Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1914-06-17
BUILDER OF GATUN DAM WILL
MAKE PLANS FOR RECLA-
NATION IN CHINA.
WELL FITTED FOR THE TASK
Arthur p. Davis and Daniel n. 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.
Representatives 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 a 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 dramatically 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
80 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 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 Roon for China with
a force of 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
plet d 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 filed 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
Men Who VIII 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-
tions some years ago in Arizona, New
Mexico and California and was in
charge of the photographic examina-
lions 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 Illi-
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 a good many years. He is
a member of the principal engineer
ing societies of the world.
New Home for Women's Club.
The corner stone of the new club
house for the Congressional Club of
Women has just been put in place.
Champ Clark, speaker of the house of
representatives made the principal adj
dress. His wife has been one of the
moving spirits in the club for good
many years-
The club house was made possible
by a deed of gift of land from Mrs.
John B. Henderson. widow of the for
mer Republican senator from Mis-
souri, The new structure will stand
at New Hampshire avenue and U
street and also virtually on Sixteenth
street, sometimes called the Avenue
of the Presidents. 1t Is a command
ing site and 1t is understood that the
building will be worthy of it's location
and it's purposes.
This Congressional Club of Women