The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-20

will be another on the opposite side o.
the channel. and the ships viii SAIL
into docks OF steel and concrete, SC
made that the railroad cars can come
close to the ships. AS 1t Is now, We
at Cristobal,-not far from the
Of Columbus, and only q lev
feet from h cars, and we couid
see the men at work on the new docks
At Balboa there will be almost a nal.
mile Of uncovered docks in front OF
the repair shops. a at ooth Ter
minals there will be electric cranes
in on the piers and floating cranes
in the water.
The government has not yet Deeun
to build its great warehouses n me
depots for fuea and oil. It VIII prop
Adv retain the cold storage plants
now in use, as it will carry on a sfea'
commercial business here IN supply
ing food all sorts OF Supp1les
to the steamers. The coaling docks
will be enormous The Navy Depart
ment wants Tee, Oee tons kept on nahd
at the Atlantic terminus for It's own
use, and there Will be another sTeat
coaling station at Baiooa; aaS nna
tobal coaling station. Will hoid zSo'Voo
tons and the one at Balboa more
than half that amount. THIS coaA
will be stored in basins OF concrete,
and one-haif of it will be left under
water and untouched except IN tlnie
of war. The other half viii be 1or
the steamers which pass throusn the
canal, and for our government YES
sels. There will also be tanks Tor
f,,e1 oi1 at both terminals. and these
will be connected by great pipe INES
which will run across the istnmus,
with pumping stations so that the
oil can be transferred from m 70 the
other.
AS to the commercial aspects OF the
| case, the government Is lnstltntins
| these supply depots for the proIectlon
| OF the ships which will go through the
\ canal and also for the force Uncle
| Sam will keep on the 1sthmus. 1t
has been successfully carrying on a
similar business during the ~cOnstruc-
ton. It has run the big Tiyoli Hotel
at a profit which amounted last year
to $3.50 and it has served 1000 10
the men on the work at what is pFac-
ticaliy cost prices. In year the
commissary department gave out T.
600. 900 meals at 80 cents each, and
in the height Of the construction It
was doing a business OF about H.
900, 900 per annum. During that time
it supplied about 10000 people with
food and household necessities. l be-
lieve the com7niSsary was run at 3
profit, and have no doubt but tina,
the cealing and supply business car
be made to pay its " a
}, have asked Col. Cocktails some
thing about the operating force which
!. Will be required to run the canal. HI
puts the limit at 2,59e. but in ad'
dition to his there will be a force o:
: from 5000 to 5000 troops kept herr
at the various stations OF the FORTH
} cations and oher d~efenses.
~ 49, 49,
: way is one that the officials here re
fuse to discuss. They viii not ALLOW
: photographs to be made near the fort
and 80 far but little accurate infof
nation has been given outside tina
e in the proceedings Of Congress o
8 what will be necessary to protect tn
canal.
e The evidence. however. is that tn
| work is going rapidly on. The Pa
8 cific islands a been cut into Shape
and the work Of installing the bi
e guns at the Atlantic entrance will 500
a be under way. Congress has alread
g appropriated more than $25O,0o0 70
the fortification and It has been decid
S ed to erect them or the Islands OF Fla
menco, Perico and Naos. out in tn
Pacific, facing Balboa, and on Tor
n point and on Margarita Island, in til
Atlantic. There win also be for,
On the mainland. There will be
coast defense camp On the Nat
breakKater not. far from the shor
and there will be other camps sea
tered over the sthrnus along the liz
> of the canal.
" The land forts will be SO made tn,
the locks will be amply protected. an
so that any invading army could |
n Kept away from them in case Of wa
2 As a protection against invasion II
IL "nole OF the Canal Zone is to I
er made q military reservation. I'll
N greater part Of this is a jungle. whic
Dc along the edges Of Gatun lake and
Il the approaches thereto is rnnos
Or OF sWanps filed with trees 40 ho,,r
re together with lianas that it won,
ee De impossible for troops to mai
ne way through them except with the :
a and the saw. Any one goine 90
r. n i,ne Of h Panama Railroad o.
see Row dihcult it would be for .
VI alahE % advance through this ia.
ds ste, under fire, or to make anv ~
b. OF an attack On the locks.
d ,na ne plans 50 lar include the use