PAGE FOUR
Mechanical Phase of Canal
Fred A . Calvin Telia of Elements That Enter Into the Great
Panama Waterway
Tfc« Panama canal has succeeded. That la now to be taken for
granted. Before to very long It will have brought together the two
gn at aides o f the world.
To the commerce o f the world the canal
op-jaa aew fields, vast territory, closed before by the time and expense
o f the long voyage around the shoulder o f a continent The waters o f
the Pacific ocean lave the shores o f the lands wherein dwell one-half the
population o f the world. To these people there will come through the
canal the civilisation o f the modern times. Through the canal will sail
the twin goddesses o f health. Hygiene and Sanitation. Upon the dis­
ease-ridden east the prophylactic touch o f Tankee methods o f right
living will descend as a benediction. It is our canal, too. It was made
poaslhle by American knowledge and American pluck and American in­
genuity. Where the French and the English and the Spaniards, i f we
go beck far into the history o f the Panama country, failed, there have
we worked a miracle, a wonder o f science and intelligence, a toon to the
whole world. There is in the Panama canal much ground f i r national
pride. It is to be hoped that the administration o f the canal shall
find its measure in the remarkable standard o f its building.
The article that is to follow was written by Fred A, Colvin, as­
sistant editor o f “ The American M ach in ist”
It treats in a compre­
sivo way the mechanical side o f the digging o f the world’s greatest
ditch.—Ed.
v
ORE than any other undertak­ ily used, such as bolts and nuts, pack­
ing in the wot Id's history, ings, and similar pieces.
The train takes the small machine
perhaps, the Panama canal is
shop
directly to the shovel to be re­
due to the combined develop­
ment o f many elements o f civilization. paired and in most rases does all that
While the French engineers failed to is needed without its leaving its posi­
eomplete the canal, we must remem­ tion or losing a minute from the work,
ber that no one could have succeeded an excellent example o f real efficiency.
at that time, and we must give them Sometimes a whole new arm or boom
credit for courage, engiueering ability is swung into place by the wrecking
crane and a trip to Empire with its
and a creditable achievement.
Without a Colonel Gorges to first attendant delay is avoided. And these
eliminate the mosquito and make the arms or booms weigh several tons and
canal zone not only livable but com­ are not easy to handle. But the aim
fortable and even attractive the canal o f everything is to keep things mov­
would never have been built. Without ing and push the job through to com­
the modern developments o f excavat­ pletion.
M
ing machinery and o f concrete the
great locks at Gatun, Pedro Miguel
and Miraflores and the nine-mile cut
at Culebra would never have been
completed within a reasonable time.
Without the repair shops at Cristobal,
Gorgona, Empire and Balboa to keep
the locomotives, steam shovels and
other machinery in operation the rapid
progress would have been impossible
And without the selection o f proper
material to stand the elimate, not for­
getting the too often overlooked item
o f belting, the cost in delays and in
actual money might be difficult to
compute.
The shops at Cristobal and Balboa
handle the repairs for the dredges and
other excavating machinery at the A t­
lantic and Pacific ends o f the canal
respectively. This includes the barges
which carry the material away to be
dumped, some being self-propelled and
called by their French name “ clap-
pets,” as well as tugs, launches and
any sort o f sea going craft whieh may
be used.
The largest shops are at Gorgona.
enlarged from the French shops at
this place, and here all the locomotives
and cars for the excavation work as
well as for the Panama railroad are
repaired. At times this shop has em­
ployed 1,800 men. Tt is difficult to
see the necessity for such a large shop
until we stop to consider that the
Isthmian Canal Commission railroad,
built solely in the Culebra eut and for
hauling the d:rt (oc “ spoil,” as it is
called) away from it, is about the size
o f the Boston & Albany railroad.
There are over 300 locomotives and
4,000 cars, and most o f the locomo­
tives are big ones, weighing over 100
tons each. They are very unlike the
usual
contractors’
locomotives
we
usually think o f in connection with ex­
cavation work.
At Empire the steam shovels are
repaired and the shops employ about
700 men at times. It takes a lot o f
shop work to keep the dirt flying, but
they are kept at work with as little
delay as possible by a thoroughly or­
ganized plan o f action and a corps o f
inspectors and workmen.
The inspectors visit each shovel as
it works away, and not only gets the
reports o f the shovel engineers, but
look it over for weak spots and worn
parte. Any needed repairs are re­
ported to Empire by telephone so that
repair parts and supplies can be pre­
pared in advance.
A fter the dirt trains have stopped
running at 5 p. m., the repair train
starts out from the Empire shops and
makes its rounds to the steam shovels
which are in need of its services. This
repair train consists of a heavy loco­
motive, a large wrecking crane, a box
car, which is a fairly well equipped
machine shop, and another box car
filled with supplies and parts ordinar-
at the same time if necessary. Electric pany and be of little value as a driver
locomotives ahead, behind and on both o f machinery o f any kind.
sides will tow the vessels through the
Here again careful attention to de
locks, both to save time and to pre­ tail saved the day and made steady
vent damage to the locks themselves. and continuous work possible in the
The overflow o f the Uatun dam will shops. What is known as the Duxbak
provide electric power for the locomo­ belting solved the problem aud wiped
tives and probably for all the usee of out all the delays due to poor belts
which had previously been experienced.
|>ower along the t'anal »one.
The lock gates are steel structures, Over 18,000 feet of this belting, sonio
each leaf weigh ng about 330 tons. They o f it under the most trying conditions,
are about TT feet high, 6T feet wide has given the best results in every case.
and 7 feet thick. There are 92 leaves, None o f the adverse conditions af­
for there are 46 pairs of gates. An fected the belting in any way and loss
idea o f their bulk may be had by not o f time from this cause was eliminated
ing that if thev were laid flat, one on inn all the sho|>a.
top o f the other, the pile would be
And while lielting may seem like a
higher than the Singer tower. The small item in the building of the great
riveting problem is also interesting, canal, it is not difficult to iinagiue the
t'ountiug 300 rivets as a good d a y’s long delay and the increased expense
work for a single gang of riveters, it if the shovels and locomotives had beeu
would take them a year to rivet up a compelled to lie idle day after day
single leaf, or 92 years to complete the while ordiunry lielting was giving out.
lot.
making it impossible to run the ma­
The whole administration o f the chines.
shop and storehouses is under the army
in its various branches. The stores
come under the quartermaster’s depart
ment, and the storehouses are splen­
didly kept in every way. Employes
all have a brass check or tag similar
to a baggage tag {rearing their nun
Cabbages should be placed in bar­
ber. This tag is the open sesame to rels. the roots uppermost.
all commission stores. Here the em
___ '
plovee can buy anything at cost, usu
A soft rag moistened with lemon
ally much cheaper than the same thing
juice and then dip|>ed in silver whit
can be secured In New York or any
ing will be found excellent for clean­
northern city.
ing piano keys.
At Cristobal are the main store
houses, the government ice factory, ice
Lamps will not smoke if with a
cream factory, bakery and laundry,
early every morning the supply train, Sharp pair o f scissors the wiek is
usually o f 21 cars, starts out to supply trimmed the sha|ie o f the burner and
the smaller storehouses and distribut­ a small V la cut from the renter.
ing points along the Isthmus. And
there are very few o f the necessities
and even luxuries which cannot ba se­
cured from the main stores and sent
to you at short notice.
These seem strange when we think
o f canal digging, but show conclusively
that it is the attention to details that
brings success no matter how large th<
enterprise. Men would not stay until
the surroundings were healthy and con­
A GOOD REBUILT CAR
genial. This meant comfortable quar­
ie worth twice ae
ters for their wives and children. This
much and costs much
in turn necessitated the adoption o f a
less than s cheep
complete school system, including a
At Empire, too, is the main air­
compressing plant of the largest air­
compressing system in the world.
Three stations— Las Casradas, Empire
and Rio Grande—pump into about 14
miles of 10-inrh pipe line, which car­
ries compressed air to drive the drills
for preparing the rock for blasting.
Aside from the strictly repair work
to the locomotives and cars the shops high school which ranks second to
at Gorgona ran be called the manu­ none as a preparatory school for col­
facturing shops of the zone. A good lege. It also meant recreation centers
sized foundry equipment is provided and Y. M. O. A. buildings for the men
for making iron, brass and steel cast­ and women’s clubs for the women. All
ings for all purposes needed in the strangely out o f place and a seeming
canal work. And while it is the inten­ extravagance in a tropical climate and
tion to buy as much material as pos­ fo r a temporary job, but all absolutely
sible, it has been found necessary to necessary to the successful building o f
make many repair parts which should the canal in record time as has been
have been made in the States on ac­ done.
count o f the short sighted policy of
This same thing has been carried out
some manufacturers in charging exor­ in the details of shop management and
bitant prices for repair parts. It has the buying o f proper materials to work
repeatedly been found cheaper to with. We go into large or small ma­
make a pattern and a casting and then chine shops and pay all our attention
machine the casting than to pay the to the machines and never see the belts
price asked and wait for it to be made. that drive them and without whieh
Nearly all the machinery which has they would be o f almost no use. And
gone to the Isthmus has been found to the belt problem is one of the worst
require strengthening to stand up un­ that comes up, especially in shops in
der the severe work o f the canal ex­ tropical countries.
cavation. Crane arms have to be rein­
The ideas o f heat in the Canal zone
forced, car sides strengthened ami are apt to be exaggerated, as the tem­
other machinery parts increased in perature rarely goes over 93 degrees
proportion. The old French rails have and sunstrokes are unknown. But heat
been largely used for such reinforcing is not the only factor in these climates.
and there seems to be no end o f them.
Imagine sitting down at the table on
They make excellent I-beama for the a damp, rainy day and pressing with
sides of dump and other cars and are your knife on the salt in the salt cel­
also used in reinforcing concrete lar and see moisture stand in drops
structures in many places, even includ­ on the knife. Salt shakers are out of
ing the edges o f curbing for street the question, and envelopes are made
sidewalks. Bridges of short spans have without gum to prevent their being
also been built o f these rails, and they accidentally sealed when not wanted.
have been put to more uses than can be This gives you some idea o f the damp­
mentioned offhand. Whoever bought ness in the atmosphere.
them bought them with great liberal­
It is not so hot as you expect, but
ity, to put the matter mildly.
you perspire at the slightest provoca­
Everything about the whole canal is tion and sometimes without any provo­
on a big scale, even though the suc­ cation at all. Your clothes may be
cess of the largest may depend on the damp in the morning, almost wet, in
proper working out o f the smaller de­ fact, unless you put them in the tight
tails. The locks at Gatun will lift the wordrobes usually provided. And your
vessels 85 feet from the sea level to boots insist on getting mouldy unless
that o f the lake, which is formed by they are wiped dry when put away,
the huge Gatun dam. The lake will and even this is not a sure preventive.
cover 164 square miles and flow the
And then imagine what a belt is up
water from the locks at Gatun through against. It must be dependable day
the great Culebra cut and to the locks after day. The season may be dry or
on the Pacific side at Pedro Miguel. wet, the ntmosphere saturated or dried
The locks will accommodate vessels out by the close proximity to a boiler
1,000 feet long by 110 feet wide and or other heating apparatus, but the belt
drawing 45 feet o f water. But as the must go on doing its duty or the ma­
average vessel in the tropical trade is chines cannot run and the shovels and
under 6W feet long, auxiliary or in­ locomotives cannot be repaired. Then,
termediate gates are provided so that too, there is oil around the machinery
40 per cent o f the water for locking to contend with, all of which makes the
vessels can be saved unless the vessel conditions especially trying.
exceeds 600 feet.
Ordinary belting stretches with the
The Gatun locks are about 1 1-3 moisture contracts when it dries out a
miles long, o f solid concrete, and form bit, opens at the laps and has to be
the largest concrete structure in the cut constantly to keep the length so ,it
world. They are double, to allow the will pull the machine. Two or three
passage of vessels in both directions ply belting is very apt to part com­
Domestic Econom y
Palma and other foliage plants can
be kept clean of seals and other in­
sects by washing the leaves with
soapy water and rinsing immediately
thereafter.
woman, es|>erially when working in hot
weather. Passing a needle through aa
emery cushion two or three times pel
lehea it, and makes it |>aea through ma­
terials smoothly.
Never envy the people seeing a
show from a box. They get a fine
view of the actors’ makeup and ran
see what’s going on In the wings.
T hat’s about all, too.
Aluminum thread la the aewoet
thing for rhochetiug handbags, and It
has the advantage of uot tarnishing.
The effect is soft and lustrous an« It
is just the thing to go with the grays
that have so important a place in this
When silk is spotted with grease rub season ’a costumes.
It with French chalk or magnesia, then
hold the spotted portion near the fire.
A small square cushion which would
The elialk will absorb the grease and be especially nice for a guestroom is
ran be brushed o ff, taking the grease covered with blue silk, and over this
with it.
a filet lace rover of white is draws.
This dainty bit of blue aud white is
To get a good light from an oil then supplied with blue and white
lamp the wicks must be changed * hen beaded pins, neatly arranged, a l
they become clogged. Soaking wicks ready for tho guests’ use.
in vinegar 24 hours before putting
them in tho lamps aids in getting a
The chenille embroideries are fa-
clear flame.
other novelty of the season. Dull eel
When linking cookies use a large
dripping pan. Turn it - bottom side
up and placo the cookies on the bot­
tom of the pan. They bake quicker
and do not burn as easily as when
put into the pan.
ors are used for the (Kirtioa o f the de
sign carried out in the chenille, while
petals are frequently eom|>oaad of
pieree of satin appllqued on, and out­
lined with a dull gold cord tacked oa.
Velvet Is used aa a foundation.
White froeks and blouses or under­
clothing that have a bail color should
be first soaked in cold water to whiah
a little ammonia has been added aad
theu given a lemon bleach- that is, a
large lemon should be rut into slices,
rind and all boiled up in the boiling
pan or small eop|>er. When at full
The old-fashioned emery cushion is boiling point put In the linens and
a most useful possession to the needle muslins and boil for 20 minutes.
l ’aint splashes on a door may be
removed by soaking them for a short
time in benzine or turpentine, then
rubbing them with emery pe|ier or a
little pulverised pumice stone, applied
with a damp cloth.
A WRITTEN GUARANTEE
U s e d C a r s at
Sacrifice Prices
backed by the
responsibility of Tbs
Winlon Motor Cor Co.
goes with every car
Various Makes
Various Styles
These cars must all be sold in 3 0
DAYS
HIGH-GRADE QUALITY— LOW-GRADE PRICES
OU need not put up with a cheap, underpowered, cramped little car. Right now you can get
for yourself a high-powered, high-grade n r at a price regardless of coat. W e guarantee all
these cars. That’s your protection. A Written Guarantee, backed by integrity and re­
sponsibility of this company, goes with each car. W e must tell every used car we have, and we’re not
going to quibble about price. W e have something to satisfy every taste and every pocket book.
When you own one of these high-grade automobiles, when you enjoy the distinction of driving a
car of class, when you realize that thia sale makes it possible for you to enjoy the top limit of satisfac­
tion in motoring, then you'll be glad you grasped thia opportunity.
W R IT E US TOD A Y: See what we have. Glad to tell you all about our used cart.
Y
Demonstrations cheerfully given. We shall not urge you to buy. If you buy you get a Written Guarantee.
These high-grade rebuilt cars are for sale o n e a s y t e r m s , at prices from one-quarter to one-half of their
original coat. You are invited to visit our sales floor —make personal inspection and take a demonstration.
.w
7o out-of-town buyera we will refund railroad fare to and from their home*
THE
IN T O N
C A R
M OTOR
C O
I’ lease send
BRANCH OFFICES r
ms full detail# of your
Rebuilt Car offer
lO O O P IK E S T R E E T , S E A T T L E
1 2 -4 0 G R A N V IL L E S T ., V A N C O U V E R , B . C .
1 2 1 4 SO. T AC O M A A V E , TACO M A, W ASH .
2 3 r d 4k W A S H I N G T O N , P O R T L A N D , O R E .
1 4 2 1 SECOND A V E , SPOKANE, W A SH .
3 3 0 SO. SECOND A V E , W A L L A W A L L A , W A S H .
( in
waiTliro
to
i o v i i t i s i i s
Gentlemen!
flua
» u
m i s t i ó n
" C a r r e n t Fe at u r e e " )
The Bread and Butter Question: Thick D oesn’t Want a Single Bite
EVANSON