Gateway to the Pacific (1940)

today with the Panama Canal completed and with thousands of ships and visitors passing through each year little or no thought is given to the Panama of old let's go back to some of the scenes that were here long before anyone dreamed of digging a canal here is what happened during the 17th century when bloodthirsty Pirates led by the famous Henry Morgan went on a rampage in search of gold these ruins of the campanil of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Ascension have long in a landmark of Panama they stood there during the historic years when the nations of the North and South American continents were being colonized coincident with the development of these nations was the development of an overseas trade with the maritine countries of the world and also a growth of waterborne commerce between the East and West coasts of the new continents to avoid a long journey around Cape Horn a gateway to the Pacific was needed the cloud hovering in the background is not a fire or volcano it is just the rain that hangs over Panama many months of the year amid such surroundings as these one of the greatest engineering Feats of all time was destined to be accomplished for Panama the narrow Isthmus connecting the two continents was the logical place for the construction of the gateway to the Pacific during the latter years of the 19th century a French company undertook the seemingly impossible task of digging a canal but due to climatical financial and Engineering difficulties the attempt failed the efficiency of American doctors freed the ithos from y fever and the malarial mosquito finally president Theodore Roosevelt bought the French rights and leased from the Panamanian government a narrow strip of land across the isos dynamite was used to rip Great Hills away American Army Engineers directing a veritable host of workers attacked the rugged terrain thousands of tons of machinery and equipment were transported to the ismos for this Mammoth task [Music] steam shovel scooped up great loads of rock and dirt which was dumped on special dirt trains and transported to other points to be used in building roads and dams the ismos was literally a high hills separating two oceans Engineers were faced with two alternatives to dig a canal at sea level through this high and Hil ismos or like Napoleon to evolve a system of raising ships up one side of the hill over the top and then marching them down on the other side the engineers decided to go over the ismos instead of through it these actual construction scenes by the way were taken over a quarter of a century ago in addition to digging a canal water had to be provided to fill it great dams and spillways were constructed to impede the flow of nearby rivers to form a large artificial Lake 85 ft above sea level some of these islands were formerly mountaintops to raise ships from sea level to the level of the lake the construction of huge concrete basins called locks was necessary three locks were arranged one above the other and each lock was separated from the lower lock by heavy steel watertight Gates during construction about 5 million cubic yards of concrete was poured the total cost of building the canal was approximately $400 million in 1914 the world war opened in Europe in the same year for peaceful purposes the United States opened the Panama Canal to the Commerce of the world no longer is it necessary for ships to sail around Cape Horn like the old Oregon in her famous Dash during the Spanish American [Music] war today the canal is used by the men of war and Commercial vessels of all Nations it serves as a valuable Aid in the defense of our country by permitting our Navy to make a rapid transfer of fighting craft to either coast of the United States in 1934 79 Naval vessels transited the canal in 42 hours at that time a record there is never any Plumbing trouble here water in great quantities is supplied by the lake approaching the canal from either side ships first enter the locks the ship's engines are stopped and Powerful electric mules pull her into position holding her while she's raised by the rising water flowing in into the lock look closely and you will see the ship gradually Rising when the level of the water in the lower lock is the same level as the water in the upper lock the huge watertight Gates swing open the ship is then towed into the next lock where she is again raised there are three sets of locks at each entrance to the canal when the ship leaves the last lock she is on top of the ismos and high above sea level and passes through the Great Cuts on each side of her are towering Cliffs covered with dense tropical vegetation jungles alive with monkeys and parrots Wild game such as Black Panthers and deer and poisonous reptils from the decks of the ship wild orchids can often be seen growing along the shoreline she emerges from the cut and enters the lake where salty tars receive a rare Cruise in fresh water on the opposite side of the lake are another set of locks although there is two-way passage no traffic problem exists here for ships obey rules of passing that are more stringently imposed than any of our traffic laws ashore having reached the end of her Transit the ship must be lowered to sea level this is accomplished by the simple process of opening valves to discharge the water from the locks one by one she enters the stairway of locks in the last lock all lines are cast off and the ship proceeds to see under her own