Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-24
HENRY F.fILLIG HERE
Has Wide Aqla intance With
Promine oreigners.
.DINED MATED MEN
RECALLS SPEECH OF DE LEssEPs
ON THE PANAMA CANAL.
Has Long Cherished the Hope That the
United States Would Build It.
Visiting Friends in the City.
.DINED Mated MEN

Henry r. 1Gillig, founder of the American
| exchange in Europe, anu who probably EN-
! joys larger personal acquaintance with
prominent people Of the European nations.
as well as of the United States, than any
other one American, because Of his former
intimate connection with American interests
in Europe, is visiting in washington for "a
few days. Mr.. Gillig is regarded as one Of
the FIRST pioneers who blazed the way for
American enterprise in Europe and his ae-
quaintanees, his remarkable industry and
pluck, his achievements and his career
| form a most interesting story incidental to
| the progress of American enterprises
| abroad.
Several years ago Mr.. Gillig broke down
/ in health and since that time has been al
most entirely outside the vortex of the
| business world. He has now, however en-
tirely- regained his health, he says and
never febt better physically in his life ard
he has taken up his active participation In
business affairs where he was Obliged to
leave off several -arss ago, - .
Going to California.
The latter part of tins week Mr.. Gillig
Will meet in this city several wealthy wine
producers from Germany, who will be taken
| ny dililS TO IatiiOTNla the purpose
of inspecting the vineyards and fruit farms
| of that state Fer the past five or six years
| the fruit crop along the Rhine in Germany
has been practically a failure. because of
| the unproductiyeness of the soil. The wine
producers, backed by the bankers of Ger
| many. intend to seek new fields I'm CaIifor-
mia for carrying on their wine industry and
| in case suitable locations are found on the
! Pacific coast it is likely that a number of
wealthy Germans will establish themselves
| in California and enter into the production
of wine on a large scale.
Mr.. Gillig has for many years been an
| active supporter of the Panama canal
project and he says that he came to Wash
| ington at this time in order to be here when
1 the Senate ratified the canal treaty and an
! other of his dreams of years realized
In an interview with reporter for The
7 star. Mr. Giiiig spoke Of his great interest
in the nss canal pso@eS nn, called attention to
| made by the late NJ. Ferdinand de Les
seps. the great French engineer on the
| occasion of d banquet given in Paris by
Mr. Gillig in honor of Bartholdi upon the
latter's completion ofSthe statue of Lib
erty Enlightening- the World May 81, 1884
In the speech of Msde I-esseps at that time,
he referred to the. proposed Panama canal
as follows: nstrfs
Speech of De Lesseps Recalled.
81 know America personally by brief
visit. 1 was received with great kindness
not only at New York, but everywhere. On
arriving at Washington Congress had the
goodness to put me in Communication with
every American originator of plan for
cutting the isthmps.r found myself in OPP
position to Captain Eads. the man who
propagated the idea of establishing a canal
/ through 'Nfcarag na. sriihes erea engineers
Of America for ,the,opast thirty On forty
years must haze, spent f9rtys or fifty mil
/, lions. having at the same, time the aid of
,ky,,.r 10 fi,xl
of crossing America from the atlantic to
the Pacific by nieans of the sweet waters
rivers whitehall from the Gofdilleras into
the Pacific and the Atlantic. Well, never
could understand that one could make a
maritime canal with sweet water; quite
stupidlyss1 thought it better to cut the
earth where the passage. would be easiest
and the least elevated. That's what said
when the plans were all brought to me.
"A few years ago / presided over the
last geographic congress. We had appoint
ed committee to examine every project
for an interocearic canal. and expressed
that opinion, guided only by common sense
and my experience of the SueZ canal. for
1t was the same thing. l made the Suez
canal by excayating the earth, despite the
opinion of all the best French engineers Of
the period. NJ Talabot and every first
rate engineer had declared that l was
mailman, or sonnet Hing very near one, be-
cause 1 wanted to Cut the earth instead of
making use of a sweet water canal ~
De Lessep's Declaration.
This principle. prompted me to tel, the.
| Americans, You. will never succeed If you
do not discover the place for cutting the
EARTH i During a space of fifteen years
| they could not find it; much money had
been spent, and when the congress which
/ called together examined scientifically this
question of the: passage. had arranged
with two Frenchmen. Messrs,, Wyse and
Reclus, to go III the direction in which the
late Col. Totten had made the railway.
Col Totten. highly educated gentleman.
had simply made q colonial ieyelfng in
Panama over which, since the discovery
OF America e it had been the .seustom4 to
transport the nuggets of gold destined for
Spain, and, later ons even at thes time of
the gold fever in California, this route was
used ITO get to- it, +, therefore. reatfsed
leyeiing to be made at the side, of the
railway. and I said 20 amyseh. there Is d
railway with no artificial workmanship,
not even tunnelT sthen that is theaplace
Il assembled the first engineers + from all
parts of America, aiid we commenced Oper-
atoms. and today az 1. can tell you that in
faur yaars-isf I&ssS--we shall certainly be
able, after going to admire. Bartholdis
statue at New York. to proceed to Panama
TO assist at the flowing of the Pacific
ocean into the Atlantic r. give you rens
devious thene-~you are young and T. de-
pite my seyenty-seyen years, will meet
there and will pass through al ;,4es...
Mr. eiiAig stated that he has anxiously
awaited the time when the United States
would take up the matter Of building the
Panama canal and push 1t to a successful
issue. and that he has all along believed
/ in the route favod2d1b5 M de Lesseps, as
expressed In his sIeaeis at the banquet re-
ferred to- tEenty.oyeaTk age 81 ves.-.ets7s
Mr.. Gilligis Lsndon Career.
"Thrty-one yearsf ago today" said Mr..
Gffiig. 81 first handed lin . london was
but nineteen Yea ~ ~ Il s,sl. That uaa ot,o,,t
the time of the shrIhlselal depression in the
Emitted States, whfsa the NORTHERN Pacific
failed, and the Emma mine and other large
investment Enterprises in which the En-
glish people had Invested capital collapsed
they we're. 81 cpnsSssu prejudiced against
American investments as result. The out
look for establishing e6fifidence in American
interests was not promising i can assure
you.'' .o0oTr -ssss':.E 4.
Mr.. Gfllig thenefeadsUf his founding the
American exchange .trs Europe which has
grown TO immense,f proportions, and which
Il at the time fnfo he aacf; tn