Government Printing Office

Washinton D.C. 1915. Government Printing Office. Pamphlet. Traces Of An Ink Stamp On Front Cover, Otherwise Very Good in Worn Wrappers With Some Small Pieces Missing From The Bottom Back. Fold-Out Map in Back. 58 pages. paperback. Cover photograph shows the S.S. Ancon passing Continental Divide, August 15, 1914. keywords: History Panama Canal. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Since the golden age of discovery inaugurated by Columbus the quest for an all-water way front Europe to the Far East, across Atlantic and Pacific, has been a world obsession. The idea has possessed the minds of navigators, shippers, business men, admirals, and Governments. Dozens of projects for the forcing of the passage have been advanced; thousands of lives have been lost in the efforts. On May 4, 1904, the Government of the United States took possession of a strip of land 10 miles wide running across the Isthmus of Panama and called the Canal Zone. On August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal was opened to commerce. This began the era of operation. This is the time of realization of the actual condition to which we have been looking forward so long. To tell something of the canal in operation, how it is managed, the distances it saves, with the resulting economy in operation of vessels using the canal, and the ways the trade is moving, are some of the purposes of this handbook. inventory #37711