Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . the purpose of taking careof this water, though it also served toreduce somewhat the amount of dryexcavation on the Canal. One ad-vantage which both the Gatun andMiraflores lakes have for the sailor,that does not at flrst occur to thelandsman, is that being fllled withfresh water, as also is the main bodyof the Canal, they will cleanse thebottoms of the ships passing throughof barnacles and other marine is a notable benefit to shipsengaged in tropical trade, for in thoselatitudes their bottoms become be-fouled in a way that seriously
Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . the purpose of taking careof this water, though it also served toreduce somewhat the amount of dryexcavation on the Canal. One ad-vantage which both the Gatun andMiraflores lakes have for the sailor,that does not at flrst occur to thelandsman, is that being fllled withfresh water, as also is the main bodyof the Canal, they will cleanse thebottoms of the ships passing throughof barnacles and other marine is a notable benefit to shipsengaged in tropical trade, for in thoselatitudes their bottoms become be-fouled in a way that seriously inter-feres with their steaming capacity. The name Pedro Miguel is givento this lock because the French beganoperations there on the feast day ofSt. Peter Michael, whose name inSpanish is applied to the spot. Anomniscient gentleman on the trainonce assured me that the name camefrom a Spanish hermit who long lived onthe spot in the odor of sanctity—anddivers other odors if the haunts of thehermits I have visited elsewhere were any PROPORTIONS OF THE LOCKS A six story building would stand in tlie lock-chamber. Size ofconduits indicated by small sketches of wagon and locomotive. THE END OF THE CANAL AT BALBOA Errors of fact, however, are common on thezone. They still laugh about a congressman who,on Gatun dam, struck an attitude and exclaimedwith feeling—At last then I stand in the far-famed Culebra Cut! which spot was a trifle morethan thirty miles away. From the lower lock at Miraflores the canal de-scribes a practically straight course to the PacificOcean at Balboa, about 43^2 miles. The channel iscontinued out to sea about four miles further. Allthe conditions of the Pacific and Oriental trade giveassurance that at Balboa will grow the greatest of allpurely tropical ports. To it the commerce of thewhole Pacific coast of North America, and of SouthAmerica as far south at least as Lima, will irresisti-bly flow. To it will also come the trade of Japan,Northern Chi
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Keywords: ., bookauthorabbotwil, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
