The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1916-01-19
S. B. WILLIAMSON RESIGNS
AS CHIEF OF CONSTRUCTION
Vacancy in Denver Office of Recla-
nation Service May be Filled by
appointment of ID. w. Cole

asst week announced the acceptance
by Secretary Lane of the resignation
of Sidney B. Williamson as Chief of
Construction in the Reclamation
Service with headquarters at Den
yer, Colorado. 1t will be remember
ed that the Denver Office was estab-
lished last June to take the place
of various supervisory offices in diff
ferent large cities and all field oper-
ations were placed under the direc-
tion of Mr.. Williamson who was
formerly in charge of one of the di-
visions of the Panama Canal, prev
ious to which he was employed for
a number of years in the engineer
corps of the United States Army on
River and Harbor Improvements.
The reports state that Mr.. Will
Hanson has resigned to accept a
more lucrative position with a South
American mining company. There
are rumors abroad, however, to the
effect that policies established under
the Williamson regime were not in
full accord with those of the Secre-
tary and that his resignation was
not altogether voluntary. It appears
that considerable dissatisfaction ex-
lists among the water users on the
various projects with regard to
many of the rulings made by the
Chief of Construction particularly
those rulings having the effect of
transferring to the Denver Office de-
tails of project business which have
formerly been transacted at local Of
fees Mr.. Williamson's lack of
knowledge of the actual needs of the
settlers and of the various problems
involved in project management is
not surprising in view of his lack of
previous experience in these mat
ters.
No announcement has been made
as to who Mr.. williamson success
sor will be. II is understood that a
number of men with wide expert
ence in Reclamation affairs have
been mentioned for this position.
among them our Project Manager.
d. W. Cole. IL occurs to US that
Mr. Cole would be a very excellent
selection to fill this important posi-
tion. He has had something over
ten years experience in the Recla-
nation Service and has been con-
fronted with a variety OF perplexing
problems which he has met and
solved with signal ability. The first
large work undertaken by Mr.. Cole
was the construction of the Sho-
shone dam in Wyoming, which at
the time of its completion was the
highest dam in the world. On the
Truekee-Carson project Mr.. Cole di-
rected the construction of the La
hontan dam, a structure that COM
mands the admiration of all compe-
tent to judge of such works. This
structure was built IN a most effci-
ent manner and at a saving of more
than 100000 under the estimated
cost.
In addition to these large con-
struction items, Mr.. Cole has been
called upon to undertake important
negotiations in connection with the
! Of he trnnh1acnnan IN L a
Tahoe situation and largely through
his efforts the attempts of the Rec
| lamation Service to gain control of
the Lake Tahoe outlet-which have
been practically continuous for a
period of eleven years - were
brought to a successful conclusion in
June, 1915. While on the Truckee-
Carson project Mr.. Cole has also be-
come thoroughly familiar with the
operating problems and with the
needs of the settlers. His attitude
on all questions affecting project
management and relations with the
settlers have always been fair,
broad-minded and sympathetic.
Mr. Coles appointment as Chief
of Field Operations would be a fine
thing not only for the Truckee-C Car
son project and Nevada but for the
entire Service as we'll Too much
stress cannot be lald on the neces.
sity for placing in charge of field
work man who has been in close
touch with all of the various phases
of the construction and operation
of the projects and it is equally i'm
portant to secure a man of liberal
views. We believe that Mr.. Cole
would meet all of these require
ments. 1t is expected that Mr.. vii
liamson's successor will be announc
ed shortly and also that numerous
improvements will be made in the
arrangements for carrying on the
business of the projects and of the
Denver office.