The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-01
SHALER "A POWER
 AMONG PANAMANS
Superintendent of Railroad the King of the IsthmuS--Native
 of Kentucky.

were but simple steps toward keeping isthmian transit open.
 Colonel Shaler has been at his present post for about nine years, and the im- press of his personality and capabilities is found all over the isthmus. Prior to his advent the railroad was thing sep arate and apart from Panama. Under It's concession it declined to acknowledge the regular police authority on the isthmus, and the man who committed crime and succeeded in reaching the railroad prop erty was free from pursuit. Colonel Shaler has changed this. The Panama police authority now extends over the railroad property. and great impetus has been given to order and the security of life and property.
 Substantial Bettermsnts.
 In a more substantial way the Colonel has encouraged the development of the isthmus. Before his time rates on local freight trafiic across the isthnus were so could not avail themselves of the won- drous fertility of the soil It has been Colonel Shalers policy to furnish ade- quate means for local freight transporta- tion; banana and rubber plantations and cattle ranges are now appearing along the line of the railroad, and the people are being educated to avail themselves of the opportunities afforded for the profita- ble cultivation and employment of the land. The La Boca terminals of the road three miles from Panama and immediate ly adjoining the Pacific terminus of the proposed canal, are another proof of this mans constructive ability. These termi- nals, with plenty of trackage room, a steel pier 1000 feet long, equipped with electric cranes and all modern appliances for cargo handling. have reyolutionized trans-isthmian commerce and added im- menseiy to the value of the railroad property. Under the direction of this same genius much of the line of the rail road has been rebuilt with heavy rails. better curves and fewer of them. more substantial bridges, imported cypress ties and cut-stone ballast. so thGt to-day. in a physical sense, the property compares favorably with the better examples of railroad engineering in the States.
 The man who has done these things. and who by the simple exercise of his natural talents has won the title of King of the Isthmus," is unique in his per- sonaiity. Within two years of 30 years of age, he leads a life of tireless ac- tivity. With characteristic Kentucky brusqueness. he repels every suggestion that the isthmus Is unhealthy, and de- fies all tradition and all the cautious of the medicoes by refusing to use nets in a land which Is infested with germ carrying mosquitoes.
 The Isthmus as Shaler Sees It.
 ''The isthmus is g health resort" is his contention; nor can the fact that last year he lost three sisters by yellow fever. the three dying within fewer than twenty days. change his opinion of the health qualities of the isthmus. A bache- Tor, he declares that "the worst woman is better than the best man." yet women are almost entire strangers at his bung- allow. a rambling. lowered structure. set down in the midst of a cocoanut grove. on the choicest part of the waterfront of Colon. In this bungalow there is the at- mosphere of a man scluh-large reading rooms, carefully arranged stack of books and periodicals. billiard and pool tables shower baths, men servants and those other things which predominate In places frequented by men only.
 Here Colonel Shaler confidently expects to spend the next few years. q am too young to think Sbout quitting work" he says. When the United States shall have become firmly established on the isthmus and undertaken the management of the railroad. he may return to the States to live upon hls competence; but