Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1913-10-09

that. having had two civilians. both Of
whom resigned. he would give the
job OF building the canal 10 a man
Who couldn't quit. and Colonel Zoe
thals. then attached 20 the general
STAFF OF the army al Washington. Vas
selected for the post.
Colonel GOethals would not have
quit II he could, once the job was
undertaken. for the word Is not In
his vocabulary. file plunged into his
work with all the enthusiasm that be
possessed, and soon created a working
organization that has been the wonder
OF the world
Under Colonel Goethals the greater
part OF the 75,OOO,0OO which the
canal would have cost when it is COM
pleted has been spent. Il has been by
far the costliest engineering project
in the world Nearly three-tifths oil
billion dollars has been spent in dig
ging a 40-mile ditch" This means
that the Panama canal has cost the
United States S10.00O,OO0 a mile.
over $4,000, 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 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 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 a height OF 81
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 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 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
Of No orr AT
dam and locks at Gatun, in addition
to other duties. He saw long, &C
tive service in the Philippines, and
he is known in the army as fight
er as we'll as an engineer, His fight
ing qualities have enabled him to
carry through the great work OF
which he has had charge in the canal
zone
Realize Dream of Centuries.
Through the work of these men-all
of them members OF Uncle Sans
fighting body, the United States has
been able to attain what has been in
: tsEuth the dream OF centuries. In nine
years these men have carried through
an undertaking that was first thought
OF several hundreds of years ago.
There is evidence that the idea of an
isthmian canal was born as early as
the sixteenth century, for history re-
cords the fact that the Inquisition
declared such a project to alter the
face of the earth to be impious and
further discussion of the matter was
forbidden by Philip II. of Spain, whose
reign began in 1856 More than cen
fury later a Scotchman named Patter-
son revived the scheme, established Il
colony on the shores of the isthmus,
and made a crude survey of the route.
During the succeeding century the
project was considered at various
times by French, Spanish and Ameri.
cans
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 $2500O,000, 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, Frenchman. He
organized a company, which sold out
later to the financiers associated With
Ferdinand de Lesseps. The company
organized with de Lesseps at its head
was the first one to actually begin OPP
erations on the isthmus. For eight
years de Lesseps struggled manfully
against the greatest odds that man
ever was called upon to face. Then
he was forced to give up the fight,
his company collapsing as result OF
dishonesty and extravaganza on the
part of its promoters, and de Lesseps.
driven insane by the scandal, ended
his days in an asylum.