Evening star., 1924-02-11

"As the work was begun six years
ago, and you expect it's completion In
three years, may say the canal Is
two-thirds f1nished?'
finished. 1t has taken good deal of
time getting ready. We are now pre-
pared to go on with the work, which
will be completed In 1885,"
Speaking of the progress of the
work, Comte de Lesseps boasted:
! without modern machinery the
work would be almost Impossible
Twenty years ago, the heaviest dredge
made could remove only 1000 cubic
that regularly displace 5000 meters
and can reach 1000 if the ground is
favorable. Allowing for the possible
stoppage of machinery through acct
dent we can depend on each dredge
removing 5000 a day, which is equal
to the work of 5000 men with SPADE
and fork"
In contrast with the above stated
capacity, note the following para
graph from a recent magazine ar
ticle by Gov. Jay j. Morrow, at the
Speaking of what a visitor to the
) canal might not appreciate, he says;
"TIe almost certainly will not know
that this dredge with it's twin sisters
are the best machines OF their class
in the world; that one of them in
one day has dredged nearly $4,000
cubic yards, a dredging performance
that has never been approached else
where Nor will he know that two
or three OF them are kept in constant
commission for sixteen hours every
day. They are not only constantly
at work maintaing the channel in the
work which dredgeS are required to
do in all ports, but are ready. like
fire equipment, to jump instantly on
a slide and cut q channel through 1t
v.,;th c,,H, ota IN
commerce that no ship will be delay
ed"
- y +
In the light Of present engineering
knowledge of facts. some of his
instance that the level of the Pacific
and Atlantic oceans was so near the
same that there would be but q slight
current through a sea-level strait
The high tide Of the Pacific is twenty
feet and of the Caribbean sea twenty
inches. There would therefore be a
rushing current, at high tide, through
tide-water canal.
The French plan TO divert the Cha
gres river from its natural channel
proved impracticable. and, instead,
the American engineers use its sup
ply OF water to create the greatest
II
world. From this stored water is OBJ
tanned the supply to operate the
locks, while the lake provides Il
broad channel more than forty-four
feet deep through which nearly half
of the voyage across the isth;nus may
proceed at half speed.
When traffic increases so that the
present supply of water for the locks
becomes Inadequate it is planned to
dam the Chag'reS and create another
reservoir at d higher level, which will
supplement both water and hydro
electric power.
The growth of Panama traffic has
exceeded all calculations The Suez
al tonnage grew in its first fifty
three years-1870 to 192s-up to 22,-
73o,162 Danube tons"
chart showing the curve of in
crease for the Suez and d parallel
curve for the Panama canal indicated
that the Panama would reach % .000,-
600 tons by the year 200O Yet the
Panama record has doubled in the last
year and is already for 1923 24,737.4s7
tons. while the Suez passed only 22,
130,l62 tons last year. The phenome-
nal growth Of Panama tonnage for
1923 was largely due to Oil shipments
from California to New York. which
may not prove permanent in volume.
There is ample capacity in the pres
ent canal and its water supply for
lock operation to meet the probable
needs for the next twenty years. but
If no Nicaragua canal supplements the
Panama then the French dream of a
Sea-level strait may be seriously con-
sidered, together with the necessary
dynamicS to block mountains from
sliding.
Copyright, 1924. by Paul v. CoIlins)