The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1914-05-22

Al bas OOlSpO the vessel ShteiS OaI
ebra Cut where the passage for nine
miles has a bottom width of 800 feet.
Here is where the greatest amount Of
actual digging took place and it is a
fact that here is the last work of finish
ing. AS the work progressed the ma
tute of the soil was such that land slides
were the bane Of the engineers. There
was nothing to do but let it slide and
then carry it away. When the waters
were turned in it was expected that the
counter pressure would have tendency
to Offset the difficulty, but the slides
still occur and the last work on the
canal is about this cut where the
dredges are working night and day
cleaning out the channel.
There has been in all 26 slides in
Culebra Cut, making an additional IL
million cubic yards of material for the
canal diggers to remove.
This is some task in itself and yet
the canal will be finished aud in fact is
finished on time.
When say the canal is finished 1
mean Just this. The canal can be used
for military purposes now at any time.
The only work remaining is that Of
cleaning out the slides in the big cut.
Dredges have been passed through
the locks, the water has been turned in
and the canal is a perfect working sue
cess. There remains plenty of work,
and there will always be work of some
kind in connection with the big enter
prise. The matter of Notifications, the
breakwaters and docks will all come
after, but this is not, in sense, part
Of the building of the canal. These
are necessary because Of the canal but
the canal part Is pulll'
At Pedro Miguel where the summit
level ends, lock lowers the vessel to
a small lake, with surface at about SIS
foot level above the sea. At a distance
Of about mile and half beyond, the
fight locks OF Mirahores are encoun-
tered. Thru them the vessel desc ends
to Underwater and continues its way to
the Pacific by way Of channel eight
and one-half miles in length and 500
feet wide at the bottom. The depth
OF the canal throughout is forty-fve
feet except at the Atlantic entrance
where the bottom will lie forty-one feet
at mean tide.
The great problem Of the canal as I
have pointed out previously was first TO
make it possible for men to live in the
zone. This being settled the next
problem was the impounding OF the
waters of the Chagres river and the
construction of the locks and spillway.
The engineering difficulties here over
come have aroused the admiration Of
the whole world, both for the speed OF
accomplishment and the stability OF the
completed work.
There is little in figures; one cannot
grasp the immensely of the -undertak-
ing until one stands in the shadow OF
this giant enterprise. For instance, l
am told that the actual amount OF ce-
ment poured in the construction OF
these locks is placed at two and
quarter million cubic yards. This
seems like lot of cement but to me
il really seems nothing. But when
stood in contemplation :, before these
giant stairways and realized that there
were twelve of them, all in duplicate,
and that any one Of them would stand
up even with six story building, l
could understand something OF their
magnitude. And then when realized
that ninety-two levers were used to
operate these several locks, and that
the electric controlled devices for OBJ
Grating them were controlled by mech
anism that worked as smooth as clock
work, there came home to me that
down here under the vertical rays oil
the tropic sun our American brethren
had been really doing something.
And when one considers the effect all
this will have on the future history oil
the world we are prone to swell up a
triHe over the fact that we are alive
in an age when big things are the reg
ular order.
IL.