The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1913-10-01
COL. COCKTAILS ACHIEVEMENT

! 11AC NOhAPACCAOAI VI IuC L uAdAAd Col1u
so far as to admit boats to be trans
. ported through Gatun dam natural,
! calls attention to the able manner il
which the stupendous undertaking o
building the dam has been carried out
On Saturday last the tug "Gatun'
passed through the locks from the At
lantic ocean UP to the lake level above
) the locks, where it has since re
manned to be viewed by the thousands
of interested spectators, who wit
messed it's elevation of eighty-fve feet
or more from the ocean up to the level
of the lake.
Every American boy who will take
the time to study the life of the man
who has made this feat possible
should find sufficient inspiration to in,
mark in the world. Colonel Goethals,
the chief engineer in charge of the
Panama canal, is largely entitled to
the credit for this great accomplish
ment. This remarkable man did not,
in his early life, promise the ability
to master the great problems with
which he has had to deal during the
last few years, and since he became
chief engineer of the enterprise, al
though he has through all the years,
since early childhood possessed an
ndomitable will and an ambition to
succeed in whatever he undertakes.
| He had neither means or influence to
| lift him up from conditions which were
most discouraging. but nevertheless he
never lost an opportunity to gain an
advantage which he could utilize to
lift himself up above the ordinary.
At the age of eleven years he found
himself employed as an errand boy
in a brokers' office in the city of New
York, and he performed his work so
well that his reputation for honesty
and faithfulness secured for him bet
ter employment, and at the age of
eighteen years he succeeded in hav-
ing himself selected for admission as
cadet to the military academy at
West Point, from which institution he
graduated with honors, standing sec
ond in his class. Since his graduation
he has proved himself in every posi-
ton which he has been called upon to
fill.
In the Spanish American war he was
Ny OCAilSo dSSlSllCu " uutJ
on the island OF Porto Rico, where
there was little of Importance to do,
and where his splendid abilities could
not be adequately appreciated, but his
habit of doing we'll whatever he was
called upon to do attracted the atten-
ton Of his superiOrs and proved ben-
eft to him later on. The man who
succeeds in doing well whatever is as
signed to him Will sooner or later find
las opportunity.
In the case of Col. Goethals this op-
pOrtunity came after a vacancy had
occurred in the Office of chief engineer
at Panama by the retirement of Mr..
Stevens from the position. Mr.. Stew
ems had proved himself most capable
in the early organization and work
OF building the canal He not only
possessed the absolute confidence of
the government, but of the thousands
of men in the various positions en-
gagged in the work of the construction
OF the canal, and when he gave up the /
position, the president of the United
States found it difficult to select a
man to take his place, who could in
spire sufficient confidence to success
fully carry on the work which Mr..
Stevens had so ably begun. 1t was
then that COL Cocktails opportunity
came in his selection by the president
as Mr. Stevens successor. His ap-
pointment did not at first meet the ap-
prevail of many of the engineers en-
gagged in the work and large num-
Der of the officers in the adminstrat-
i've department of the enterprise,
and there was disposition to
the loyalty due from
them to the new chief. One OF
the first things discovered at
ter his appointment was the purpose
of Col. Goethals to see that the canal
should be built in the best manner and
in the shortest time possible. and that
not.nng snort of the most faithful Ct
forts of everyone engaged in the work
would answer.
The charge that he was military
man and would be handicapped by red
tape methods did not prove to be true,
because it soon became evident that
hit intended to dispense with forms
and would administer the affairs in a
practical manner. He soon gained the
of his brother engineers
and those who sought to embarrass
him by unfair criticism were simply
ignored and public opinion settled the
issue in favor Of COL Goethals and the
critics were driven out of the service.
It is most remarkable how much
work he has been able to secure from
each individual in the service. In 60
ing from one part of the work to an
other a person will never see an idle
man or one seemingly trying to shirk
bis full duty. Every laborer seems to be
competing with every other laborer in
the amount of work he can accomplish.
The fact that this great Improvement
has been rushed through at such a
rapid rate as it has, and that it will
be completed more than a year before
it was anticipated it could be complet-
ed proves how effective the manage
ment of this great leader has been.
1t is an undertaking which has re-
CURED great administrative ability as
well as scientific engineering, but in
both respects Col. Goethals has proved
himself a master and when the work
is completed and the commerce Of the