Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-07-25
constitutional government leagues, and
by defense societies.
Panama Canals Big Business.

by defense societies.
Panama Canals Big Business.
A government report shows that the
Panama canal tolls collected for the
past year were greater than those paid
in for any previous year since the wa
terway was opened for traffic in Oc-
tober, 1914. The canal has proved it's
worth in money to the government Of
the United States.
The canal zone of today does not
look like the same zone fifteen years
ago. Today, except for the coast
cities which are under the regulation
of the government of Panama, the
canal zone, save for It's tropical setting,
is much like a small cross section of
America. On the canal strip there is
stationed a division of United States
troops. The zone constitutes one of
the largest military reservations, so
far as the number of troops is con-
cerned, that Uncle Sam controls.
What has become of the men who
built the Panama canal? For period
of seven years, and in the case of one
man for a period of ten years, the
names of certain army and navy Off
GERS connected with the canal work
were household words in America.
The building of the canal was ac-
counted one of the greatest engineers
ing achievements that the world ever
knew. The locks, the dams and the
spillways have stood the test mistaken
of ten years of service.
Doctor Gorgas Is Dead.
Perhaps the greatest name connect
ed with the Panama canal construction
Is that of William Crawford Gorgas,
the man who made the canal posi-
ble." Doctor Gorgas, who was in the
medical corps of the United States
army, had cleared Havana, Cuba, Of
yellow fever and had formulated the
means by which any plague spot could
be kept forever free from the disease.
His work in Havana and his formu-
lating of plans and methods to over
come yellow fever began Immediately
after the discovery by Walter Reed
and others that mosquito transmitted
the disease.
Doctor Gorgas was sent to Panama
to clear the isthmus of it's scourge
three years in advance of the time
that the army engineers were put In
charge of the actual construction work
He made the canal zone the healthiest
spot on earth. If there had been no
Gorgas there would have been no
Panama canal, or at least this seems to
be the general opinion of mankind.
Doctor Gorgas afterward became
the surgeon general of the United
States. After the war when he was on
the retired list of the army, the British
government asked him to go to Africa
to combat and overcome certain dis
ease conditions in British possessions.
He was taken i'll in London and died
in the military hospital in that city,
The king decorated him on his death
bed, and the British people honored
him with funeral in st. PauIs. He
rests today in Arlington cemetery near
this city.
General Sibert on a Farm.
Maj. Gen. William L. Sibert, who
built the Gatun Locks dam and spill
way, is today living on a farm near
Bowling Green, Ky. General Sibert
lived and worked on a farm as boy
and he always has loved farm life. He
went to West Point, and after gradu-
ating served nearly thirty-five years IN
the engineering corps of the regular
army The French say that General
Sibert is the worlds greatest engineer.
The locks which he constructed at
Panama are the largest in the world.
They have stood the test of constant
use and the twice repeated test of
earthquakes. During the war, General
Sibert commanded division in France
and later was made chief of the chem
ical warfare service.
David DuBose Gaillard, who dug the
Culebra cut and broke the backbone of
the American continent, is dead. With
'Sibert he ranked as one of the greatA
est engineers of the world. He was
stricken with an incurable disease
just in the hour of the final triumph
of his work of seven years on the
isthmus. He completed the cut, looked
on his handwork, felt the gratifying
thrill of accomplishment and then sue
cumbed to his ardous labor in the
tropics. President Wilson, by execu-
tive order, changed the name of the
Culebra cut to Gaillard cut in honor
of this man of heroic endeavor.