The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-02
Gossip and Stories Of john Is,d-
ley Wallace, WHO Will
Build The Panama.
HOW He LOOKS AND WORKS
His Treatment Of the Unions and
How He Handles His Mcn.
Secrets Of His Success.
BY Frank G. Carpenter.

Especial Correspondence OF The Times
Dispatch.)
PANAMA, Marcel, 20.--tnclc Sam has
s big man In charge Of tile Panama
canal refer to the chief engineer, john
1rindley Wallace, who has taken charge
4 of this the biggest engineering Job of the
, world, Mt salary of $4,000 year.
Daniel Webster was called n steam en-
glnc In brcechcs. Mr. ivallace is a great
power plant In flesh and blood which
transmits Its force to every one Win
whom 1t comes Iii, contact. Ile@ Is an
originator. He plans things and does
tiings.4f He llnitcs commercial aDlllty
to technical training and experiences. lie.
knows how to handle men :s well MS
how to handle machinery, and while lie
was manager OF the Illinois Central Rail-
( road his method was such that he could
tell whether every man and every ma
chine, locomotive and car on that vast
system was doing its duty. and WIN thor
the man or thing paid the company to
( keep him or It at work. ~
s "A Business Engineer.
MI. Wallace Is tho prince OF our BUSH
ness engineers. He has been dealing With
q business undertakings all his lie and
e has had to figure them out to profitable
II conclusions. As manager of the Illinois MOI
Central he was handling n proposition
CAPITALIZED at hundreds q OF millions Of
dollars and made It pay dividends. 81 He
spent sat. 900 900 md upward ~ year; his
employees were more than 10000, and his
territory covered fourteen OF the busiest
states OF the Union. His experience
there fits him for tho Panama canal.
which might he called tho biggest bust
ness undertaking In existence. ~ VIII
probably be something like 81 $500 900 900
lob; and the American people want IL
done in the quickest possible time and
at the lowest possible cost. Every years
.!a d clay menas Just that much loss IN IN !.
terest and income. and there Is q busl-
ness end to every proposition connected
wi In It. with nlimitcd time and tn- =.
limited money any engineer could 90 ~ ~
" We have able engineers IN the army VINO VINO
y could construct It that way but the army
engineer usually lacks the business point
e OF view. the very point Of view " HIGH
Mr., Wallace has to an aordinary de-
gree, and the point OF view that Is abso-
lutcly necessary to a job Ike this.
The Two Engineers.
IN talking one day with MI Wallace
shout his earlylfe, he told me that soon
after he started out In his engineee rins
work he began to study why some men
eucceeded and others, who seemed TO De
better equipped in the way OF edu ls,l
failed. The engineers who were luli ~ =
might be excellent dra ftsmen ap =. tee .l
,lically apparently superior TO the eln. 4
Z rinears who succeed ed &; The In tier. no. ~
" eyer ssoon climbed Il OFT he top and the
l,catltifl,l workmen were bossed by theTn.
He soon learned that y was me man ~
& who ACCOMPLISHED results who sues eeded.
md that results were the only CRITERION
OF success. He early learned mat tne
successful engineer is he who taxing con
ditIons al they are by the use OF the
1,xxr 49, x1-fNr
commercial success. There are, he says
: several sides to every engineering propo-i
> sitfon. 81 Every work must be constructed
40 that lit will serve the purpose Tor
which 1t Is made, but It must also ne
constructed at such g. cost and IN sucn
s way that 1t will pay the men Who are
having 1t made. He Illustrated the point
by talsing>th he case 81 wo e one
laws out the line Of railroad, CARRYING
B IL across a ravine over a bridge, which Is
III d marvel OF engineering construction.%Ihe
Y other, who may not, perhaps pc ahle Blc
B build so beautiful bridge. plans I he road
a 50 that no bridge is needed and SO nat nat
the change does not add to the operating
Il expenses. Which is the better ngineer!
The IatterTof course. y. s4Si.3,
AS to Engineer Wallace, lie Mas the
Qualities or both these engineers He has
technical ability and training Of the hg
Il est order and at the same time natural
business ability which has been developed.
TOT the full by an EcxtraOrdinary business
y education and business training.
How One Man Succeeded.
Il like to write stories OF successful
men. They arc helpful for the boys OF
to-day who arc starting out toward sue
X cess. Here at Panama We have hundreds
Of American clerks VINO nre complaining
over tho hardships OF seven hours work
II at SO or STA day. It may interest the ~
to know how their $4,000 year chief
S worked to get mn education and was glad
TO receive for Ills first labors as eng inecr
2 half what they are now getting, sleep
Ing in tho fields or In the farm houses
nearby while engaged in his surveys.
Mi. Wallace Is now fifty-two years old,
+ His father was an eminent Scotch i'fcspy-
terrain preacher, u doctor Of divinity, VINO
wanted to educate Ill his sons for the
ministry. Ha started his boy, John. ut
Latin when no was ten and at Greek q
wear later. Young Wallace was, IN fact
u nurscd on the CLASSICS and It was not
until his sophomore year IN college = lat
lie rebclled, Thenthis father wanted him
to take up Hebrew, but young Wallace
said that his lifeworl lay outside the min
istry, and that hp was bound to study
& cngineerIng, His father replied that If
\ so he would help him all he could, but
that most OF tho money must DO earned
by himself Like many preachers Dr..
Wallace was poor, and he could only af-
ford to educate his son through the sup
port given to divinity students, This WAS
denied to young men who took UP otEcr
professions.
Tho change, however, did not bother
young Wallace, He stayed out from
school a nlonth%at the end OF each year
I and another montl. at the beginning. and
in these months ana during his yuca tons
3 l,n made enough by surveying toEpay his
way through Ho could not go to q tech-
meal school, but the several professors
il OF the college gave him special Instruction
along engineering lines, and In this way.
no frmed the basis. which, added, to his
study thereafter, has put him ut tho
head Of the engineers Of his time,
How Wallace Learned Business.
i have referred to Mr.. Wallace as a
business engineer. ] want to tell you
1,t,,s 40,