Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1913-10-09


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 1915, 600, 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-ifths of q.
billion dollars has been spent in dig
ging a 4O-mile ditch" This means.
that the Panama canal has cost the
United States $780, 900, 900 a mile.
Over $751; 900, 900 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 Jay 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 raico a uoccn1 RI a hniOhf Of 2T
feet above sea level at one end of.
the canal and lower it 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 81 important a part
of the operating machinery of the
canal, and his ability to overcome all
obstacles had led Colonel Goethals to.
call him a 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-
ton 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
or NO urol1 &c ON apo{naor 4
Realize Dream of Centuries.
Through the work of these men-alll
of them members of Uncle Sans
fighting 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 age.
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 N~icaraguan canal.
An expedition was sent to Nicaragua.
to make an investigation, and report
ed that the canal could be construct
ed for ~$25,000,00, hardly one-twenti-
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
by the United States government. Be-
fore anything had been accomplished.
the concession for a Panama canal.
had been given to Lucien Napoleon
Bonaparte Wyse, a FTenchman. He,
organized a company, which sold out.
later 70 the financiers associated with
Ferdinand de Lesseps. The company
organized with de Lesseps at it's head
was the first n to actually begin op--
erations on the isthmus. For eight.
years de Lesseps struggled manfully
against the greatest odds that a
ever was called upon to face. Then
he was forced to give up the fight,
his company c%ollapsing as a result OF
dishonesty and extravaganza on the.
part Of It's promoters, and de Lesseps,
driven insane by the scandal. ended,
his days In al asylum.
Such was the history of the 18TH,
milan canal project for some 300 or
400 years, until the day in 1904 when
Uncle Sam undertook the task.
In nine years the dream Of the CEN
turtles has been realized.