The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1913-10-16
BY WILLIAM R. SCOTT
a SEA.Lgvgi, chANMEl
NILES -
80 eeer Wlog GATlfN
LOCKS

C6ApJeH ].
Tho Land Dividsd-ths World United.
+ it should have been said in 1904
that In nine years we would have
removed more than 100000, 900
cubic yards of earth and rock.
laid 5.OOOO0O cubic yards Of concrete.
made dams and fills Of more than 5O.-
100000 cubic yards. relocated the Pan
ANA railroad. spent no more than
$500. 100000 and put the first ship
through from the Atlantic to the Pacif-
ic. Europe would have smiled ut our
youthful temerity: Yet in 1913 we will
have done precisely that.
During the first two years and
half the canal was In its first phase
1t was the period Of pioneering. prep
aration and adjustment. Two chief
engineers were tried from the. ranks
Of civil life. accomplishing the main
preliminaries to canal construction be-
fore their departure.
The second phase Of the canal was
from the beginning of 1907 to the
spring Of 1912. During these six
years the heart Of the task was accom-
plished. President Roosevelt had
found the man who was to take the
organization built up by the men from
the ranks Of private industry and hurl
1t against the natural obstacles that
stood in the way of success. Colonel
Goethals was to take the blueprints
and head full of theories and work
them out into the locks, dams and
cuts In concrete mold today.
The third and last phase began in
1912. when the chief engineer set Oc-
tober. 1918. as the date for the sub
stantial completion of the canal. 1t is
distinguished by the gradual disper-
sion Of the army Of workers. by the
reverse process Of the first two years
and by the creation of permanent
operating force with the detail finish
ing work that attends every large prof.
ect
The east has furnished the canal
with its chief engineers Wallace from
Massachusetts. Stevens from Maine.
Goethals from New York. But every
state In the Union has furnished the
rank and file, as well as every nation
III the world
Standing out distinctly from the
construction phase Of the enterprise
is the figure of Colonel Gorsas. the
chief sanitary officer. now. as IN the
critical days OF 1905. quiet. alert, con-
fident. The last days OF the canal ma
perfect mechanism of his creation
recording his Ideas with dispatch and
precision. receiving the plaudits OF
this and secure in the admiration OF
succeeding generations.
The locks may grow too small, the
Gatun dam may break. caving IN OF
the foundations of the colossal struc-
lures may occur and other convuislons
Of nature may disable the canal. but
nothing can rob the Americans OF q
wonderful achievement. nor will the
work have been without glory and JUS
tification no matter what the future
holds. We still could rejoice in the
sheer courage. persistence and indom'
table ability that have wrought the
work In Panama.
Just as the civil war developed Grant
and the Spanish American war Dewey
and Schley, SO has the Panama canal
developed Goethals He justly is Gel.
ebrnted In the periodical and daily
| press and IN books as splendid EN-
bofliment OF Americanism--the idea
combination Of ability aud integrity
A perspective view Of the whole en-
terprise shows that Theodore Roose
| velt by his individual actions on al
least three occasions vitaily affected
~. canal and It's successful consum
-ati..u When he cut the Gordian knO
OF siplomacy and took the canal zont
he nas lie the first long stride toward
|interoceanic communication. When HI
threw his weight into the scale for 4
lock type canal he decided the mos
critical question that ever arose In tn
career Of the enterprise. The thirt
time his judgment prevented grea
mistake was when the project def
nitely was taken from the possibilft.
Of private construction and placed y
| the hands exclusively Of government
supervision. There we're lesser dccl
sions Of great moment. notably tn
order for widening the locks and tn
Cniebra cut. and his whole connection
with the project was such as to ran
as the most brilliant phase Of his nd