat
leries along the banks and then the
deep grumbling noises of monster ex-
plosions that make you think and feel
Of earthquakes, are sensations re-
ceived not soon to be forgotten.
1uiSDTd CUT, lnfougHOut It's nine
miles of length, will average some
thing like this in dimensions: One
thousand feet wide at the top, 800
feet deep of which about fifty feet
must yet be excavated. Great num-
bers of landslides have occurred from
time to time from fifty to 100 acres
in extent and were just as often re-
moved. There are at present en-
ployed in the cut $50 locomotive en-
gines and their corresponding trains
Of twenty-five cars each, l25 steam
shovels, one-half of which are of the
giant five-ton type that can load a
car with four dippers. The material
taken out is hauled from three to ten
miles to be dumped. There are from
five to seven railroad tracks strung
along the bottom of the cut, which is
now 100 feet wide. More than 1000
men are at present working in va
rious capacities, handling the steam
shovels, drillers, loading, firing, sig
mailing, tagging, etc. By far the
greatest number are constantly en-