Mountain advocate. (Barbourville, Ky.) 1904-1935, 1913-10-03


ed his task without the assistance Of
such men as Col. H. F. Hodges, Lieut..
Col. David Du B. Ballard and Lieut..
Col. William L. Sibert, army en-
engineers, who have had charge Of va
rious phases of the work, but Col Goe-
thals is recognized as the real builder
of the canal
Under Colonel Goethals the greater
part of the s375,O0O.0O0 which the can
al will have cost when II is completed
has been spent 1t has been by far
the costliest engineering project in
the world. Nearly three-fifths Of q
billion dollars has been spent in dig
cling a 40-mile ditch" This means
that the Panama canal has cost the
United States $10,OOO,00O a mile.
Over $15,000,000 of the total amount
spent has been used to make the canal
zone habitable and sanitary. 1t has
been suggested that this is an enor-
nous amount of money to spend in
cleaning up a place in which few peo-
pie will reside permanently, but the
engineers say that the sanitation OF
the canal zone was the chief factor In
making the canal a reality. The fail
ure of the French has been attributed
to a large extent to the fact that
the workmen could not survive in the
fever and pest ridden country.
The building, of the great locks
which raise a vessel to height OF 81
feet above sea level at one end OF
the canal and lower 1t the same dis
lance at the other end. has been In
charge of two Of Colonel Cocktails
assistants, Colonel Hodges and Lieu
tenant Colonel Sibert. Colonel Hodges
work in installing the immense lock,
gates that form SO important part
of the operating machinery of the
canal. ana his ability to overcome all
obstacles had led Colonel Cocktails to
call him genius. The building, pois-
ing and operation of the lock gates
constitute one Of the delicate prob
lens of lock canal construction. and
the proper handling Of this problem
has been Colonel Hodges contribu-
tion to the work of construction OF
the canal.
Lieutenant Colonel Sibert has had
charge of the building OF the great
dam and locks at Gatun, in. addition
to other duties He saw long. ac-
tive service in the Philippines, and
he is known In the army as fight.
er as well as an engineer.
Realize Dream Of Centuries.
Through the work of these men-al
of them members OF Uncle Sans
fighting body. the United States has
hcen able to attain what has been In
truth the dream OF centuries In nine
years these men have carried through
an undertaking that was first thought
OF several hundreds OF years ago.
The United States government first
took definite action looking toward
the construction Of an isthmian canal
In 1884, when the senate voted for
the building OF a Nicaraguan canal.
An expedition was sent to Nicaragua
to make an investigation, and report
ed that the canal could be construct.
ed for s25.0O0.0O. hardly one-twentt
eth OF the amount that tho Panama
canal will have cost when completed.
De Lssseps First 20 Dig.
The matter rested until after the
Civil war, when negotiations for a
canal commission were entered rinto
by the United States government. Be-
fore anything had been accomplished
the concession for a Panama canal
had been given 10 Luclen Napoleon
Bonaparte Wyse. a Frenchman. He
organized a company. which sold out
later TO the fnanclers associated with
Ferdinand de Lessnps Tho company
organized with do Lesseps az lite head
was the FIRST one te actually begin op-
eratlons on the isthmus. For eight
years do LesseDs struggled manfully
against the greatest odda that man
ever was called upon to face. Then
h0 was forced 10 give up the night.
hia company collapsing a. a result OF
dishonesty and extravaganoe on the
part Of its promoters. and Dc Leaseps,
driven insane BY the scandal. ended !
bis days In IN asylum
such Was The hist % the lslhs
milan eanal 'proisei 800 o.