The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1911-09-01

I
dirt is in itself the task OF great en-
gineer. Yet all of these things, even
the detail OF them, are under the direc-
ton OF one man, man who has not
yet enough work and is willing and
anxious to take on more. When Col.
Goethals took charge of the Panama
proposition early in 1907, the machin-
cry had been pretty well completed for
the work. There is no man who gives
John L. Stevens, the former chief engin-
eer, more credit than does Col. Goethals.
Mr.. Stevens" he is prone to tell
the interviewer, is responsible for the
success of the undertaking. He laid
down the big plan. I lam but following
in his wake"
But" the interviewer may protest,
you have changed many things from
the lines that were followed by Mr..
Stevens"
SO would Mr.. Stevens have made
many changes had he remained in
CHARGE" will the colonel answer.
1t is the modesty of the man that
thus attempts to stand out OF the spot
light and give others the credit. AS a
matter of fact there had been much
excellent preparatory work done before
Col. Goethals took charge. But the
actual work Of digging the canal had
hardly begun. The present chief en-
gineer is the actual builder of the big
ditch.
Col. Goethals is equally modest when
enthusiasts pyramid praises of the great
engineering accomplishment on the
isthmus. The colonel insists that it is
not an engineering task that he has in
hand. 1t is merely matter of admin
istration. He holds that he has but to
keep the machine going and that the
task will accomplish itself. He sue
ceeds in convincing no one but himself
by the argument, but such is his actual
view of his position.
When Col Goethals took charge Of
the canal building he did so in the face
of a strong prejudice against him be-
cause he represented the military branch
of the government. The work was be-
ing done by civilians and these are al
ways prejudiced against military meth
DDS. They object to the iron hand,
to formality, to clockwork routine. The
men on the job were loud in their pro-
test against transferring the work to the
men in the army.
Col. Goethals realized this. He
particularly avoided any show of mill
tary discipline. Mr. Stevens had plac-
ed the different divisions of the work
under given engineers and had instruct
ed those men that they were response
BILE for the detail that fell within their
Jurisdictions. Col. Goethals, on the
contrary, took over vast amount of
detail all along the line. There is
nothing too small to occupy his atten-
ton. Every day he walks over a third
of the canal route. He starts at seven
O'Clock in the morning with the gangs
of laborers. He trudges over the works
until near noon. Then he gets aboard
his car, which is a cross between an
automobile and hand car, and returns
to his office. The afternoon is given
over to administrative detail. Often
much of the night is given to the same
work, for the man is absorbed with his
great task. 1t is his life.
This is a way that the big work has
of gripping men. There is no laborer
from the West Indian mucker to the
American engineer who is not enthused
with the contemplation OF the bigness
of the thing which they are doing
The job is their life. 1t is a case OF
the oft repeated theory Of the spirit of
the man at the head of any enterprise
permeating all those who work under
him. The whole force has the Goe-
thals brand Of enthusiasm.
But in all OF this there is little OF the
military in the manner of handling this
civilian task. There is no better
example of the lack of military meth
DDS and the assumption of unlimited
detail of administration than the com
plant day that Col. Goetha!s set aside
when he first went to Panama and
which he has maintained ever since.