The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-10-11

s'"Nu 'he rush Of the Cbavr..,
ters. is admitted now 70 Log 'sfes
s smat nothing nc hing short of an ea ~
Such as has never been Know y
. Central American region "o"n ID
II. The Gatun dam Co,,. 'an
: the culebra cut, so gira ,pn lake
proportions Of each. dwarf ,h az
engineering works Of tho o .ue
a IN themselves have chalIen nuai
World Gives eo.,b,,.
To Col. George Goetba,. oredit
o OF the isthmian canal con IMAM
chlef engineer Of the commia.,l
governor Of the canal zona %
viii give the credit for the s Sne
oolI , Of the Panama canaS
one. Hoetha!s could not bavo Y
pushed his task without tho
ahce OF such men as Col
hodges, Lieut.. Col. David On n.
Iard and Lieut. Col. WrIi.m
army engineers, who have had S
OF various phases Of the wo.u
colonel Goethals is recognjzad
real builder of the canal
Under Colonel Goethals tho
part Of the sS75,OOO,OOO wb,' S'a
canal will have cost whom !,
pieted has been spent. It has ts
Tar the costliest engineering rs
IN the world Nearly reas,,t pI'
billion dollars has been snsn, -
slng a 4O-mile ditch" This
mat the Panama canal has co..,
United States $40 900 900 q n,,O
Over sl6,OOO,OOO OF the total sn
spent has been used to make the Ivy
zone habitable and sanitary
been suggested that this is IN
nous amount of money to spans y
cleaning up place In which fow :.
pie viii reside permanently, bu, =
engineers say that the sanitat,o,
the canal zone was the chief ,ac,a.
making the canal a reality tn.
ure OF the French has been attribn,.
10 a large extent to the far, ~
the Workmen could not SURVIVE :, ~
lever and pest ridden country. N
Inc building OF the great Ia,
winch raise a vessel to a height q, =
rect above sea level at one era
the canal and lower it the Same AL
lance at the other end. has hoe, j.
charge or two Of Colonel Goe,b,,I
assistants. Colonel Hodges and U~E
tenant Colonel Sibert. Colonel Hos,.J
work in installing the immense II.
gates that form so important a ~
or the operating machinery O, M
canal. and his ability to overcome A
obstacles had led Colonel GoethaIs
call him a genius. The building nd,
Ing and operation OF the lock ga.
constitute one of the delicate nmI
lens of lock canal construction anI
the proper handling of this probes
mas been Colonel Hodges confirm
ton to the work of construction n
the canal.
Lieutenant Colonel Sibert has hal
charge of the building of the gre.
dam and locks at Gatun. In additioI
to other duties. He saw long ,s
tive service in the Philippines. an
ne is known in the army as a fight
er as well as an engineer. His fgh
ng qualities have enabled him n
carry through the great work 4
which he has had charge in d.
anal zone.
Realize Dream of Centuries.
Through the work of these men-su
If them members of Uncle Sam,
'ghting body-the United States hs
zen able to attain what has been h
ruth the dream OF centuries. In MIN
ears these men have carried through
n undertaking that was first thought
I several hundreds of years am
here is evidence that the idea of Al
sthmian canal was born as early a.
he sixteenth century, for history re
ords the fact that the Inuuisitiou
declared such a project to alter the
ace of the earth to be impious and
1rther discussion of the matter was
orbidden by Philip II. of Spain, whose
eign began In 1856. More than cen.
Try later Scotchman named Patter.
on revived the scheme. established .
olony on the shores Of the isthmus,
nd made crude survey OF the route.
The United States government first
1ok definite action looking toward
lie construction of an isthmian canal
1884, when the senate voted for
lie building Of a Nicaraguan canal
n expedition was sent to Nicaragus
make an investigation, and report
l that the canal could be construct
for s25,000.00O, hardly onetwsnti
n of the amount that the Panama
NAL will have cost when completed
De Lesseps First to Dig.
The matter rested until after the
ivil war. when negotiations for
NAL commission were entered into
: the United States government. Be
re anything had been accomplished
e concession for a Panama canal
I'd been given to Lucien Napoleon
anaparte Wyse, a Frenchman. He
gained a company, which sold out
ter to the flnanciers associated with
erdinand de Lesseps. The company
ganized with de Lesseps at its head
rs the first one to actually begin op
ations on the isthmus. For eight
ars de Lesseps struggled manfully
.ainst the greatest odds that man
er was called upon to face.
Such was the history OF the 18th. 4
Ian canal project for some 300 o.
D years. until the day in 1904 when
lcle Sam undertook the task.
In nine years the dream OF the cen
ries has been realized.