The Washington herald., 1907-03-17
man TIRED OF His JOB
Why Chief Engineer Stevens
Quit the Canal.
HIS ENTHUSIAST HAD WAIVED
Lindsay DeBIsOn Tells OF His Visit
10 the Chief Engineer I'm Panama
the Very Day He Wrote His Letter
of Resignation to the President.
Dirf Flying on the Isthnnus.


the Very Day He Wrote His Letter
of Resignation to the President.
Dirt Flying on the Isthn1us.
Lindsay Denis0n. in Golfers
John F. Stevens chief engineer OF the
Panama Canal and acting chairman Of
the Isthmian Canal Commission, sat on
the evening OF February s in the cool hail
Of his house on the top OF Culebra Hin
and talked to me for an hour or more
about his work, his men. and himself.
He glOried in what the Americans had
overcome. in what they were doing, and
in the spirit they were showing. OF the
canal itself, he spoke disDaragingly; he
had gone stale in his enthusiasm. 1t no
longer represented to him a highway OF
the nations, or the new wonder of the
world" he could see in it merely an
enormous hole in the ground in which he
and the 5000 men under his command
We're TO labor wearily from morning until
night for seven long years TO come
Frankly. he said, he was tired Of IT,
called back out Of the dark, as was
leaving. that ! hoped 20 drop in on him
again in about year. He smiled an in
different, rather a bitter. smile
4 may not be here then" he said. The
United States looks pretty good TO me to-
night"
Then he walked back 90 the little desk
just inside the door and took up the let
teT-writing at which he had been busy
when ! interrupted him And before he
had finished he had written his letter Of
resignation to the President OF the United
States.
year ago ] had written some very
harsh things about the condition of the
Panama Railroad and its administration.
Mr. Stevens had been very much incensed
by it, My cali was one of apologize
say that the present wonderfully efficient
working Of the railroad (Which isn't really
a railroad at all. but a huge construction
y~rd, fifty miles long had taught me my
mistake.
Known as "The Big smoke"
The chief engineer. anectonately desig-
mated by his subordinates from one end
of the isthmus to the other as The Big
Smoke" was more than anxious TO meet
me half way. A year ago he had cabled
that was "a liar of the Poultney Bige-
low class" Now he was explaining that
the strain Of the work and the climate
and OF warning Influences above and he
low him had caused him 20 be irritated
beyond ali reason. and that If he had
been IN ms place. with my limited under
standing OF the demoralized condition Of
the railroad. he would have written Of il
IN the same way. lie said, rather sgiB-
cantly II now seems. that he guessed he
had taken his job too seriously a year
ago. lie wanted 10 know what I thought
Of the years progress. and seemed mod
erately pleased when I told him, with
complete candOr, that the progress we
had made and the wonderful display Of
flying dirt and whirring machinery up
and down the line completely swept me
of my feet. The eight miles of the Cule-
bra cut were overhung with a black pail
Of smoke from ths engines and saoyels
and locomotives. so that &c looked far
more like Pittsburg than any other place
in the world. I had spent three days rid
ing up and down the line on dirt trains
and had found the main line between the
cut and the dumps au amazing continu-
Gus belt of trains run at high speed
making the dirt fiy" az ne rate Of $1,000
cubic yards a DAY. He grinncd. They
had only just started. he said.
LoynI and Devoted Force.
He began taif.,.lg OF the loyalty and de-
votion Of the working force: the incubus
Of incompetents and malingerers who had
kept them all in a fret "a year ago had
been weeded out; the proportion Of use
less jamaica negro workmen had been
much reduced; the spirit of the job was
one Of hearty hustling We laughed to-
.fan- Z. Il T.
tween division engineers over the crime
known on the isthmus as kidnapping"
I'm their zeal TO make a good showing en-
gineer5 were stealing men from neighbor-
ing divisions by hundreds and even 10y
thousands until THE Big Smoke secretly
pleased, had TO issue stern orders to stop
the practice.
But the change came when ! suggested
that there must be q constant thrill Of IL
spiration In the knowledge that this
mighty force had been built up and was
at its tremendous job because lie rad psf
Il together. He couldn't feel any thrill
at all any more. he said. To him Il was
all an enormous weary. tiresOme job of
brute labor, day IN and day out. ana with
nothing but a hole in the ground 10 show
when it was ali done. He broke OF and
began 20 talk about the weather. Later
1
garded the approaching awarding of the
contract. knew that he had joined with
Mr. Shonts a year ago in urging the CON
tract plan; I did not know that he had
remained tacitly committed to that plan
up TO December. nor did he tell me. When
| asked what justification there was for
bringing into the work when ii was all
going SO well and 50 smoothly. the endless
complications which the employment C5 "A
supcrluous contractor involved, 1 got
very little satisfaction Ii was clear that
be agreed with me; also that he didn't
want to say anything about il.
JuSt Tired of Ii.
You have too much imagination for
ne" he said to me once. i haven't got
as far ahead as imagining ships passing
from ocean to ocean. I'm afraid that
sometimes ! wonder II there win be any
traffic at all: If there is any good in dig
ging canal anyway; # Il isn't all just u
great big waste Of health. and money, and
energy. l guess I'm tired Of it."
Then, as though in explanation, he told
of The comments of friends from the
United States who had visited him on the
isthmus. and particularly OF those OF
Chicago railroad man.
You're not an engineer, Stevens" said
this man. You ere n combination finan-
cier employment agent, archbishop SUI
perintendent OF schools. corporation coun-
sci. board of aldermen. restaurant keeper.
and diplomat-with a little engineering
sprinl,led IN for seasoning
NO one" slid Mr.. Stevens. could well
understand, without visit to the 18th
mus. how varied and trying was the
strain which fell upon the chief engineer"
This was not said plaintively. but appar-