The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-03
What Must be Done

All of these considerations will proba bly, serve less to impress the American
 people with the fact that there Is really a serious problem to solve at the Culebra cut than will the announcement that Pres ident Wilson deems it the better part to postpone the ceremonial opening for five months at least.
 More and more the conviction is being firmly established that there is yet some undiscovered geological condition which until it is mastered is likely occasionally to cause heavy slides down the Culebra
 mountain into the canal, entaillng thereby constant dredging and also suspension of na vigation. Colonel Goethals, probably, as man of science has a reasonable hy pothesis respecting the nature of this geo. l logical condition, but, of course, it is not eypedent for him at the present time to ! make public views which are after all no more than a hypothesis. The fact remains that in spite of the most carefully taken preca utions the Culebra mountain is still | tr eacherous. It is also apparent that not yet have the men of science reached the causes of the trouble
 Yet the conviction is firm that science will point the way by which the mastery | of the Culebra may be obtained. Ere quently reference is made to the determi- nation of F. H. Hartman to conquer the great Salt Lake. Some of the best au- thorities assured him that no method of measuring the depth of that mysterious | body of water had yet been devised by i the engineers. All they know was that somewhere below the surface everything l that was cast into the lake which did not 1 float was absorbed and permanently lost. Yet if MT Hartman could construct q causewav or viaduct across that lake he would thereby secure saving of some miles for his Union Pacific system as well as more economical hauling Of trains. | for of course, a viaduct would have no grades. MT. Hartman was convinced that | if science could not point the way then | plain common sense might. for he was sure that there was bottom to the lake. 1 Therefore he ordered that many tons of | rock be thrown into the lake until the | cumulation was great enough gradually to
 build up stone wall or embankment from | the bottom of the lake sufficiently firm | to support heavily laden railroad train.
 IT cost a great deal of money. but com l mon sense and MT. Harriman's persever ance were triumphant and the viaduct | stands as monument to his energy. per sistency and common sense. as he ] called it.
 | If, therefore. such a mysterious prob ! lem as was involved in the conquest of ! the mystery of the great Salt Lake could | be solved there seems to be no reason l why scence-which has shown the way 4 to penetrate the Alps and which has re- i gently completed marvellous piece of | tunnel construction thousand feet below l the surface of the Hudson river through 1 which is to pass the water of the aque- 1 Guct system-cannot discover the methods ! by which the treachery of the Culebra
 ricuntain may be forever prevented.
 I It is necessary, however. first of all, to | learn what is the fault using that term | in its technical and geological sense. how | deep does it extend. how many faults" of that kind are there, before science can