NO " MARRIAGE OF THE OCEANS."

Press, Volume L, Issue 14985, 4 June 1914, Page 3

NO " MARRIAGE OF THE OCEANS."

FACTS ABOUT THE PANAMA CANAL.

(From tho San Francisco '"Examiner.") One ox trio commonee. and most popuiar exp. ossio ___. aixmi the _*-_aa_utt canal is u_at it win oring aDout *"tno i_u_niage oi tne two oceans." let tuero is no marna-e between tho Atlantic and i.acilic Oceans. An enormous uoay o: iicou water lies between uiein. 'ttie waters of tne two oceans wm not nungie. mo Doay v. water that makes a truo marriage oetween Atlantic ana Pacific oceans impossible is Uatun Lake, 'mis is tho pivotal leature m tao canal construction pian tnat was adopted, alter worm-wide oiscus&iou. Uatun LaKo raises snips to the neigu. necessary to overcome tho enormous difference between tne tides in the Atlantic aud tho Pacific oceans. It rurnit-iies tne flow of water necessary lor tne working of tne iocKs. It control-, the waters of the turbulent Chagrcs river. Indeed, Uatun ia__e is ior many reasons one of the most interesting bodies ot water in tho world. The lake is eighty-five feet above sea level, and is fed by the waters of tho Cnngrcs river. In" order to reach tho lako. from the. Atlantic side a ship pathos through throe locks, each raising it about thirty feet. Then, alter passing through the lake, tho ship must descend through three similar locks m order to roach .alt water on tho Pacific side.

In order that tho lock, may bo in constant use an immense supply of fresh water is necessary, as millions of gallons of witter run out of the locks ev-ery time, a ship passes through the canal. All this is supplied by Catun lake.

Should this re-servoir of fresh water be inadequate, owing to tho failure of the rainf.ill on the Pacific side, the working of the canal would be seriously affected. Additional locks of a smaller capacity have been constructed in order to save the amount of water let out when a vessel leaves the locks. A system of sluices has also been devised by which water can bo passed from ono lock to another. Suppose a vessel is- poing toward Giifun lake, when she exiU-r* the .first lock a certain amount of fresh water passes into tho lock iv order to raise the vessel to the level of the next lock. The fresh water in the three locks is retained for the use of a vessel passing out. Then a large block of fresii water, measuring 1000 foot by 110 feet in width, must be allowed to flow out into the sea approach. If the locks are constantly working tho loss of water will bo very considerable. The .watei-i of tho Chagres river will flow into both Atlantic and Pacific oreans, but the waters of the two oceans will not meet. »

Another curious fact about the canal is that tho-Pacific end lies east of tho Atlantic end. You 'can stand at Lake Gatun and watch the _>un rise over tho Atlantic Ocean. The explanation is that, the Isthmus of Panama runs nearly oast and west instead of north and south. The canal traverses it from Colon on tho north to Panama on the south in a general direction from north-west to south-east. Tho Paciiic terminal is twenty-two miles east of the Atlantic entrance. ft has boon planned to construct .-n enormous park around Gatun lake, which it is believed wilt excel in attractiveness Niagara Falls. Hero will be planted all the most interesting trees, plants, vines, and flowers of tiiO tropical zone, immense aviaries to hold brilliantly-coloured birds of the tropical regions will be constructed in tho park. Tho lake itself will be an aquarium and aquatic pleasure ground of a scale unrivalled in the whole world. '1 lie lakos and rivers of this region abound with most brilliant and peculiar fish and water animals. Specimens of nil of them will bo caught and placed m the lako. ~, Large si ass-bottomed bo->ts holding about fifty people each will bo constructed for the benefit of visitors to the lake. With these it will bo possible to view all the strange fish and repfiles, all the wonders of trooical water life going on beneath tho lake. The pleasure of sailing on Lako Gatun has already been offered to tourists and hae been enjoyed very much. The experiment was liuadq by order of Colonel' Goetbals. Two old cement barges were lashed together, and provided with awnings, seats, and other conveniences for tho accommodation of about 400 persons. Tourists desiring to make tho trip we>e taken on the barge at Gatun locks and the barge was towed the length of the.lake, a distanco of about, twentyeight miles. Vegetation grows with extrac-din-ary rapidity in • this country. European critics have even (suggested tnat the use of the canal will be stopped by rank vegetation growing up in the locks and in Gatun lake, it is true that a body of water in which the current is not strong will become choked up in a few days.. Islands of floating vegetation have appeared in Gatun lake, although it ha_ been in existence only a few months. But the foreign critics made their comments without reckoning on the efficiency and industry of the American engineers, who may bo relied on to keep the weeds from growing under them or around fliem. It will readily be seen, however, that such conditions provide extraordinary opportunities for creating a beautiful park. Tho life in the water is equally wonderful. Lizards and water snakes, as well as strange and beautifully coloured fish, abound. When tbo Panama Canal has become the greatest highway of ocean travel in the world, as it certainly will, the Canal Zoue will be tho stopping placo for vast numbers of travellers from all countries. Persons -travelling from Asia to Europe will disembark at the (.anal, in o'tler to take some other ship to convey them to their destination. Tho Canal Zone will then enjoy tho advantages that have come to .Egypt Largely through tho influence of tho Suez Canal. In order to take care of all these visitors it will be desirable to provide amusements and recreations on a large scale, and tho Gatun Lake park* will ; form tho -principal attraction of this j kind. Fortunately the Canal Zone is now ; —through the efforts of American physicians and scientists—the healthiest i n!»ce i" .*•« world Yellow furor, mal- j nria, cholera, and bubonic plague have been banished from it. Tbo territory i. I now healthier than the City of New York. I Consequently there will be no danger I for visitors in a prolonged _tny hero, and such attractions as the Gntiin Lake park will make it very delightful. THE MnvsmEß. r .AXVOV.. • THAT GUARD THE . CANAL. AND OTHEPv WONDERS OF THE WATERWAY. Tho plans to protect tho Panama Canal, tho most gigantic engineering achievement in history, include the installation of tho biggest guns in the world. One of these giant weapons, of which thero will be six in all. is now at the Sandy Hook proving grounds, but will shortly be transported to its permanent destination The guns will bo moupted on modem disappearing carriages on ono of the small islands off tho Pacific entrance to the waterway. These guns have a 6i_cteen-inch bore and will throw a 2400-pound projectile a distance,of twenty-three miles—a feat eqnal to firing an ordinary four-seated automobile from the Battery in New York to Yonkers. With a single shot, any one of these

guns will sink any vessel afloat. Such a shot would-penetrate twenty inches of Krupp steel and then explode. The guns will shoot 29,926 feet .into the air —higher than any aviator could fly and live. They will be mounted on specially devised carriages which permit of a sirty degree elevation. Heretofore, forty-five degree was the greatest elevation obtainable, and effective defence against aeroplane attack was out of the question. It will take 576 pounds of smokeless powder, n-.th a bursting charge of 150 pounds ol "dunnite," to fire a shot from these sixteen-inch guns. ' Tho shell will travel half a mile a se- 1 cond aud have a striking energy of I 90,000 tons.

The task of transferrins: tho giant war-pieces from their temporary restingplaces to their destined stations will be a difficult ono.

The first ono to bo installed will be the one now at Sandy Hook. Plans have already been made for tho transfer.

Ono of the largest derricks over constructed will bo employed to raise it from its base and place it on tho spe-cially-built railroad car which will take it to tho docks.

Thero it will again be raised and transferred to the deck of a lighter, 'vhich will be towed to the Brooklyn Xavy Yard, where there are cranes big ei.ou.__h to lift it and place it on a freighter for its trip to the Atlantic termiuu_> of the Panama -Railroad at Colon.

The gun will be securely lashed to tho deck during this ocean voyage. If t-tormy weather were encountered during the trip, and the _jia.it war-piece were to break loose the destruction of the ve?sel would be almost inevitable. Certainly it would'be out of the question to attempt to capture tho rolling monster.

But if the gun reaches South America safely it will be carried across the continent on another specially-built flat car drawn by a giant locomotive. A steam crane will be used to mount it on its concrete carriage, which will cost in the neighbourhood of 125.000 dollars. This carriago operates to elevate tho gun's muzzle over a parapet to fire a shot and then lowers tho gtui out of sight until n-'uly to deliver tho next blow. In addition to the sixteen-iiic-h guns, there will be a number of fourteeninr.h and twelve-inch weapons, as well as a multitude of guns of smaller calibre.

But equally marvellous aro the mammoth looks whose construction has made the canal possible.

Considered merely as structures of concrete .-Hid leaving their mechanical perfection out nf the question entirely. the.se musses of masonry are uniqueFive million cubic yards of concrete aro contained in them. In no other structure ever creeled by the hand of man has so much material entered.

Tho lock> are made necessary, it may be explained, because the topography of the isthmus made it impracticable to cut the ditch from' ocean to ocean at sco-ievel.

A vessel entering the canal from the Atlantic Ocean will proceed for seven miles at .sea-level. It will then he raised eighty-five feet by means of thu Gatun lock-system to reach the level of tho Gatun Luke. Through the Gatun Lako tho ve_-scl will proceed for twenty-three miles to the commencement of the Culebra Cut. Then for nine miles.further, ..till at an eighty-five foot level, until it comes to the Pedro Miguel Lock, which will lower it thirty feet to the small Mini Soros artificial lake. This lake is one and a half miles long and carries the vessel to tho Miraflores Lock, which lowers the vessel fifty-five feet to the sea-level channel, which will carry it for eight miles into the Pacific Ocean.

The three locks are each built in duplicate to provide against emergencies.

The total height of eighty-five feet provided for by the Gatim Lock is accomplished in three flights of approximated -wentv-eight feet each. Each lock is 110 feet wi'rlo and 1000 feet Ion?. It consists of a floor 400 feet by-3800 feet in area, twenty feet thick and two side walls, each fifty feet thick at the base and taporing to eight feet thick at the top. Thero*.s a dividing wall sixty feet thick. The inner faces of the sides, of the locks : are vertical, but the outer faces are stepped, the greatest thickness being at the base, where the lateral pressure of the water is greatest.Through the base of those .walls extend-ing.longitudinally-extend hugo culverts or conduits from eighteen to twentytwo feet in diameter, large enough »o accommodate a giant locomotive-

Through these culverts the locks aro filled and emptied.

The serios of steal gates used at either end of these locks and operated by wonderful electrical devices weigh 1624 tons a pair, and thero are forty-six pairs of them, making a total of 56,000 tons of steel —moro than enough to construct twenty miles of the finest double-track railroad, and moro than was used in the construction of the Manhattan Bridge, which spans the East River, New York. These gates cost over 5,000,000 dollars

Monster 270-ton floating cranes will bo on hand to handle wrecks in tho event of accident at any point in tho canal.

So perfectly is the operation of the lock-system regulated by the wonderfully -ingenious electrical devices constructed by the engineers that tbe mere pressure of a button by a man who need not even watch the results of his work will swing the giant steel gates, let m or releaso the thousands of gallons oi water which fill the lock and raise or lower a modern leviathan of the deep weighing 50,000 tons a distanco <<l eighty-five feet, all in less than an hour!

Truly, in this titanic engineering feafc all things are titanic.