USA > California > History of California, Volume V > Part 34
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A floating caisson is provided for closing the chamber when it is desired to unwater the entire lock.
Vessels are not permitted to use their own power when in the lock, but are towed through by electric locomotives which receive them on entering and release them after passing the last gate. The number of loco- motives to be used varies with the size of the vessel.
PLATE 4
C
F
F
H
H
CROSS SECTION OF LOCK CHAMBER AND WALLS. GATUN LOCKS
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THE PANAMA CANAL
Four are usual, two ahead, one on each lock wall, to tow; and two astern, to hold back. Lines are also used to pass over snubbing posts and hold the vessel steady in the locks. The operation of filling or emptying causes no noticeable surging in the locks, even with small vessels.
All machinery is driven electrically by current generated at the Gatun spillway. The hydro-electric plant there is capable of supplying 6,000 kilowatts. It is supplemented by the steam generating plants which were used during construction and which are now maintained as reserves, although not used except in an emergency. The motors of all machines at each locality are operated from a central control house. A control board, with devices representing the moving parts, shows the operator just what effect his manipu- lations are producing. The different controllers on the board are mechanically interlocked against false move- ments. The Gatun control house operates 310 motors located at distances up to 2,700 feet from the point of control.
Concrete work on the locks was begun at Gatun on August 24, 1909, at Pedro Miguel on September 1, 1909, and at Miraflores on June 1, 1910. The main concrete was finished at all the localities in the summer and early autumn of 1913, and one of the twin lock flights was used to pass dredging plant through at that time. The first lockage took place at Gatun on September 26th, and on the Pacific side on October 14, 1913. The final completion of the locks was delayed until some months later by the erection of the gates and the installation of the machinery and electrical apparatus.
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The total amount of concrete laid in the locks, spillways, and accessory works, is approximately 4,800,000 cubic yards.
The maximum amount of concrete laid at each place in any one day is-
For Gatun locks and spillway 4,983 cu. yds.
For Pedro Miguel lock 3,844 cu. yds. For Miraflores locks and spillway 4,728 cu. yds.
HARBOR AND TERMINAL WORK
The work on the terminals and breakwaters was not fully complete when the canal was opened to navigation. At Limon Bay it includes two breakwaters, with a system of docks, a coal handling plant, a small dry dock, and shops. At Balboa it includes a breakwater from the mainland to Naos Island, to protect the chan- nel in Panama Bay, and a system of docks with large marine shops, a coal handling plant, and two dry docks. About 290,000 tons of coal can be stored at the Cristobal plant, and about 160,000 tons at Balboa. The larger of the two dry docks at Balboa will accommodate any vessel which can pass through the locks of the canal, while the other is intended only for small boats. The small dry dock at Cristobal was used during the con- struction of the canal and will accommodate any unit of the floating plant used in maintenance. The termi- nals of the canal are protected by sea-coast defences mounting heavy modern guns and mortars.
AIDS TO NAVIGATION
The general plan for lighting the channel includes providing head ranges for all tangents, when practi-
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cable, and side lights at intervals of about one mile, in the open channel, with spar buoys alternating. Noticeable changes of direction are marked by two side lights on the point, or convex bank, and one in the bend opposite. Certain of the shorter tangents can- not be provided with lighted ranges without danger of confusing the range lights with the turning lights; and in these cases the range lights are omitted and the cen- ter line marked by two day-beacons. Ordinarily the ranges are indicated by two lights in line, the rear light showing above the front one. The sailing line ranged thus for vessels bound north is 200 or 250 feet from the line indicated for vessels bound south. Vessels meet- ing, therefore, if kept on their ranges, would pass each other without turning out. Conditions in the Culebra Cut do not permit the use of range lights or buoys, consequently lighted beacons are placed on the berms of the Cut at intervals of about 1,200 yards. When it is convenient to make connection with the trans- mission line, the towers and beacons are provided with incandescent electric lights. For the remaining stationary lights and for the buoys the illuminant is acetylene dissolved in acetone. Suitable characteristics are given all lights to prevent confusion.
LABOR AND SUPPLIES
The recruitment of labor; assignment and care of quarters; procuring and distributing materials of construction, and construction and repair of buildings were under charge of the Quartermaster's Department. Commissary and subsistence supplies were furnished by the Subsistence Department of the commission and
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the Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad. Supplies of all kinds were purchased on requisition from the isthmus by a general purchasing officer in the United States, whose office also was charged with filling requisitions for gold employees.
The main work was done by a force employed directly by the commission, only parts of the work, such as the lock gates, emergency dams, etc., being built under contract. The supervisory and clerical force, as well as the artisans and mechanics, all of whom were classed as "gold employees," were practically all American citizens, no others being engaged in such capacities when Americans were available, except in the earlier stages. The unskilled laborers, classed as "silver employees," were all foreigners, the majority being West Indian negroes, with the Spaniards next in order.
On March 30, 1910, the force actually at work for the canal and railroad combined was 38,676, of whom 30,837 were employees of the commission. Of the commission's employees, 4,553 were on the gold roll, and the remainder were silver employees. The com- mission furnished its employees free quarters, heat, light, medical attendance, and hospital privileges. Whenever practicable married quarters were given to those desiring them, and their families received medical attendance at a low charge. Commissary stores were provided, at which supplies of every description could be purchased, practically at cost; and hotels, messes, and kitchens were maintained, where gold and silver em- ployees could procure meals at small cost. Gold employees were allowed leave of absence with pay, six weeks annually for monthly employees and four
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weeks for hourly employees. Sick-leave with pay was allowed, not to exceed thirty days in each year; and compensation was given, under provisions of the law, for permanent injury due to the work.
SANITATION
The health of the employees was properly regarded as a matter of the first importance. It was cared for by the Department of Sanitation, under charge of men who were experienced in fighting tropical diseases. Prior to the American occupation, the Isthmus of Panama had always been a nursery of yellow fever and of various forms of malarial fever. In the time of the French work, the proper defence against these diseases was unknown; and, in spite of medical care and hospital facilities, the losses were great. The American Depart- ment of Sanitation instituted at once measures for the protection of the working force. Knowing that the propagation of yellow and malarial fever was due to certain varieties of mosquitoes, the problem became chiefly one of exterminating these enemies or guarding adequately against them. All commission quarters were carefully screened with wire gauze, pools of water where the mosquitoes might breed were covered with oil or poisoned with larvacide, grass and shrubs were kept closely trimmed around the settlements, and suitable sanitary regulations were rigidly enforced. The results were soon apparent. Yellow fever vanished, malarial fever was reduced, although not exterminated, and the general health of the force reached and main- tained a high standard. It is estimated that the deaths among employees during the nine years of French
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activity numbered at least 16,000. During the eight years of American occupation, ended June 30, 1912, 5,14I employees died, among them 284 Americans.
The expenditures for sanitary purposes of all kinds, including hospital and Canal Zone sewage and water supply, reached about $20,000,000 for a period of, say, ten and one-half years. The population affected by the sanitary measures, according to the census taken in 1912, was-
Canal Zone. 62,810
City of Panama 35,368
City of Colon 17,748
115,926
GOVERNMENT AND LAW
The civil affairs of the Zone were cared for by a Department of Civil Administration, with a member of the commission at its head. During the period of construction, the Canal Zone was governed by the President, under authority conveyed by act of Congress approved April 28, 1904. Special legislation, for the government of the Canal Zone after the opening of navigation, was later enacted.
A Department of Law was created to look after legal matters in which the commission was interested. It has been especially active in connection with proceedings for the procurement of land needed for canal purposes.
NEW PANAMA RAILROAD
The line of the Panama Railroad, as first constructed, followed the valley of the Chagres River to Gamboa, crossing to the west bank of the canal at San Pablo and
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recrossing to the east bank near Paraiso. It was there- fore necessary to relocate a large part, either because it would be under water, or because it would lie on the wrong side of the canal. This involved building 39.3 miles of new railroad, a considerable portion on heavy embankments, rising above the water of the lake, and resting on soft, marshy soil. The work began in 1906 and finished on May 25, 1912. The cost was $8,787,000.
COST
The estimate of the cost of the canal, made by the minority of the board of consulting engineers in 1905, was $139,705,200. It soon became evident that this estimate had been vitiated by the changes which had been made in the plans, some of which added greatly to the amount of work to be done, and by the increased cost of labor and material over the unit costs adopted by the board. In February, 1909, a revised estimate was laid before Congress and was adopted as the basis of future appropriations. The revised estimate placed the engineering cost of the work at $297,766,000. Adding to this the purchase price and the estimated cost of sanitation and civil government, the entire estimate for the canal amounts to $375,201,000.
Jr. J. Isodod:
THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
O N the last day of July, 1769, the expedition of Portolá camped near the site of the present city of Los Angeles, and remained in camp the following day for needed rest and for exploration, and to enable the people of the command to gain the great indulgence of Porciúncula. The priests said mass and the sacrament was adminis- tered. The next day, August 2d, they resumed the march and traveling a league and a half entered a spacious valley surrounded by low hills, abounding with poplar and alder trees, through which flowed a beautiful river. This they thought an excellent site for a mission, and in commemoration of the festival, named the river Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Porciúncula, and passed on into the San Fernando valley. The site was not forgotten and several years' observation showed the explorers that the flow of the river was permanent, even when the winter rainfall was scanty.
In 1776 Don Carlos III, King of Spain, dissatisfied with the colonization of California, required Don Teodoro de Croix, comandante-general of the Provin- cias Internas de Occidente, to inform him what could be done to improve conditions in that province. Croix sent the letter to Felipe de Neve, governor of the Californias, and requested him to make such suggestions as seemed to him fitting and proper. In response to this the governor sent in a full and well digested plan for the regulation of California. This plan of Neve was forwarded by Croix to the king and on his approval it became the reglamento or ordinance for the government of California and Neve was instructed to put it into
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effect at the beginning of 1781. Among other pro- visions of the reglamento was one for the establishment of three missions on the Santa Barbara channel, a pueblo on the Porciúncula, and all to be under the protection of a strong presidio to be erected on the channel, in the neighborhood of a place called Mes- caltitan. Captain Rivera y Moncada was sent to Sinaloa to recruit fifty-nine soldiers for the presidio and twenty-four settlers for the pueblo. Both soldiers and settlers must be married men, accompanied by their families, healthy and robust, likely to lead regular lives and to set a good example to the natives. Extra inducements in the way of pay and other privileges were promised but the best Rivera could do for the pueblo was the collection of twelve men with their families; viz: two Spaniards, two negroes, four Indians, two mulattoes, one mestizo, and one "chino."* With this motley crew the famous pueblo of Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula was founded, September 4, 1781. Within a year three of these promising settlers were pronounced worthless, their property was taken from them and they were driven forth. The settlers were put in possession of a house lot and a tract for planting, and supplied with the necessary live-stock, implements, and seed. Each settler was to be paid $116.50 per year for two years and $60 per year for the next three years. Their lands were to be free of taxes for five years, and all had the use of the government lands for pasturing their cattle and for wood and water. In 1886, Alférez
*A Chino is the off-spring of a Salta Atras and an Indian woman.
A Salta Atras is the off-spring of white parents having a trace of negro blood.
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559
José Darío Argüello came from Santa Barbara and put the remaining nine settlers in full possession of their lands, giving them deeds therefor.
Notwithstanding the fostering care of a paternal government the progress of the pueblo was very slow and at the end of the century it had but seventy families and three hundred and fifteen population. The increase had come mainly from the growing up of the children and from the families of retired soldiers. It was in the vicinity of the pueblo that the first rancho grants were made in California. The rich soil of the locality and the plentiful water supply caused several of the old soldiers to apply for land. The first grant was that of the famous Rancho San Rafael (Los Verdugos) of eight leagues, granted October 20, 1784, by Pedro Fages, governor, to José Maria Verdugo, a soldier of the Portolá expedition. The next grant was made by Fages, November, 1784, to José Manuel Nieto, also a soldier of the Portolá expedition. This grant, known as Los Nietos, reached from a little below Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean, east of the river. It contained thirty-three square leagues (146,472 acres) and was regranted by Figueroa in 1834 to Nieto's widow and sons, in five separate tracts. The third grant was the famous San Pedro, or Dominguez rancho. This consisted of ten leagues (44,385 acres) and was given to Juan José Dominguez, likewise a soldier of the Portola expedition. It is south of Los Angeles and reaches the ocean at Wilmington. It was on this rancho, near the ranch house, that the fight between Captain Mervine and his marines and the caballeros under José Antonio Carrillo occurred in 1846. Mariano
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de la Luz Verdugo, another soldier of the first expedi- tion received a grant of the Portezuelo rancho. Mariano Verdugo brought with him on the first expedition cuttings of a grape vine planted at the presidio of Loreto, Lower California, by the Jesuit priests. These cuttings he planted at the mission of San Diego and from this vine cuttings were sent to all the other missions. This was the origin of the famous Mission grape.
While the pueblo increased slowly in population, its equitable climate made it a favorite residence place for retired soldiers and for traders. The valley to the north and west, called San Fernando, was origi- nally a chasm several hundred feet deep, which had become filled by a deposit so porous that it absorbed the run-off of the surrounding mountains over an area of more than one hundred and fifty square miles, and impounded it in a natural reservoir from which it gradually drained. As the city grew the water of its river was developed until under careful husbanding, it has provided Los Angeles with forty million gallons of water per day, and up to the present time has been the main source of supply for the system which has faithfully served the city, to which it brings a gross revenue of about one million and a quarter dollars per annum. In making an examination for a site for a city, the early explorers found a sufficiently wide river bottom, with a mesa of moderate height adjoining, backed by hills covered with native grasses while to the north, some fifteen miles away, arose the Sierra Madre, ranging from a mile to nearly two miles in height, and acting as a shelter from the desert winds,
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cold in winter, hot in summer, and dry always. Seven- teen miles west of the chosen site lay the deep and cool waters of the Pacific and here the way was open to the inrush of ocean winds, seeking to fill the vacuum caused by the rising of the superheated air of the deserts of the interior. These winds, bearing the even temperature of the water and made more equable by their passage over the land tend to give a climate warm in winter and cool in summer. The site seemed to fill all the requirements for agriculture, surrounded as it was by fertile lands, and the padres at the San Gabriel mission, nine miles away, demonstrated that the orange, the olive, and the vine throve equally as well as the fruits and grains of the strictly temperate zone, and that the cattle increased and waxed fat on the native grass as well when it was green in winter as after the summer sun had turned it into nutritious hay.
The padres, and later the settlers, set little store by the asphaltum which they found dried in places on the plains, not knowing that it was evidence of the store of liquid petroleum which lay beneath, in strata varying from a few hundred feet in depth to those hardly reached by the persistent modern drillers at four thousand feet.
Nor did the founders of the pueblo forget their need for a port near at hand. As the ocean, seventeen miles to the west, had no facilities available, they chose San Pedro, twenty-five miles to the south, where the estuary permitted vessels of slight draft to come into the harbor. This has now been deepened so that ships drawing thirty feet of water may enter, and a breakwater some eight thousand feet long built which provides excellent
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holding ground inside in water having a depth of thirty-five to fifty-five feet. This can be gained with- out the aid of either pilot or tug and it is within a mile of the inner harbor where rail, electric road, and paved boulevard give quick and easy access to the center of Los Angeles, of which this harbor is now an integral part.
Under Spanish rule trade with California was for- bidden. This condition was greatly modified after Mexico achieved her independence and the Boston traders who came for hides and furs found the pueblo of Los Angeles the best place to barter their wares, and as they became acquainted with the town they were not silent concerning it on their return around the Horn. Sailors tempted way from their ships, met in Los Angeles men of hardy spirit who had crossed mountains and deserts in quest of gain or adventure, and when in 1847 the American forces marched from San Diego and occupied Los Angeles the officers found conditions of climate and location much to their liking.
In accounting for the rise of Los Angeles the fact should not be forgotten that the city has been free from the domination of any clique or faction; and although there have been times when such domination has seemed to be dangerously near, public opinion, a certain part of the public press, and the large class of broad minded men who have made the city their home, have worked together and have kept the doors open for all competent labor, and the immigrant has has not been required to pay a tax or to submit to dictation in order to make a living for himself and his family. The development of the petroleum industry
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in California, providing one of the most available and cheapest fuels in the world, has contributed more than any one factor to the great increase in manufactures in Los Angeles. One of the productive fields, now largely suppressed, occupied part of the hills within the original grant to the city. Now pipe lines from far and near bring crude oil for refining and foreign shipment, not only to the city itself, but to the harbor, where steamers, especially built for the service, provide transportation to Peru, Hawaii, Japan, and the Panama Canal, and it is largely the power generated by this petroleum that has united the Atlantic and Pacific months before the appointed time.
Some eight years ago the Los Angeles City Water Board became convinced that while the water supply draining from the San Fernando valley was ample for a city of not more than one hundred thousand inhab- itants, should the rainfall be scant over a series of years, there would be a shortage which might retard the growth of population and hamper the surround- ing country in agricultural development, and therefore, a new source of supply should be sought, even at the expense of going far afield, because of the utili- zation of other water sources nearer at hand. The choice fell on the Owens river, some two hundred miles to the north, which is fed by the melted snows of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. The estimated cost of the necessary aqueduct was twenty-three million dollars and though it seemed a heavy burden for a city of one hundred and forty thousand inhabi- tants to undertake, the vote was so largely in favor of the project that the bonds were voted and sold and
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the work, under the management of Mr. William Mulholland, the water engineer, has been completed within the amount of the estimate, and the conduit of some two hundred and forty miles, of which forty- two are tunnel, is now in operation to the San Fernando reservoir, from which the city water department is using the water pending the completion of the last link to connect it with the system at present in use.
Not only will the city's future needs be provided for but there is a strong probability that territory contiguous to the city will cast its lot with the corpora- tion and thus participate in the benefits to accrue; for not only will the city have water for irrigation as well as for domestic use but the head of the aqueduct being at an altitude of nearly four thousand feet, and the average of the city being about five hundred, some 57,000 horse power is capable of being developed for electrical power for the use of the city, with a trans- mission line of less than sixty miles.
In addition to a genial climate southern California has a most attractive industry; one that has not only increased its material wealth, but its physical charm. To the enchantment of a romantic history with its nomenclature of musical Spanish place names, there is added its delightful climate, the beauty and fasci- nation of its orange groves, the magic of sparkling seas reflecting an azure sky, and lofty mountains with flowery valleys. This combination of attractions has proved irresistible to the leisure classes of the north- eastern and the middle western states, and they have come by thousands, bringing with them wealth and refinement, and in addition to this they have found
THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES 565
opportunity for the use of those abilities which brought them success in the localities where they formerly resided.
A. the Glish
GEORGE DAVIDSON AND THE COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY
GEORGE DAVIDSON
Born at Nottingham, England, May 9, 1825; died at San Francisco, California, December 2, 1911; came to California in 1850, in the service of the Coast Survey.
G EORGE DAVIDSON was born in Notting- ham, England, on May 9, 1825, of Scottish parents, and in 1832 came with them to the United States. He graduated from the Cen- tral High School of Philadelphia in 1845; and when his master, Professor Alexander Dallas Bache, who had reorganized the high school, resumed his position as professor of natural philosophy and chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, Davidson for nine months worked from five to six hours a day after school in Bache's library. While pursuing these studies he was chosen a magnetic observer at Girard college, and continued these observations until he graduated in 1845, when he was appointed to the Coast Survey, of which his friend and master, Bache, had been made superintendent in 1843. After one year's service as computer to Superintendent Bache he chose field duty as his future labor, and thus began his life work.
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