The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-03-13
FOGS HANG THICK IN CUT
CULEBRA MOST DIFFICULT PART
OF CANAL TO NAVIGATE.
Work of Cleaning Up Zone and Put
ting Everything in Shape For the
Onening Is in Progress.

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of the Pan
anna canal will have to be regularly
suspended during the early morning
hours or else stringent regulations
must be enforced to insure safety on
account of fogs in the Culebra cut,
according to Capt. Hugh Rodman,
U. S. N, who is slated to become
superintendent of operation.
Menace of the Cut.
1t has been found that from mid
night to or o'clock every morn
ing heavy mists and fogs hang in the
cut, which even without the menace
of fog will be one of the most diff
cult parts of the canal for the pi-
lots.
Capt. Rodman has recently made a
number of trips throuoh the cut dur
ing these hours. He says that nearly
always the mist was so heavy that
even his small launch had to slow
down and feel it's way. His explana-
ton of the fogs is the difference be-
tween the temperature of the Cha
gree river as it flows out through the
cut and the surrounding atmosphere,
causing heavy condensation during
the late night hours.
Eight Canal Pilots at Start.
Canal operation will start with not
more than eight pilots on the pay
roll, according to Capt. Rodman, who
has been besieged with applications
for pilot jobs. There seems to have
been a general belief that sixty or
more pilots would be engaged upon
the opening of the new gateway of
oceans, but Capt. Rodman declares
that six or eight pilots will answer
all purposes for some time, and if
there is not enough pilot work for
that many men the pilots will be
kept busy at some other duty.
The cleaning-up process is in full
swing. The big scrap heap at Mt.
Hope is assuming such proportions
that it is one of the sights of the ca
nal zone. Rails from the construction
tracks are being torn up and dumped
there, while the old railroad ties are
being stacked up and burned. Scows,
barges and machinery no longer
needed are being removed, and the
canal in many places has every APP
pearance of being completed.
Cutting Out Culebra Slides.
The points of greatest activity are
now at the Cucaracha slide in Guile
bra cut and at the site of the per-
manent town of Balboa on the Pacific
end of the canal. The dredges are
gaining on the slide and it is believed
the angle of rest will soon be reach
ed. At Balboa most of the new
houses for the permanent force will
be ready by the first of April A few
of them are already finished and oc-
cupied.
Col. Charles F. Mason, superin-
tendent of Ancon Hospital, has come
to be regarded as the best informed
man in the canal zone on the subject
of its natural history For several
months past DR.. Mason has been clas-
styling the native woods and he is
making collection of several hundred
specimens. He also has large col
lection of the native Philippine
woods which he made during his
long residence in the islands.
Victim of Own Order.
Col. Goethals recently became a
victim of his own orders. AS presi-
dent of the Panama Railroad Com
pany he ruled that no canal worker,
no matter how high his rank, should
ride free on the observation cars.
For the first time the colonel himself
took a seat in one of the observation
cars the other day. The colored
porter followed orders and made the
colonel pay his fare.