Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1205

 THK PANAMA CANAL AND THE CANAL ZONE 1153

beginning after nine years. The treaty was ratified on February 23, 1904, and in July, 1904, the provisional delimitation of the boundaries of the 1'ni territory on the Isthmus wai :ding

to this agreement the city of Panama is, for all practical purposes, left without a seaport for foreign commerce, as the anchorage of vessels at Flamenco Island and the wharves at Balboa, both lie within the territory of the zone. Moreover, a similar jhji t was opened on the Atlantic entrance to the Canal, called Cristobal.

Governor of Canal Zonr.— Brigadier-General Chester Harding (U.S. Army, retired). Appointed January 11, 1917.

The area of the Canal zone within the limits of 5 miles on either side of the centre line of the canal, including land and water, but not including the area within the 3-mile limit from the Atlantic and Pacific ends, is 441 "4 square miles made np of : Land ana, 332 '35 square miles ; Oatun Lake, 106 - 5 square miles ; Mirattores Lake, 1 "9 square miles ; and the area of the channels from the coast to Gatun ami - Locks, - 85 square mile.

Including all the waters of Gatun Lake, over which and its ebone to tlie elevation of 100 ft. alwve the sea level the Panama Canal has absolute control, the total arc* of the Canal Zone is 5025 square miles, plus the territory between the 85 and 100 foot contours, the area of which has not been computed. The area of Gatun Lake, when its sui far ><rmal

elevation of 85 feet above sea level, is \<A square miles. The civil population of the Canal Zone on .lune 30, 1920, was 21,650, of whom 8,514 were Americans. Of the total population, 8,434 American men and 5,632 men of other nationalities chiefly British West Indian negroes) were employed by The Panama Canal and Railroad. There are in the Canal Zone 2,406 American women and 2,536 American children, and 2,736 women and 3,962 children of other nationalities. The Zone has been depopulated of landowners in order to make it a military reservation, and therefore no private individuals or traders are permitted to settle or to acquire land.

The Canal has a summit elevation of 85 feet above the sea. It is 43 '84 nautical miles in length from deep water in the Caribbean Sea to deep water in the Pacific Ocean. The distance from deep water to the shore line in Limon Ray is about 4 miles, and from the Pacific shore line to deep water is about 4J miles ; hence the length of the Canal from shore to shore is approximately 35£ miles. Thechannel ranges in width from 300 to 1,000 feet. The average bottom width of the channel in this project is 649 feet, and the minimum width is 300 feet. The Canal has a minimum depth of 41 feet. The average time of passage through the Canal is from 7 to 8 hours. The record passage is 4 hours 10 minutes. The maximum traffic capacity of the Canal is esti- mated at 36 ships per day.

The Gatun dam along the crest is 8,000 feet long, including the spillway, or about 1^ miles, and 2,100 feet wide at its greatest width. The cm the dam is at an elevation of 105 feet above sea level, or 20 feet above the normal level of Gatun Lake, and 100 feet wide. The width of the dam at the normal water level of the lake, i.e., 85 feet above sea level, is about 388 feet. The length of the cut through the Continental divide (Culebra, now laillard Cut), is 6 97 nautical miles. The minimum bottom width of the ut is 300 feet. The bottom is 40 feet above sea level, giving a normal lepth of 45 feet.

The cost of the construction of the Canal to June 30, 1920, including the >alance available for expenditure, was 367,151,696 dollars. This amount ncludes 40,000,000 dollars paid to the new French Dual Company and

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