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Show "Nautical Novelties" Are you informed of the fact that: The following items all concern the Panama Canal the world's greatest engineering feats. The first survey for an IsthmU ' an canal in Panama made by Spain in 1534? The first ground was broken by the Frenchman, DeLesseps, in 1881 at the Pacific entrance? The real work begun at Cule-bra, Cule-bra, now the famous Gaillard Cut on January 20, 1882. In 1887 the idea of a sea Canal was abandoned and a lock canal decided upon. Two different French compan. ies made attempts to build the canal but both failed, one in 1889 and the other in 1902. The United States took over the canal construction in 1904 and on 3 August, 1914 or 10 years later the first ocean steamer sailed sail-ed through. Tho United States has use and occupation for nil time fcr a strip of land 5 miles oh each side ol" center line cf the canal. For this it paid Panama $10,000,000 cash and pays anually $250,000. The cities of Panama and Colon are ' within the 5 mile limit but are excluded from the above arrangement. arrange-ment. Dry excavation finished when President Wilson pressed the but- i ton in Washington that blew up the Gaboa dike on 10 of October; 1913. ! The air distance between thej Atlantic and Pacific is 34 miles. The Canal channel is 51 miles; Gaillard Cut was 305 feet above sea level when work was started by the French. The cost of the Canal construction con-struction was $338,000,000. The value of old French property was $-12,800,000. The Canal runs from northwest north-west to southeast. The Pacific end is 27 miles east of the Atlantic Atlan-tic end. This is the place where the sun rises in the Pacific and sets in the Atlantic. The Canal can handle 48 ships per day. if necessary. The channel chan-nel width at the bottom is from 300 to 1000 feet (110 in locks). The above "Nautical Novelties" were furnished . by the U. S. Navy Recruiting Station, Salt jLake City, Utah. |