The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-21

THE M -'sMt1cne.; 1Nsw oeaIo.u, siAsyAru aa Vcn' r'aiA I.iver, Aiass.. .>ewport, biuS. Asianus treat salt funu aarDof. anu tne entrance to Point Juoltn fonQ, h. woods Hole CAannel, Alass., ana tIlt eohstruction ot tne i1arpor of Hefugt aI Point Juditn. He also had cnarse oi the improvements ot all tLe rivers ln that territory. including the construc ton or briases. lie mas served-as memDer or number Jf important boards. inciuuing as already mention GU, the TaIt Board to inspect the fan- ana Canal Zone.
 Secretary Taft was very anxious from the beginning of the canal work that Coiohei Goethais snould be associated with 1t. The reason that he dId not ac- cept the position of assistant engineer, wnich would have been a great homo. to him, carrying with 1t additional pay, ana further inuucement that ne should become chief of the engineer corps, was that, after closely studying the Pan anna Canal territory and the subject o1 the canal. he did not approve of Mir. 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.
 Gahll0fd the youngest.
 If Colonel Goethals' experience in practical engineering had been deficient, the other two engineers who have been assigned to duty with him would amply make up for this in the wide range of their experience in practical work.
 Major David DuBose Gaillard, the sec ond engineer In charge, Is a native of South Carolina. He is the youngest looking of the three. But Major Gail- a nrds nnrA ha- ried. In 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 aGillard. And all these com missions hay ebeen of a peculiar char acter. He graduted at West Point in 1884, when he received his commission, but not once since that time has he been with a regiment or a battalion ex- cept during the Spanish war, when he was colonel of an engineer regiment.
 Major Gaillard Is a rather slim man, and though he is 4S years old, or will be in September 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 off, cer Is ever sent, either in peace or in war. except to the Philippine Islands.
 His career has been a more pictur- esque one, perhaps, than either of the other two engineers. He has been en- gagged on many very interesting mis- sions. He had been out of West Point but 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 har- bor work in Florida, when he was ap- pointed in 1891 by the President one of three commissioners to make the boundary line between Mexico and the United States from Fl Paso, Texas, to the Pacific Ocean. Major Gaillard, then Lieutenant Gaillard, had many interesting and romantic expe- riences 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. When he completed his work he was personally complimented in State he was ordered on duty in the con- struction of Notifications and sea- wall at Fort Monroe.
 One of the most valuable works on which Major Gaillard has been engaged Is the Washington Acquedict, though his connection with 1t and the valuable work he did are appreciated by only a few because, as said above. army engineers are accustomed to doing things without press agents or brass bands. He was but a First Lieuten- ant when he was put in sole charge of this work, and he 1t was who had charge of constructing the Great Falls Dam and of cleaning out for the first time since its construction, the con- duit.
 Mission to Alaska.
 IYA frn A1AQ- ka upon an important secret work of the Government the exact nature of which does not appear in the army or ders, and is not generally known. even among Major Gaillards intimate friends because it had some relation with the international complications between this country and England. Nominally, and as the order reads, he was sent there upon work on the Portland Channel After the compile ton of this work. for which he was highly complimented by the Secretary of War, he was put on the staff of General Wade, and served at Tampa and Chickamauga.
 During the war with Spain Major Gaillard recruited and organized the 3rd United States Volunteer Engineers, and became Brevet Colonel of that regiment, remaining so until the regi- ment was mustered out in 1899. His regiment was sent to Cuba just at the close of the war and be was placed fin charge of the Department of Santa Clara, Cuba Among the most import ant though perhaps less spectacular sanitary works done in Cuba were done under the direction of Major Gaillard He took charge of the sanitary work in Cienfuesos Matanzas and other cities of Cuba. The work which he did there stands as a monument to the efficiency and the strength of the man as we'll as to the credit of the country Many columns have been written about how General Leonard Wood cleaned up Havana. Very uttle nae been said about how Major Gaillard cleaned up Cienfuegos and Matanzas' General Wood was Colonel of the Rough Riders, which, as the world knows, had a very efficient corps oi press agents The 3rd Engineers had no press agent but 1t had man at the head of it, and this man was edu- cated and trained in the regular army and was not accustomed to press agents or the blowing of the horn to announce to the world what he had done No reflection is meant upon General Wood. Perhaps Major Gall lard should have had press agent COrraIIed Negro Regiment.
 Some very important, as well as dra- matic work, was done by the 3rd Reg iment under Colonel Gatlard. It was chosen by General James H. Wilson tc disarm at midnight and place under Rr- rest the members of the 9th Virginia Colored Volunteer Infantry Ht Macon Ga, in 1898. The negro troops were mutinous and on the rampage general Iy. and proposed to shoot up the town