Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-11


bamhoos. their great fern trees and their
magnificent forest giants. bound to-
gether with the lianas. will be in plain
view. The lake. which is now slightly
muddy from the vegetation and the
floods, will then be as clear rs crystal.
and the tourist will look over n mirror
of silver at the emerald wonders Of the
tropics. or to the south as he nears the
Gatun dam he VIII see "A range OF
mountains which some claim to be part
of South America. 1t is in fact. the be
ginning of the Andes, which are here
like ant-hilis in comparison with the
giant volcanoes which wall the western
side of that continent.
As the ships cross the lake travellers
will have a good sight OF the dam and the
locks. The dam is already becoming
grass-grown and it will be little more
than great mound or windrow OF earth
holding back the water At the left hand
is the spillway consisting of ten great
black steel gates which move up and
down between structures of concrete
This spillway is in the shape of the seq
ment of circle. 1t has an iron walk Oh
the top One does not realize its immeus-
ity until he comes close to il. but then II
is very impressive.
There is a good-szed island right In
front of the dam, and in going from the
spillway to the locks on the opposite side
We sail between the island and the dam
The dam has p wide approach or channe.
between concrete walls and the ships go
from this right into the locks.
During my stay at Gatun some OF the
locks We're empty aud some were filled
so that l had an excellent opportunity 20
see how they looked They are enormous
watts which rise IN three great steps from
the level Of the Atlantic to lhoye the
eighty-tive-foot level of Lake Gat,ln
Everything connected with the locks H.
of the most massive description and still
the machinery is so delicate that a oiilld
could operate them. The great gates
which in fact mighty double doors ~
iron. swing Ike the .olding doors of an
old-fashioned couatrv harm. They NOV
as smoothly as though they were az hght
as feathers or so many sheets of news
paper. Nevertheless. one of the doors or
leaves of the larger gates is seven feet
thick and SO heavy that il would take
LOO horses 10 haul Il if it were broken
up and put on two-horsc wagons.
When these gates are shut they do no,
require to be locked fastened In any
way to keep out the water. They Just
come together, and that tightly thai a
piece of metal thinner than the silky hair
of your baby girl or one less than one
four-thousandths of a foot thick could not
be wedged in between them. There is not
a drop of water that ooZes through
There are nnety-two doors or leaves Of
this kind in the locks, and they weigh al
together about sixty thousand tons, which
would be good-sized load for 10000
horses, or enough to load two-horse
wagon train thirty-eight miles in length
=
The most characteristic features OF tn.
canal locks to be seen one looks at
them over the water are the many coll
umnS of concrete ending in gigantic
arms which hold the electric lights.
making the workings as bright by night
as by day. These pillars of light run
along on both sides of the locks, and in
the center they form an avenue that
would be an ornament to any park or to
any city upon earth There is some talk
of planting palms between the lights, but
this is doubtful, as their shade might
obscure the lights.
The electricity which supplies these
. lights. and also those for the whole canal.
comes from the hydro-electric plant now
. building. This will be operated in con-
; nection with the fall of the water from
, the level of Gatun lake to the spillway
floor, height about that of a seven
story house. The generation is by great
, turbines, and enough of a current Will be
, produced to not only light the canadian
work the locks at both ends, but to fur
. rish force. and power for the mighty
. machine shops. cocks and other equip
, ment at the terminals. The transmits
sion line which will carry this current
, from one side of the canal to the other
, is now in the course of erection. The
wires will be hung to posts of structural
! steel resting on concrete bases and rum
ming across the railroad track. high
above the cars. There will be enough
! electricity generated to move the trains
of the Panama railroad, and if necessary
, this line can be used for that purpose
: with but slight additional expense.
, FRANK G. CARPENTER