The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-01-24
HODGES IS REAL
GENIUS OF CANAL
Colonel G. W. GOethGIS Tells
Of Assistant.
He MADE PROJECT POSSIBLE

"Would Be No Canal but For Harry r.
Hodges" Says Chief Eneineer--Iie
Invented New Design of Locks, Con-
eeived Idea Of Arches In Approach
Walls-May Get Promotion.
Colonel Harry F. Hodges is the
man who designed the canal. He is
its genius. Without him there would
have been no canal" That is what
Colonel George W. Goethals, engineer
in chief at the Panama canal, has to
say of the technical expert in charge
of the construction of the great water
way. The engineer in chief spoke his
praise In a recent interview at Wash
ington.
Colonel Goethals says further:
Colonel Hodges is a man of detail.
When he designed the canal he worked
out the designs in detail, never over
looking any small thing which made
for the success of the canal. AS the
work nears competition criticism Of
the project, technically or otherwise,
is being refuted by the project itself.
at is not generally known why the
approach walls of the locks are arched.
The impression Is that the arches were
put into the walls to save concrete.
That question never was considered
by Colonel Hodges. The reason he de-
signed the walls with arches was be-
cause of the danger Of the waters Of
the lake washing up and into the locks.
There is a mean wind which blows
down across Lake Gatun from the
northwest. Had the approach walls
been Of solid concrete the waters of
the lake, whipped by the wind, would
have washed into the locks. AS it is,
the wind may whip the waters of Lake
Gatun into a foam, but instead of pill
Ing up on the dam and into the locks
the waters will be driven through the
arches to the opposite side of the lake.
To Come UP For Promotion.
'The foregoing is but one of the
many details which Colonel Hodges
considered when he designed the canal.
The mechanism for hinging the great
gates was designed by Colonel Hodges.
The type of gate is of his design.
"Too much praise cannot be given
Colonel Hodges for his part in the
building of the canal. 1 reiterate that
but for Colonel Hodges there would
not have been a canal"
b, Because Of his work and the credit
given him by Colonel Goethals, Colo
mel Hodges will come to President
Elect Wilson as the leader among army
! officers for promotion.
Colonel Hodges Is the one most to be
credited for the present stage of COM
pletion Of the canal, feat declared i'm
possible by the foremost engineers of
the world. He does the actual work
from the engineering standpoint. Dur
ing Colonel Goethals' absence he as
sumes charge of the canal zone.
is Unassuming and Direct.
Since graduating among the first five
Of the class of 1881 of the Military
academy he has won the distinction of
being called one of the greatest engi-
neers of the day. For five years he di-
rected the work of river and harbor
Notifications, and in 1901 he was made
chief engineer of the department of
Cuba. His work and reputation gained
by skillful handling of all sorts of navi-
cation and engineering problems led to
his being selected as Colonel Goethals'
assistant.
AS a man he is unassuming, quiet
and direct. He has the respect Of ev-
cry man under his supervision, and on
the isthmus he is considered marvel.
After it had been decided to build the
Gatun dam it was necessary to deter
mine the amount of water it would
take to fin 1t to the spillway, the
amount of water required to raise
ships of certain size, and then how
best to utilize each gallon Of water.
In solving this problem he invented a
style of lock which has now become the
standard Of the world. He designed
locks so that ships Of different lengths
may be raised by using just water
enough to lift IT. By unique arrange
ment of culverts he so arranged the
double set of locks that the water used
for lowering a ship in one set Of locks
Will be used for raising a ship in the
other set.
The first large ship will be sent
through on Jan. l, 1915, and will be
the historic battleship Oregon, with its