“Yes,” he replied. “As only one thousand Americans will be needed, and there are six times that many here now in the construction-force, the permanent organization will be a picked body of experienced men. There will also be about fifteen hundred West Indian Negroes to serve as helpers in the machine-shops, pass hawsers, and clean up about the locks. The bulk of the operating-force will be quartered at Balboa, and the lock-tenders at Pedro Miguel and Gatun.”
A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF ONE OF THE NINETY-TWO PANAMA “BULL-WHEELS”
This wheel was invented by Mr. Edward Schildhauer of the Isthmian Canal Commission. The wheel revolves horizontally and thrusts out from the side of each lock-wall a long steel arm that opens and closes one of the huge lock-gates. These gates are of the “miter” pattern, so called because, when closed, they make a blunt wedge pointing up-stream, like the slope of a bishop’s miter. Observe the curved and hollowed recesses in the lock-walls into which the open gates fold back, like the blades of a knife into the handle. There are, of course, two “bull-wheels”: one for each of the gates.
“Have the lessons learned in building the canal brought about any more useful inventions, like the well-known track-shifting machine?” I asked.
“H-m. One of the cranemen has patented a trip for emptying the bucket of a steam-shovel by steam instead of by hand. We’re using it on all the large shovels. Then there is the new lock-gate machinery; you will find the inventor up-stairs in this building. Remember, if you write anything about it, you must give him full credit.”
That is the colonel’s way, to insist on fair treatment for every man under him. He is not only the boss, but the hero, the big brother, the father confessor, of every man on the job. Stories innumerable are told about him, and even rough sagas are sung in his praise.
Have they canned you on the run?
Tell the Colonel;
Tell the tale of what they’ve done