Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-07-05
FROM POVERTY TO AFFLUENCE
Romantic Story of Millionaire Con-
tractor on the Panama Canal.

better, or at least that they will get better
very shortly. Since it Is now certain,
they say, that the canal company viii OBJ
tain the proceeds OF the 900, 600, 900 loan, so
much talked of, as a matter of course
| there will follow new bOOm-in fact, a
very boomerang Of a boOm-in business Of
! all sorts. Money is found to be plentiful,
and everybody will therefore prosper and
! be happy. We shall see.
| Meanwhile there is no denying that Co
! Ion, in fact the whole isthmus, is suffering
! from severe Ii OF spOndency. Perhaps
! it may be partly ascribed to the weather;
/ for Notwithstanding old DR.. JOhnson's
| vigorous protest that no man Of sense
! should ever allow his spirits TO be affected
by 30 trivial matter as rain or SHINE,
/ heat or cold, good weather or pad, yet it
( is my belief, after considerable time for
/ observation, that most people are less
/ cheerful when gloomy thunder cloud Is
| hanging around two-thirds of the time,
ready and willing and positively anxious
to lnaugurate the Deuge! How can they
! do otherwise than feel that their stock Of
! daily hope and sunshine Is abundantly
watered, to say the least! Contractors, FOR
! instance, who have large numbers OF men
/ at work, must wish that kind PrOVi-
| dence had 80 arranged the celestial water
/ works that large share Of that most pre-.
ciOus fluid which now falls here, say nine
tentDs, had been bestowed upon less ia
Vored places. IL is perfect embarrass-
| ment Of riches.
There is one of the great enterprises
connected with the canal, however, that
needs not sun nor rain. 1t is beyond and
above such accidents and approaches in
| It's operations, the independent action Of
a natural agency. 1t is the admiration
and the wonder OF. all intelligent behold
ers. A mighty automaton, lacking only
| the breath and blood Of lite to rank with
the tabled monsters of Plutonian or Mega
theran origin.
Would you know what this wonderful
object is? This cunning combination of
mechanism, upon so huge scale and SO
| perfectly adjusted that it seems living
thing?
l will tell you.
1t is the monster Slaven Dredge, OF the
American Contracting and Dredging
| Company Or, rather, 1t is seven of them!
small fleet! do not think it would be
! possible for any writer to describe in
words the workings of these great ma
chimes and the strange impressions made
| upon the mind while watching them lit
! orally ''eat up" and devour the space Of
! earth they are set to attack. | have tried
! once or twice and have given ct up. |
| could stand for hours spell-bound,
/ watching the great steel buckets,
| each OF which holds a cubic meter,
revolve upon the endless chain from
the depths below to the 20 feet high
tower, where they empty themselves into
! an immense receiver, from which the
softened and astOnished material, 80
| lately dreaming the dream of creation
in undisturbed repOse, is shot away
through great pipes, hundreds OF feet
! too, from the banks OF the future canal.
| ~ ly and lam Iu 10 To
mills Of the gods" in the poem, the great
wheels turning over, driven by a power
tul central engine deep down below,
| while malt dozen other lesser engines,
like arms and legs and hands and feet
| guide all the operations of the ponderous
and wonderful invention. Day and night,
| III sunshine or in rain, there need be no
rest. Change the watch. as on a ship at
sea, and all through the twenty-tour
hours the tireless monster labors for NJ.
de Lesseps and cvilization
| am sure that ordinary readers care
little or nothing for figures, therefore
why should tire you and them begging
your and their pardon p by stating the
details of work performed by this COM
pany? Suffice it to say that they will put
| out ,000, 900 cubic metres month until
their contract of 30.000,000 is finished
What proportion is already done | cannot
say; but am assured by the very able
and enterprlsIng Young gentleman who is
at the head of their affairs, viz, Commo-
dore II. B. Slaven, that they will be up
tor time. The work Will be completed a
agreed.
And since have inadvertently men
toned the name of my friend, the Com
modOre, | will venture to tell you some
thing about him, even at the risk OF his
displeasure, for he is an instance of what
| young man of energy and intelligence
may accomplish in few brief years.
| Henry BarthO'Ome Slaven was born
! In Canada West, now Ontario, a little
| over thirty years ago. His parents were
! farmers in moderate circumstances. The
! youngest OF several brothers, all of whom
| had gained prominence, he remained at
! home on the farm, "a bare-footed boy"
! working hard, as all farmers boys are
| used, until he approached maturity.
! Then came the irresistible impulse of ad-
/ venture tnat bore him away from the
/ parental root and the home acres to begin
/ his struggle with fortune. His first skir-
mish in the great battle of life was in the
CITY Of Philadelphia, where he soon grad
| uated as skilled pharmacist, at very
early age. From there he went to San
| Francisco, where, without friends or
money, he opened, under the celebrated
Baldwin Hotel the largest and finest
drug establishment on the Pacific coast.
He was youthful Aladdin, with lamp of
cheerful toll.
In a brief space his name and fame
were known, not only in the city OF San
Francisco, but all over the State of Cali
fornia. lie invented and patented medi-
cines, and was the sou of enterprise and
OF quick perception. To the surprise of
everybody this youth, who had not vet
attained to manhood, had already made
the beginning of fortune. Success had
already crowned his efforts. But the pro-
cess OF accumulation seemed slow to this
active mind. There must be new worlds
TO conquer.
And so, one fine day, the plans OF a new
kind of dreage were shown him. | will
not have time or space for the Intervening
details; the struggles, the delays. the Sc
we're trials, and the final triumph. But
the result speaks for itself. The most
wonderful part OF it all is the constancv
and untirlng energy and faith with which
the Commodore has pursued his object.
Associated with his brother, NJ. A. Sla-
ven. and backed by such worthy men and
millionaires as Hon. Eugene Kelly, of
New York, the American Contracting and
Dredging Company, has become the lead
ing factor in the solution or the great
Panama canal problem.
In personal appearance Commodore
Slaveu is tall, dark and handsome, with
the air Of man who knows exactly what