The Tupelo journal., 1917-08-31
sOUTHERNERS IN COMMAND

1t will be interesting to know that the men in
the army considered by the War Department
best fitted for leadership in nina of the
armies to be sent to France are both Southern
ers. Gen. Pershing's parents moved from
Maryland to Missouri in 1855, where the gener-
al was born. His right hand man in France
today is another Southerner, Gen. Sibert, who
was born IN Gadsden, Ala. Gen. Sibert has not
been much in the limelight but his services have
been none the less distinguished than those Of
Gen. Goethals and other distinguished members
of the army. Obstacles never check Sibert.
The New York Times says of him:
He was born in the little city of Gadsden, Ala, Octo-
Der IL, 1860, which means that he still has more than
seven years of active service ahead of him before he
reaches the age limit set for our<army officers by Con-
gress.
In 1892, eight years after his graduation from West
Point, the army records show that Sibert, then a first
lieutenant of engineers, was one of the executive engin-
GERS in charge of the great Sault Ste. Marie Canal i'm
provements, and when the Spanish War broke out in
1898, Sibert, who had gained the rank of captain, was
named by President Mckinley as Chief Engineer of the
Eighth Army Corps, a position he retained for only a
few months, when he was transferred to the Philippines
and made Chief Engineer of the Manila and Dagupan
Old Philippine veterans still tell the story ofhow Sibert
Railway, as well as the general manager of the system.
modernized that little ~ierkwater line in the Far East.
ILL " III OAlSCu IdtCo III 4COO, SllI u
captain, was assigned to various river improvements, and
within a few years came to be recognized as the most
efficient river and harbor engineer in the country. There
is hardly a ~navigable river east of the Rockies with the
development of which in one way or another he has not
been identified.
1t was not until 1907 that his countrymen began to
hear of him. President Roosevelt had startled the coun-
try by his appointment of the then unknown, Major of
Engineers-George w. Goethals-as Chief Engineer of
the Panama Canal and President OF the Isthmian Canal
Commission. Shortly afterward The named tree engin-l
Commission. Shortly afterward he named three engin-
Harry F. Hodges.
To Gaillard was given the great task of solving the
problem of Culebra Cut, which cost him his life. To ST.
bert was assigned the job of building the Gatun locks
and dam, the successful accomplishment of which is now
numbered among the engineering marvels of the age.
A story is told of Gen. Goethals which credits him with
this remark in taking over the Panama Canal commission:
Il recognize but two enemies, one of them Culebra CUT
and the other the locks and dam of Gatun."
Goethals made the Gatun part of the canal a military
and placed Sibert in command. Quietly
without fuss or feathers, Sibert went to work.
was a great saver of men and money, and .he soon
found a way to make one dollar go where it took two DOL
to go before.
President Wilson on March A, 1915, named Sibert a
brigadier-general of the line as the nations expression of
to him for the work he had done at Panama.
General Sibert was then ordered to the Pacific Coast as
of the coast defenses. He immediately
present efficient condition of the Pacific Notifications is
another of his achievements. He also planned the first
training camp at the Preside of Monterey.
In 1914, the American Red Cross decided to finance a
project to reclaim East China from the food-I
peril. 1t was Sibert who was selected to go to China as
the chief engineer. The work now going on is the re-
of his plans.
On June 9Th last, President Wilson sent the name of
Sibert to the Senate as a major-general.