The Arvada enterprise., 1913-10-09

I 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 $&75 900 which the can.
| al will have cost when 1t Is completed
has been spent. 1t has been by far
| the costliest engineering project in
| the world, Nearly three-tifths OF
/ billion dollars has been spent in dig
/ ging 4O-mile ditch" This means
/ that the Panama canal has cost the
| United States $lOOO0,OO0 a mile.
over sl5,OO0,OO0 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 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 n reality. The fail
ure of the French has been attributed
| to 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 vessel to a height OF ST
/ feet above sea level at one end Of
| the canal and lower it the same dis
/ tauce at the other end, has been in
/ charge Of two OF Colonel Goethals
assistants. Colonel Hodges and Lieu
| tenant Colonel Sibert. Colonel Hodges
| work in installing the immense lock
/ gates that form SO important a part
/ OF the operating machinery of the
canal and his ability to overcome all
obstacles had led Colonel Goethals 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 a fight
er as well as an engineer
Realize Dream Of Centuries.
Through the work OF these men-all
OF them members of Uncle Sam 5
lighting body. the United States has
been 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 Nicaraguan canal,
An expedition was sent to Nicaragua
to make an investigation. and report.
ed that the canal could be construct.
ed for S25.OO0,0O. hardly one-twcnti,
eth Of the amount that the Panama
canal will have cost when completed
De Lesseps First TO Dig.
The matter rested until after the
civil war, when negotiations for a
canal commission were entered into
uy the United States government Be
fore anything had been accomplished
the concession for Panama canal
had been given to LucIen Napoleon
U0uapuric Wysc. a FFonChmau he
organized company, which sold out
latter r1 the fnauClors associated with
Ferdinand de Lessops The company
organized with de Lesseps at its head
was the rrsl one to actually begin op
prauoua on the lsthmus For eight
years De Lpsscps struggled mauulIy
.s-ausJ the greatest odds that man
ever WAS called upon 10 face Then
hu was forced to give up tho fight
HIS company Collap6inE as a result OF
dishonesty and extravaganza on the
part OF I's promoters, and dc Lesscps
driven Insane by the scandal ended
h.s days iu an asylum.
Such was the history OF the 18TH
milan canal project for somo 300 OF
900 years. until the day Zoo 1904 wher
Uncle sam undertook the task
In nine years the dream OF the cen
turtles has been realized