Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-03-29

engineer and chairman. 1t reminded
one of celebrated couplet in the Kan
sas bard, Thomas Brewer Peacock's
rhyme of the border war:
On her he then took pity
And took her up to Kansas City.
The Interborough seems to have TAX
en- pity on these two gentlemen Ian
gushing in the lonesome and malari-
Gus canal zone and took them up to
New York city, where things were go
ing on.
/ The next move on the board was to
let the canal job out to some expert
enced contractor, Mr.. Stevens still ex-
ercising supervision. William ]. OIL
yer of Knoxville, Tenn, made the low
est bid, and it was announced that
this was to be accepted. Mr.. oliver
organized his company, secured the
requisite capital and was almost ready
| to embark for Panama when some
thing happened.
Resignation No. 3.
Mr.. Stevens resigned. AS yet no
body seems to know just why. There
are those who say that 1t was because
Mr. Stevens is passionately fond Of
golf, and Panama has no golf links.
Others aver that he is passionately |
fond of reading, and the mucky at
mosphere iof the canal strip causes a
green moss to grow on the pages Of
his favorite tones. Both these expla-
%
they are to be estimated with some
degree of seriousness, for 1t Is unde-
| niable that Panama Is a long way
| from the golf links, the Carnegie IL
braries and all the other adjuncts Of
civilization that make life worth liv-
ing after a man has lived in Chicago
where Mr.. Stevens halls from.
There is also hint Of red tape In
exp.anation Of ldr Stevens throwing
up the sponge. 1t Is said Furthermore
that he did not receive with hidebound
equanimity the constant criticism OF
his work, though 1t is understood that
the administration was satisfied with
his conduct of the big job.
| At any rate Mr. Stevens resigned,
his resignation was accepted, and upon
the heels of 1t came the announcement |
that all bids for the contract were re-
jected and that the canal would be
constructed by army engineers.
Naturally Mr.. Oliver, who says he
has spent $4,000 in perfecting his
company and his plans, felt like man
| who had bought sweet orange and
had a sour lemon delivered to him. He
remarked:
'I have been whang- doodled in a |
good came. know and have known
all along who was sitting in the game"
Mr.. oliver did not divulge the nature |
who sat in.
The New Canal Engineers.
| Colonel Goethals. who Is to be the
head Of the new isthmian canal COM
mission, has been serving on the gen.
eral staff Of the army at Washington. |
He is forty-nine years old and was
graduated from West Point in 1880.
AS assistant engineers the president
has named two majors Of the engineer
corps, D. Du B. Gaillard and William
L. Sibert, forty-seven and forty-six
years old respectively and both Of the
| West Point class of 1884. These three |
gentlemen have had long service as
army engineers. For the canal work
their salaries are to be largely in
| creased. An army officer, however, Is
/ hn
like his job. The theory of the pres
ident seems to be that Colonel Goethals |
| Is young enough to see the 1oo
through, and IL he should not stay un-
til the end one of the two majors men
toned will be qualified to succeed
him.
Meantime the work is going on, the
steam shovels are cutting out the ditch
and progress is reported. There ap-
pears to be a reasonable expectation
that the canal will be completed by
about 1917 and at a cost Of not more |
than $500, 100000, perhaps not nearly
so much. AS to time and cost, how
ever, nothing definite should be ven
tured. The isthmian canal is and al
ways has been an unknown quantity.
We are coming to know more about
ii, but we must learn mostly by ex-
perience.
The Panama canal idea Is just 357
years old. Antonio Galvao, a Portu-
guese navigator, in 1850 proposed to
the king of Spain plan for cutting
canal through the isthmus. Christo-
pher Columbus discovered the isthmus
In 1902. Eleven years later, from the
summit of the mountains In that part
of the isthmus which used to be called
Darien, Miguel Cabello de Balboa dis-
covered the Pacific ocean.
Balboa climbed that peak in Da-
rien" with the specific purpose OF dis
covering a water passage to the orient.
| Columbus made his voyages with the
same purpose in view. Though ne
never knew it himself, believing he had
reached Asia, the great navigator ran
against an obstruction in the shape or
two vast bodies of land connected by
a narrow neck This land has turned
out to be quite valuable in many ways,
but 1t still obstructs the westward
passage from Europe to Asia.
The government Of the United States
of America is trying to bisect the new
continent at its narrowest point, and
in cutting the canal across Panama we
are simply finishing the job undertake
en- by Columbus more than four CEN
turies ago. Such a passage Is needed
now vastly more than it was needed
then. It will be needed next century
no doubt vastly more than 1t is needed
now.
| And Uncle Sam Is going to do the
lob though men die and men resign.
Though we all want to see the ships
sailing through the canal just as soon
as may be, we can afford to wait few
years longer, since the world has walt
ed 400 years after discovering that the
| aa rth Is round like an apple instead