The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-21

as an assistant professor of civil and military engineering. from 1885 to 1888. His chief construction work has been in the Tennessee river, below Chattanooga, where he was stationed between 1891 and 1894 and at Newport, R. l., where he had charge of the river and harbor work and the Notifications from 1900 to 1903.
 The work on the Tennessee river Colonel Goethals had charge of when he was a captain. This was in 1891. He first en- countered some large Instructions in the river at a place called "The Suck" few miles below Chattanooga. The river formed a series of rapids separated by pools. formed by bars of gravel, bould- CTS and detached and solid rock. Captain Goethals removed these Instructions by blasting and dredging, then built the canal 14R2 miles long, 70 to 120 feet wide and feet deep around Big Muscle Shoals. In this canal were nine locks.
 Captain Goethals had much experience along this river in the construction of canals, and he undertook and carried out several projects which previous en- gineers had considered impracticable. The most important of these were the Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals which formed the principal obstructions to navigation dur ing the low water stages. A lateral ca nal on the south bank of the river had to be constructed. Other engineers who had been in charge of this work proposed 10 construct this with two locks, but Goethals, after an examination and a se- ries of tests, came to the conclusion that it would be feasible with only one, and contrary to the advice of all other en- gineers, he put the canal through with one lock. So successful was he in this work on the Tennessee river that he was taken to Washington to become the as- sstant to the chief engineer. Here he was in 1898.
 When the war broke out he, like all the other officers in the army, or most of them. had the -the-front" fe- yer He secured an appointment as lieu tenant colonel of volunteers and was made chief engineer of the First Army corps. But he did not get to go to the front, much to his disappointment. In October they sent him to West Point with battalion of engineers. Here he remained for two years, when he was put in charge of the river and harbor works and the Notifications around Newport, R. I. During this period he had charge of the works of the defense of the south east coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island; of the harbors at Hyannis and Nantucket; New Bedford, Vineyard Ha ven, Fall River Mass; Newport, Block Island, Great Salt Pond harbor, and the entrance to Point Judith Pond, R. l.; Woods Hole Channel, Mass; and the con structon of the Harbor of Refuge at Point Judith. He also had charge of the improvements of all the rivers in that territory, including the construc- tion of bridges. He has served as a member of number of important boards, including as already mentioned, the Taft board, to inspect the Panama canal zone.
 Secretary Taft was very anxious from the beginning of the canal work that Colonel Goethals should be associated with it. The reason that he did not accept the, position of assistant engineer, which would have ben great honor to him, carrying with it additional pay, and the further inducement that he should be- come chief of the engineer corps, was that after closely studying the Panama canal territory and the subject of canal, he did not approve of MT. Stevens plan, and he said so He said 1t very frankly. Here is where he used his nerve, of which he has enough to get along with.
 If Colonel Goethals' experience in prac- tical engineering had been deficient, the other two engineers who have been as- signed to duty with him would amply make up for this in the wide range of their experience in practical work.
 Maj. David Dubois Gaillard, the sec ond engineer in charge, is a native of South Carolina. He Is the youngest look ing of the three. But Major Gaillard's tdT ttT lldS Detn eXCeeulnRlY varied. Tn fact, scarcely any officer in the army has had as varied an experience or has been entrusted with so many important government commissions as Major Gail lard. And all these commissions have been of peculiar character. He grad uated at West Point in 1884, when he received his commission, but not once since that time has he been with a regi- ment or a battalion except during the SnaniSh when he w colonel of engineer regiment.
 Major Gaillard is a rather slim man, and though he is 48 years old, or will be in Septmber, he doesn't look to be over 35. Like the other army officers, he is well preserved, though he has seen stern service. He has been very nearly everywhere that an army officer is ever sent, either in peace or in war, except to the Philippine Islands.
 His career has been more picturesque one, perhaps, than either of the other two engineers. He has been engaged on many very interesting missions. He had been out of West Point but a few years, having been a teacher in the Engineer School of Application and an assistant on the St. Johns river jetties and other river and harbor work in Florida, when he was appointed in 1891 by the President one of the three commissioners to make the boundary line between Mexico and the United States from Fl Paso, Tex, to the Pacific ocean. Major Gaillard then Lieutenant Gaillard. had many in- terestng and romantic experiences while engaged in this work; riding horseback five or six hundred miles on the stretch; camping in the desert with one or two companions; and getting on familiar terms with jack rabbits, coyotes and Mexicans. Then he completed this work ihe was per sonally complimented in state paper by the secretary of state. Then he was ordered on duty In the construction of fortifiations and a sea-wall at Fort Mon roe
 One of the most valuable works on which Major Gailard has been engaged is the Washington aquaduct, though his connection with 1t and the valuable work which he did are appreciated by only a few because, as said above, army en- gineers are accustomed to doing things without press agents or brass bands. He was but a first lieutenant when he was put in sole charge of this work, and he 1t was who had charge of construct ing the Great Falls Dam, and of clean ing out for the first time since its con- struction, the conduit.
 He went from Washington to Alaska upon an important secret work of the gov ernment, the exact nature of which does not appear in the army orders, and is not generally known, even among Major Gaillard's most intimate friends, because it had some relations with the interna- tional complications between this country and England. Nominally. and as the order reads, he was sent there upon work on the Portland channel. After the completion of this work, for which he