The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-01
BY MERRrIL A. PRAGUE.

From 2 Stan Correspondent of The
 Advertiser.
 Letter No. 6.
 Panama. R. F., Dec. 20-"King of the Isthmus." There Is. of course, no real king of the isthmus. but that title is bestowed colloquially and affectionately upon Col. !. R. Shaler, general superin- tendent of the Panama Railroad. Colonel Shaler is dean of the foreign colony on the isthmus. chief of all Americans who reside here. and far and away the most influential man in the new republic. That element of the population of which he is tho leader having played an i'm portant part in the recent revolution of being. by force of circumstances, com pelled to figure conspicuously in the fu- ture affairs of the isthmus. it must be considered.
 That Colonel Shaler is King of the Isthmus" is fact one discovers very soon after landing from the steamer at Colon. All questions are referred to him for decision; his dictum has the force and effect of law, and his advice Is un- hesitatingly accepted and followed. The distinction conferred upon him by the title he bears was never sought by Col onel Ghaier. It is a natural sequel to his personality and the exercise of his talents during a residence of almost a decade upon the isthmus. for Colonel Shaler Is a strong man among weak lings; man of genius among men who have little capacity for the initiation; a man of determination among a race of equivocators.
 A native of Kentucky. Colonel Shaler carries his 7S years with all the spright- Illness of exuberant youth. Tall and lean. molded like | genuine thoroughbred. with muscles like steel wires, his bushy hair and gigantic mustache and imperial are of the wilderness of new-fallen snow. This mana veteran of the Civil War. an ex- pert in the management of railroad prop critics fearless and resourceful-does each day the work of man of half his years. Every detail of the management of the Panama Railroad passes under his im- mediate supervision; in his private car he joarneys several times each week be- tweed Colon, where he resides, and Pan- anna tattending to the railroads business. It is true that the railroad. with its 41& miles of track, is not an immense affair. but Jas the sole medium of transit across the isthmus and highway for the com merce of the world, 1t is of first impor- tance, and with it's enormous business 1t requires for its successful conduct the guiding hand of a railroad genius.
 Shaler is Improving the Isthmus.
 
 railroads affairs, this American King of the Isthmus" finds ample time for non- official matters. As the executive head of railroad which has to all intents and purposes, under the canal treaty, been sold to the United States govern ment for $7O00.OO0. Colonel Shaler knows nothing of the inside details of the seces- sionist movement. Here on the isthmus they say, however. that If the whole truth could be known the Republic of Panama would be revealed as being very largely a creature of Colonel 6halers' genius, and in proof of their contention they point to the leading role assured by Arango, the railroads special agent, in bringing about isthmian independence. From the Colonel himself there can be obtained only an admission that the rail- road was, interested in maintaining the freedom of transit across the isthmus. It had nothing to do with the revolution it. self. and while it lent its freighthouse for a fort on the fourth and fifth of Mo- venAher, and while Colonel Shaler per- suaded the commander of the Colombian gunboat Cartegena to sail away from the istnmus, leaving Colonel Torres and the Colombian troops in the lurch, these