Evening journal., 1921-07-14
CANAL IS GATE
TO THE PACIFIC
Waterway Wide and Deep
Enough for Biggest of
Fleet
$1S,OOO,OOO is
YEARLY INTEREST

THE interchange Of some OF the
largest battleships in the American
navy between the Atlantic and Pa
ciic fleets through the Panama
Canal shows that the big waterway
is functioning along the lines laid
down for 1t when the United states
undertook the task OF constructing
a seaway between the two Americas" "
says a bulletin just issued from the
Washington. d. c.. headquarters OF
the National Geographic Society.
when the work of building the
canal was undertaken" the bulletin
continues. mo one dreamed what a
tremendous amount OF material
would have to be moved to make il
a usable waterway. such as il is to-
day
~'At that time II was figured that
the total excavations for the canal
proper would be 1O1.O0O.0O0 cubic
yards. But, by reason of enlarge
ments and slides the task continued
to grow until approximately a quar-
ter Of a billion cubic yards Of mate
rial had to be removed. The rail dis
tance from Union Station, Washing
ton. ID. c.. 10 the Pennsylvania Ter
minal. New York. is approximately
22S miles. Imagine instead Of the
roadbed a canal with vertical banks,
45 feet deep and 124 feet wide-deep
and wide enough to accommodate
the biggest ship that floats. and con-
Meeting the nations metropolis with
the country's capital-and you have
picture OF the amount Of material
that had to be removed to make the
great isthmian highway a completed
project.
"Nor does this remarkable COM
parison include either the excava-
tions by the French in the canal. nor
those Of the Americans for the aux
iliary works. coaling stations. etc.
These were vast enough TO widen the
imaginary Washington-New York
shipway 10 154 feet on the bottom
Of this ditch could be laid eleven
standard American railway tracks
zone can get another picture Of
the immensity Of the task by re-
necting on the fact tlAV/ the total
spons which had to be removed to
unite the seas. divide the continents,
and shorten the sea lanes Of the
world at Panama wore oaua, in
volume TO more than 100 pyramids
Of the dimensions Of Cheops two
such pyramids for every mile Of the
big waterway from deep water in the
Atlantic to deep water in the Pacific.
THE saving effected by ships us
ing the canal has more than justified
The hopes Of the Government in un-
dertaking its construction. In pre-
war days. the cost Of maintaining a
freighter in commission was approx
imately 10 cents per net registered
ton per day. Thus. a 10.O0O-ton
steamship cost for maintenance
about $1,000 a day. Its average speed
was around $50 knots a day. on the
rip from New York to San Fran
cisco there is a saving OF thirty-two
lays. With such a ship, this extra
distance would cost. on the basis Of
ore-war prices s33.OOO. on the basis
-5f present prices II would cost about
$4,000. The vessel, by using the
canal is pre-war days. paying Si.2o
Der net registered ton. or $4,000,
saved its owners. or charterers
1000. on the basis OF present-day
.
n. as Is now planned. the coastwise
i shipping using the canal Is exempted
from the payment OF tolls a 10000
. ton steamer will save $4,000 every
4 time it passes through the canal. in
tolls. and at least $4,000 in distance
eliminated.
while II looks rather high tc
. think Of a 15.753-ton ship like tho
Orga paying s1S.90O for an eight
hour trip through the canal, yet tc
choose that route between the east
and west coasts Of the United States
over the Magellan route would save
upward OF $4,000 on the trip.
Another interesting thing about
I the toll rates at Panama is the COM
paratively low rates at which cargo
moves through the canal. A net reg
istered ton In shipping practice is
100 cubic feet OF cargo space Now
it happens that most cargo doesn'i
require so much room. and that foi
some commodities three tons can b,
4 put in each net registered ton space
For instance. cotton takes more room
than nitrates. cargo OF the latter
has moved through the canal for 81
cents a ton. while a cargo OF lumber
might cost a dollar a ton. The aver
age rate for bulk cargoes rangel
around 67 cents a long ton.
"The rate Of s1.20 per net regis
tered ton. or $4,000 for a 1O.OOO-tor
ship is no higher when viewed from
4 :he standpoint OF cost Of operating
the canal than when looked at from
the angle OF knot-money saved.
THE present income from th'
canal is barely sufficient 10 pay tn