The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914, 1914-06-09
WORK FOR SIBERT
BUILDER OF GATUN DAM WILL
MAKE PLANS FOR REcLA
NATION IN CHINA.
WELL FITTED FOR THE TASK
Arthur P. Davis and Daniel H.. Mead,
Both Distinguished Engineers, Sc
lected for His Assistants
Start Soon for Orient
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

from washington the plan OF the
Chinese government to reclaim thou.
sands of square miles of drought and
flood lands was described in detail.
Representative of the Chinese gov.
eminent conferred with representa-
tives of the American Red Cross and
as result Miss Mabel Boardman.
head of the Red Cross in America,
has requested President Wilson: to
designate Lieut.-Col William L. Sibert
OF the corps of engineers, United
States army, as chairman of the engi-
neering commission to go to China
and to formulate plan for the recla-
nation of the vast land tracts.
Colonel Sibert was the builder of
the Gatun dam, locks and spillway
and the creator of the Gatun lake of
the Panama canal. His work was
completed April 1, and since then he
has been in Washington awaiting or
ders. The work which will confront
him in China will be as trying in its
way, both climatically and in actual
labor. as that in which he was en-
gagged on the canal zone.
A part of the story of the work to be
done in China has been told in the
public prints. In one flooding of the
country in the district to be reclaimed
100000 Chinese lost their lives The
suffering that ensued among the living
was fearful The Red Cross spent
hundreds Of thousand of dollars in re-
lief work in this Chinese section which
so frequently was desolated. The
oriental government is arranging with
foreign bankers, said to be American
for the most part, for the loan of mil
lions of dollars with which to COM
plete the project of reclamation.
Fitted for the Task.
Congress by a concurrent resolu-
ton authorized the president to grant
a leave of absence to an engineer Of
f1cer of the army and to loan the serv-
ices of the designated officer to the
Chinese government. The Chinese
authorities and the officers of the Red
Cross fixed upon Colonel Sibert as the
man whose experience and record
best fitted him for the work and so
the president has been asked to name
this army officer for the Chinese work.
Associated with Colonel Sibert will
be two other great engineers, Arthur
P. Davis, chief engineer of the recla-
nation service of the United States
government, and Daniel w. Mead OF
the University of Wisconsin. The com
mission will leave soon for China with
a force CT surveyors and assistant
engineers and will spend five months
in laying plans to prosecute one of
the greatest engineering works of the
ages.
AS soon as Colonel Sibert had COM
pleted his work in Panama and his
duties as a member of the isthmian
canal commission were ended, he vol
unteered for work in the field in Mex
leo, but the engineering positions with
the projected first army of invasion
had been filled by detail, and as
there seemed to be no prospect that
any army from the north was to be
sent into the field, Colonel Sibert
finally consented to go to China.
Men Who Will Help Him.
Arthur P. Davis, chief engineer of
the governments reclamation service,
is from Illinois. He was born in Deca-
tur in 1861 He has been connected
with many great engineering projects.
He conducted surveys and ,explora-
lions some years ago in Arizona, New
Mexico and California and was in
charge of the photographic examina-
tions of the Nicaraguan and Panama
canal routes.
Daniel w Mead is now professor of
hydraulic engineering at the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin. He lived In ILL
nois for a great many years, at one
time being city engineer of Rockford.
He has built water works for seven
or eight of the largest cities of the
United States, and after the floods of
last year he was employed by the
state of Ohio to work on plan for
the prevention of future disasters.
Mr.. Mead has been consulting engi-
neer of hydraulic works and power
plants for good many years. He is
a member of the principal engineer
ing societies of the world.
These three American engineers are
to go to China to plan a work of
reclamation which will restore thou
sands of square miles of land to the
uses of agriculture and to the support
of a teeming population. The Red
Cross people say that if the work as
they plan it can be carried to sue
cessful conclusion 1t will constitute
one Of the greatest humanitarian
services ever undertaken.
The American engineering party Is
going on a dangerous Grand The
climate of the country which they are
to penetrate is hot and facilitating
| In the course of their work they will
be compelled to meet all kinds of
hardships. Diseases common to
swamplands IL semi-tropic climates
are prevalent in the district in which
| they must work They will be at their
labor five months and then will turn
in report to the Chinese government
and to the Red Cross. 1t may be that
the men who will plan this work of
reclamation will also undertake the
completion of the project.