Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-02-11


tie car. When they were under way
Runnels went on: 81 am supposed to
show you this end of the work and tell
you what it all means. The ditch
will be about fifty miles long. ard
roughly speaking, the work is in three
PARASITIC dredging and harbOr build
ing at sea level on each end of the
canal, the lock work and the excava
tions on the upper levels. That dam
you saw building at Gatun will form
lake about thirty miles long-quite a
ishpond, eh? When a westbound ship
arrives. for instance. it will be raised
through the Gatun locks, three of them
and then sail along eighty-fve feet
above the ocean. across the lake and
into a channel dug right through the
hills until it reaches the locks at
Pedro Miguel. Then it will be lowered
to a smaller lake five miles long. then
down again to the level of the Pacific
An eastbound ship will reverse the
process. Get the idea?"
Sure 1t sounds easy"
You will start in with the p. r. r.,
Mr.. Anthony. under my despOtic sway :
Il know little about railroading"
$50 much the better There's a big
railroad man by your name in the
states. Are you related?"
Il believe So" Kirk answered. quiet
~. Go ahead with the lesson"
THE canal zone is Il strip of land
ten miles wide running across the
Enthusiastically an American colony,
you know. for we govern it, police it
and all that. AS for the work itself.
well. the fellows at the two ends of
the canal are dredging night and day
to complete their part. the lock build
ers are laying concrete like mad to
get their share done first. the chaps in
the big cut are boring through the hills
like mOles and breaking steam shovel
records every week. while we railroad
men take care of the whole shooting
match. Of course, there are ether de-
misunderstanding, engineering, com
missary, and so forth-all doing their
share, but that is the general scheme.
Everybody is trying to break records.
Lord! It's fierce"
why didn't you quit?' suggested An
thony.
"Quit! What for? Good Lord. We
like it. Here we are at Pedro Miguel,
by the way. Well be into the cut
shortly"
To his left Anthony beheld another
scene somewhat similar to the one at
Gatun. Other movable steel cranes
with huge wide flung arms, rose out OF
another chasm in which were extensive
concrete workings. From a distance
the towers resembled parts of a half
constructed cantilever bridge of ire
mendOus height. Another army was
toiling at the bottom of the pit, more
cars shunted back and forth, more
rock crushers rumbled; but, before
Kinks eye had photographed more
than a small part, the motor car had
sped past and was rolling out upon a
bridge spanning the canal itself. To
the northward appeared an opening
cut through the hills and Runnels said,
simply:
"Culebra!'
A moment later he announced: eve
leave the p. r. r. tracks here and
switch in on the l. G. G. Now you'll
begin to see something"
Down into the cut the little car went,
and at last Anthony saw the active
pulsating heart of this stupendous IN
dertaking. The low range was severed
by gorge blasted out by human hands.
1t was a mountain valley in the max
ing. High up on it's sides were dirt
and rock trains, dozens of compressed
air drills, their spars resembling the
masts of fleet of catbOats at anchor
behind these grimy, powerful steam
shOvelS which rooted and grunted quite
like iron hogs. Along the tracks at va
riOus levels flowed a constant current
of traffic; long lines of empty cars
crept past the shovels, then, filled to
overlooking, sped away northward up
the valley, to return again and again.
Nowhere was there any idleness, no
where a cold machine or a man at rest.
On every hand was smoke and steam
and sweat The drills chugged stead
lily, the hungry iron hogs gOuged out
the trails the drills had loOsened, the
trains rolled past at intervals of a mo-
ment or so. Lines of electric wire, car
ried upon low wooden Shears" paral-
leled the tracks, bearing the white hot
sparks that rent the mountain. At ev-
cry switch a negro fireman, crouched
beneath a slanting sheet of corrugated
iron, seeking shelter alike from flying
fragments and the blazing sun. From
beneath the drills came occasional sub
terranean explosions; then geysers of
muddy water pose in the air. Under
the shouts of the steam shovels "dobe"
shots went off as powders were riven
into smaller fragments. Now and then
an excited footing of whistles gave
warning of a bigger blast as the flag