Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-07-14
CHAPTER I.


removed more than 200000.000
cubic yards Of earth and rock.
laid 5.OGn.O00 cubic yards OF concrete.
made dams and Ellis OF more than 90
100000 cubic yards. relocated the Pan
anna railroad, spent no more thar
$300.000.O00 and put the first ship
through from the Atlantic Ia the Pacif-
ic, Europe would have smiled ut our
youthful temerity. Yet In 1913 we will
have done precisely that
During the first two years and
half the canal YVES In its first phase.
1t was the period OF pioneering. prep
aration and. adjustment Two chief
engineers were tried from the ranks
of civil life. accomplishing the main
preliminaries 10 canal construction be-
fore their departure.
The second phase OF the canal was
from the beginning of 1907 to the
spring Of 1912. During these six
years the heart of the task WAS accom-
plished. President Roosevelt had
found the man who was 10 take the
organization built up by the men from
the ranks Of private industry ard hurl
il against the natural obstacles that
stood In the way of success. Colonel
Goethals was to take the blueprints
and a head full OF theories and work
them out into the locks. dams and
cuts In concrete mold 1 GEy.
The third and last phase began In
- ~ 10
tober. 1913, as the date for the sub
stantial completion OF the canal. 1t is
distinguished by the gradual disper-
sion OF the army Of workers. by the
reverse process OF the FIRST two years
and hy the creation Of a permanent
operating force with the detail finish
ing work that attends every large PROF
ect.
The east has furnished the canal
with its chief engineers Wallace from
Massachusetts. Stevens from Maine.
GoethaIs frOln New York. But every
state in the Union has furnished the
rank and file. as well as every nation
in the world.
stumbling out distinctly from the
construction phase Of the enterprise
IL the figure OF Colonel Gorgas. the
chief sanitary officer, now. as in the
critical days of 1905. quiet. alert. con-
fident. The last days Of the canal find
a perfect mechanism of his creation
recording his IDEAS with dispatch ana
precision. receiving the plaudits OF
this and secure in the admiration OF
succeeding generations.
The locks may grow too small, the
Gatun dam may break, caying In VI
the foundations Of the colossal strtlr-
lures may occur and other commissions
Of nature may disable the canal. but
nothing can rob the Americans OF a
wonderful achievement. nor will the
work have been without glory and JUS
tification no matter what the future
holds. We still could rejoice in the
sheer courage. persistence and indom-
table ability that have wrought the
work In Panama.
Just as the civil war developed Grant
and the Spanish American war Dewey
ana SchIey. so has the Panama canal
developed Goethals. He justly Is Gel
ebrated in the periodical and daily
press and in books as a splendid en-
bodlment Of Amerfcanism-the ideal
combination of ability and Integrity.
A perspective view OF the whole en-
terprise shows that Theodore Roose-
welt by his individual actions on at
least three occasions vitality affected
the canal and its successful consum-
nation. When he cut the Gordian knot
of diplomacy and took the canal zone
he made the first long stride toward
interoceanic communication. When be
threw his weight into the scale for a
lock type caqal he decided the most
critical question that ever arose in the
career of the enterprise. The third
time his Judgment prevented a great
mistake was when the project def
niteIy was taken from the possibility
of private construction and placed In
the hands exclusively Of government
supervision. There were lesser deci-
sions Of great moment. notably the
order for widening the locks and the
CuIebra cut. and his whole connection
with the project was such as to rank
as the most brilliant phase Of his ad-
minlstrations.
TO July 1. 1913. the canal bad cost.
eight months before its completion.
SOS 100000. This was divided as fol-
lows: Canal zone. $l0.O00000: French
purchase. S4O.000.OO0: engineering and
construction. SISI.OO0.O0o: general ex
penditures. $sT.oO0.0OO: sanitation. S1G.-
100000: civil administration, S6.500,-
COO: Notifications. $3.0O0OOO.
AT the San Francisco exposition some
compensation viii be found for fail
ure To see the canal by an exhibit of
every kind OF machinery used by the
French and the Americans in the thir-
ty-6ve years Of construction, or from