Cobblestone articles from April 2001

Cobblestone archives from April 2001

Editor' Note.
April 1, 2001... Before 1914, the fastest way to get from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean by boat was to travel around the tip of South America. The journey took many weeks, even months, and ships often had to deal with difficult weather. By the...

Planning a Canal.(history of the Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... The east and west coasts of much of North and South America are hundreds, even thousands, of miles apart. Accordingly, the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west are far apart along both continents. But in Central America,...

THE TORMENT & TORTURE OF GEOGRAPHY.(climate made the construction of the Panama Canal difficult)
April 1, 2001... Both dry and mud slides could destroy weeks or months of work, as shown here by the open earth and matchstick-like condition of the railroad track. Digging a fifty-mile canal was a major undertaking. But when Panama's physical geography is...

LIVING WITH SILVER AND GOLD.(payment and treatment of Panama Canal construction workers)
April 1, 2001... Editor's Note: See the sidebar "WORD HELPS" for defined words. Payday at the Canal Zone literally meant tons of money, as the builders were paid in coins. White workers from the United States and a few Panamanians received gold coins....

DR. GORGAS DEFEATS `YELLOW JACK.(the eradication of mosquitoes to eliminate yellow fever during the building of the Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... You are going to have the fever, Yellow eyes! In about ten days from now Iron bands will clamp your brow; Your tongue resemble curdled cream, A rusty streak the center seam; Your mouth will...

Did You Know?(facts about the Panama Canal)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... When he went to inspect the progress of the canal's construction in 190G, Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to leave the 48 contiguous states, The term "panamax" is used in the shipping industry to mean the maximum size of...

ALL LOCKED UP.(decision to use locks on the Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... for two years, Americans built housing for laborers, constructed a railway, and did other preparatory work in Panama. But as it came time to begin work on the actual canal, Americans still were not certain what type they should build. Should it...

LOTS OF LOCKS.(experiment to understand locks, such as those on the Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... Canals with locks were used as early as the tenth century in China and the fourteenth century in the Netherlands. The first modern locks, designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1485, featured miter gates. This means the gates' sides closed at an...

Panama and Suez.(builder of the Suez Canal fails in his attempt to build a Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... TWO ENGINEERING MARVELS For Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, his failure on the Panama Canal could not have been more devastating. The "Great Engineer," as he was called, created the Suez Canal, a miracle of engineering built in the...

UNLICKING CONTROL.
April 1, 2001... Although Panama first gained independence from Spain in 1821, Panama's official independence day is November 3, the date in 1903 when it broke away from Colombia. Today, however, many Panamanians would say their country's true independence day...

Brain Ticklers.(quiz on the Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... Give your brain a little tickle to see how well you read and understood this issue on the Panama Canal., If you believe the answer to be false, give yourself the ultimate test and see whether you can explain why it is false. Answers on page 48....

A Final Word.(Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... The Panama Canal helped the flow of international sea travel, but the United States essentially took control of foreign land to build it. Does the first part of this statement outweigh the second part? In other words, did the end (the creation...

Letters.(poetry by children)
April 1, 2001... Titanic There once was a beautiful ship that went on a long trip. She was not supposed to sink -- That's what they made people think. But then on a long, cold night, they had a terrible fright. An...

Books to Read.(Panama Canal)(Bibliography)
April 1, 2001... Building the Panama Canal edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and Fred L. Isreal (Broomall, Pennsylvania: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999), part of the Cultural & Geographical Exploration series, uses reproductions of National Geographic...

On the Web.(web sites about the Panama Canal)
April 1, 2001... www.panamatravel.com/pcmuseum provides information about the Panama museum that will be devoted to documentation of the canal's history. One of its goals is to acquire and preserve documents and objects related to the Panama Canal. The Web...

Places to Visit.(cities with exhibits on canals in New York)
April 1, 2001... Delaware and Hudson Canal Historical Society Museum, High Falls, New York. Canal-related documents, maps, photographs, and artifacts are collected and displayed here. Museum activities include cruises on the Erie and Champlain canals. Erie...

From the Archives.(previous issues available on various topics)
April 1, 2001... Several previous COBBLESTONEs provide greater insight into issues related to the Panama Canal. In Teddy Roosevelt (ISBN 0382404467), you can read more about the president who was the mover and shaker behind the building of the canal. Then,...