THE GREATEST CANAL

Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1930, Page 17 (Supplement)

THE GREATEST CANAL

STORY OF. THE PANAMA

(By

“Novitius.”}

Early on the morning of September 23, 1513, a little band of men laboriously climbed the bush-clad side of a hill. The leader reached the summit of the ridge and 1 there before him stretched a wide expanse of water, Balboa had discovered the Pacific Ocean. Fifty miles away lay the waters of the Atlantic, but between the two oceans Was a region of mountains, disease-infested swamps and steaming: jungle. The story of man’s triumph over nature, and the way in which after long years a- waterway was blasted through . the hills, cannot fail to thrill. ’ ' "

While voyagers were still content to go thousands of miles round the Cape to reach the waters of the Pacific,, communication was established across the isthmus by. the construction of a road. Paved, and wide enough to accommodate two carts abreast, the ruins of this highway, once the richest in ■; the world, can be seen vanishing into the thick Panama, jungle, " .' ''

Engineers were attracted by the possibility of a ship railway between the oceans, by which vessels up to TffOO tons were to be “ferried” across the mountains. But the scheme did not go any further owing to the prohibitive cost, and In 1849 an ordinary railroad was commenced. The route selected- presented great difficulties in construction, A way had to be blasted through mountains of rock; swamps 120 feet deep had to be filled; and bridges had to be built over streams 20 feet wide at one season, and 200 feet at another.

Yellow fever, a constant menace, took its toll of the labour gangs, and nieff refused to work under the awful conditions. A ship load of 800 Chinese was imported but, deprived of their opium, they were unable to work. Many wandered to the seashore and sat down upon the beach to be engulfed by the rising tide. Others strangled themselves with their pigtails. Some two hundred, a quarter of the original number, wore sent, sick and useless, to Jamaica.

When the railway had been coihpleted with the aid of negro labour, incieased attention was paid to the canal project. In 1880 Ferdinand de Lesseps, creator of .the Suez Canal, commenced work on what was to be the biggest engineering failure yet known. A vast ■waste of treasure and human effort Was made, de .Lesseps- attempting fully to shoulder , the whole burden of management. Disregard of expert advice, and avoidable mistakes following on the, original miscalculation, led to the disaster which caused work to cease in 1001. -

Three years later the work of construction was taken over by American enterprise, to be completed in 1914. The work was carried through successfully by a combination of science and industry.. Research was first undertaken with the object of eradicating the deathdealing mosquito, and then the work proceeded smoothly under the supervision of the best engineering brains of the United States, unhindered by lack of labour.

The passage through the canal is full of interest. From the Atlantic side, the vessel steams into the waters of Limon Bay past huge, grim coal-hoists to await a chance of passing through. The canal is clear. Gradually the jungle-laden banks draw in and at last the Gatun locks come into view round a bend in the channel. Along the guiding walls run four fussy little electric locomotives. Steel hawsers are thrown aboard, and the vessel, like Gulliver among the Lilliputians, is pulled ihside the lock. The lock gates behind swing slowly shut, and those in front open with* a rush of yellow water. The .ship rises, the. swirling water settles, and the locomotives move on. Twice the operation is- repeated, and then the locks are left behind, with their pleasant lawns and orderly electric light standards. It is said that each standard on the length of the canal represents one human life lost in the construction.

The’vessel gathers speed and winds along Gatun lake. On either hand are wooded islands, all that is visible of submerged hills. Behind on the left is Gatun dam, a colossal structure of ccficrete .that blocks the Chagres River, holding 40 feet of water in the canal. Ahead can be . heard the deep boom .of a siren. Round a bend in the channel, a steamer appears. Passengers wave, sirens toot their greetings, and tho ships pass on. Speed is slackened *and then the lake is left behind as the ship enters, the nine-niile passage of the stupendous Culebra Cut. Here a tremendous slice has been taken out of the hills to form a channel 300 feet wide, with a cliff face in places, nearly 500 feet deep. Here and there great scars exist, reminders of huge landslides, and at intervals are dredges removing the spoil of recent slips. In some places tropical growth concealsthe face of the cutting, or a sparkling waterfall in contrast to tlie 'muddy canal adds to the picturesqueness of the scene. Round bend after bend the ship swings, the pilot handling his charge with an assurance, grown from tong ex-’ perience. Gradually, the level the two ridges descends- and, no longer dwarfed ‘by the magnitude of the surroundings, the boat passes through the single lock at Pedro Miguel. A short run to Mir&florea and a further descent returns the vessel to sea level. The final channel, eight and a-half miles long, brings the vessel to an open bay and the modern town of Balboa.