The L'Anse sentinel., 1913-10-11

neers predicted would never with
stand the rush OF the ,Chagres' wa
ters. is admitted now to be so strong
that nothing short of an earthquake
such as has never been known In the
Central American region can harm
1t. The Gatun dam, Gatan lake and
the Culebra cut, 30 gigantic are the
proportions of each. dwarf the other
engineering works of the canal that
In themselves have challenged the
admiration of the world.
World Gives Goethals Credit.
To Col. George Goethals. chairman
Of the Isthmian canal commission,
chief engineer of the commission and
governor of the canal zone. the world
will give the credit for the successful
completion OF the Panama canal. Col
onel Goethals could not have accom-
| plished his task without the assist.
ance of such men as Col. Fl. +.
Hodges. Lieut.. Col David Du b. Gall
lard and Lieut.. Col. William L. Sibert.
army engineers, who have had charge
OF various phases OF the work. but
tColonel Goethals is recognized as the
real builder of the canal
Under Colonel Goethals the greater
part of the $375,000.000 which the
canal will have cost when 1t IL COM
pleted has been spent. 1t has been by
far the costliest engineering project
in the world. Nearly three-fifths OF a
billion dollars has been spent in dig
| ging 40-mile ditch" This means
that the Panama canal has cost the
United States $10,OO0.000 a mile.
Over $16.000,000 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 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 raise a vessel to height OF 81
feet above sea level at one end of
tance at the other end. has been in
charge OF two OF Colonel Goethals
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 ia
call him genius. The building, psis.
ing and operation of the lock gates
constitute one of tho 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 oi
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.
er as we'll as an engineer. His fight
ing qualities have enabled him to
carry through the great work oi
which he has had charge in the
canal zone.
Realize Dream Of Centuries.
Through the work OF these men-al
OF them members OF Uncle Sam.
fighting body-the United States ha!
been able to attain what has been ir
truth the dream Of centuries. In nine
years these men have carried through
an undertaking that was first though
of several hundreds of years ago
There Is evidence that the idea OF ar
isthmian canal was born as early al
the sixteenth century. for history re
cords the fact that the InquisitioI
declared such a project to alter tn,
face of the earth to be impious ant
further discussion OF the matter wa.
forbidden by Philip II. Of Spain. who's,
reign began in 1856. More than cen
tury later Scotchman named Patter
son revived the scheme, established {
colony on the shores of the isthmus
and made crude survey of the route
J The United States government firs
took definite action looking towar,
J the construction Of an isthmian cana
In 1884. when the senate voted fol
the building Of Nicaraguan canal
, An expedition was sent to Nicaragu,
J to make an investigation. and report
ed that the canal could be construct
, ed for s25.000000. hardly one-twenti
} eth of the amount that tho Panam;
canal will have cost when completed
De lesseps First to Dig.
j The matter rested until after tn,
Civil war, when negotiations for
, canal commission were entered int,
, by the United States government. Be
! fore anything had been accomplished
the concession for Panama cana
, had been given to Lucien Napoleon
: Ranaparte Wyse. a Frenchman. II,
, organized company, which sold on
, later to the flnanciers associated will
, Ferdinand de Lesseps. The compan!
, organized with de Lesseps at its hea,
: was the first one to actually begin op
erations on the isthmus. For eigh
; years de Lesseps struggled manfull.
, against the greatest odds that mai
, ever was called upon to face.
, C,,zA u,oo thA hsotAvv 80 he tosh