The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-23
THE PANAMA CANAL
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By Fredric J. Haskin.

good work has been praised by ever, man who navigates those waters.
 Commissioner Rousseau, in charge oi the repartment of municipal enginer 1 ing, motive power. and building con strnction. Is one of the live wires of thu canal organization. He has been fl the government service for ten years In 1898 he was made civil engineer In the navy with the rank of lieuten. ant, as a result of a connetttivo q ination. By force of sheer merit hs was promoted from one post to anoth- CT, until, in 1907 he was made chief oi the bureau of yards and docks, with the rank of rear admiral. He re- signed his position to accept the place which he now holds on the canal com mission. In this place he has fully demonstrated the wisdom of his seiec- ton.
 Another hustler on the commission was Jackson Smith. Former Chief En- gineer Stevens said of him in letter to the President that he was the most thorough master of the question of labor that he had ever met in his thir- ty years experience as a construction mans Smith was visiting in Washing ton when he was introduced to Stevens. Stevens ask ed him to go to the Isthmus and take charge of the work of re- CFuilluk IHS IOTCG. HIS CApSIlGuCo HI tropical climates has made him man invaluable to the work. The labor force changes once every eighteen months, Smith had to get Q strong re- cruiting. organization to meet 1t. He had to look after the quarters of twen- ty-five thousand people, getting ice. coal, and filtered water to their doors every morning. He had to organize the work of all the hotels. messes, and Kitchens. In other words, upon him fell the burden of getting together the great force of the whole canal, and then making the living conditions such that they could be comfortable enough and happy enough to carry forward the work. He has done 1t and now gives up the position to search for new world to conquer. His job was one of the most difficult and certainly the most thankless on the Isthmus.
 Governor Joseph S. c. Blackburn, of the Canal Zone. is good example of the right man In the right place. Thirty years or more in the Congress of the United States. most of 1t in the Senate where all the questions of American diplomacy are settled, have fitted him to occupy any diplomatic po- sition. He is firm, polite, careful, and Judicious. He has the Panamanian n people correctly appraised, and knows just how to take them. It was his firm, sstrong hand that held the Panama situation in check, and but for his work the United States might today be putting down afrevoiution in Panama.
 Last but not least Is Colonel Gorgas, of the Sanitary Department. Someone recently observed that no one of the canal commanders could claim entire credit for the work in any one de- pertinent except Colonel Gorgas.' He came to the Isthmus to put up a fight against overwhelming odds. At one time his labors seemed so unfruitful that he was all but asked to resign. Then Governor Magoon came in and held up his hand. That great quality of learning to labor and wait won, and today there is no one on the Isthmus who will not tell you that an American loctor has made possible the digging of the Panama Canal.
 (Copyrfght, 1908, by Frederick J. Has-) klns) ''
 TOmOrrOvv-The Panama Canal.
 xIII-The Completion.