Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 242, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1913 — Waters of Pacific and Atlantic Oceans Will Not Mix. [ARTICLE]

Waters of Pacific and Atlantic Oceans Will Not Mix.

Widespread prevalence of the idea that there will be an actual union of the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific upon the opening of the Panama Canal caused the war department to issue a statement explaining the plain, prosaic fact that sea water on either side of the isthmus will get no further than the entrances of the great waterway. To those who know the engineering features, this idea is rather amusing, as so far as the canal is concerned ’the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific will never mingle. The Gatun Lake, which is midway of the canal, has an elevation of 85 feet above the oceans, and water from this lake will merely flow each way to the two oceans, the water from the lake being fresh and derived from the drainage of the surrounding area. The statoment also explained that the blowing up of Gamboa dike on October 10 will not permit the passage of even a rowboat from ocean to ocean, as it will be necessary to complete the removal of the dike by dredging and thefi to dredge out Cucaracha slide before the candl will be opened from end to end.