The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-01-21

LONG ILLNESS
PROVES FATAL
| TO COCKTAILS
CONTINUED from mage one)
spade Of cath on the lstAmus more
than half q century before. They
failed mainly because they did moi
appreciate the necessity Of making
the country tit place for . whits
man to live in, and again because
they could not find q sea-leve( canal
possible and were unable to solve the
problem Of lock system Of sui.
ficient magnitude to handle tn:
huge ships which they knew would
be built in the future. Even the
famed De Lesseps, builder Of the
Suez Canal, abandoned the task and
spent the rest Of his life brooding
over his failure to master the dit.
ficulties presented at Panama.
The French companies who Cd.
sayed to thwart the perils Of Cape
Horn and the Straits Of Magell. j
by digging . canal across Panama
were private associations, the Of
ficers Of which, for the most part,
did not understand the conditions
confronting them. They garnered
the contributions Of . million stock
holders; wasted the money in hope
less engineering projects and riot
Gus living, and either died on the
lsthmus of fever brough. on by
carelessness and ignorance of sani-
tation, or fled to foreign lands to
enjoy the huge sums they were able
to pilfer.
Work Started in 1908
During all this time the United
States was not exactl-' at ease re.
garding Panama. The prospect of
Europeans digging and subsequent
ly controlling q canal ir the Western
Hemisphere, at the very doorstep Of
North America, was no. viewed with
much favor either in official Wash
ington or by the public at large. It
was not until 1903, however, after
several costly surveys had been
made, that Congress appropriated
the necessary funds ard permitted
the work to proceed as q United
States government venture.
For the next three years virtually
no progress was made in .rtual con-
struction, and while t..l's was blamed
upon the civilian engineers, it is
hardly chargeable as fault, for their
work of preparation in making the
Canal Zone habitable was largely
responsible for the success Ct those
who followed.
Aside from the task of elil.inat.
ing disease, General Goethals was
faced by many other unique prob
lens, any one Of which was q stu
pendous work n itself. The first Of
these was the cuttin. down to q
much lower level of several good
sized mountains near the center Of
the 1sthmus IN order to minimize
the elevation Of the canal itself.
Gold Hill and Contractors Hill,
through which the famous Culebra
Cut was driven, were removed al
most completely, and millions Of tons
Of earth and clay were disposed Of
in the operation. 1t was not until
several years after the canal was
opened to traffic that the several
slides which developed at that point
were brought under permanent con-
troll.
Another Feat
The second nighticst feat was the
damming Of the powerful and err
ratio Chagres River with the Gatun
Dam. This was designed not only
to eliminate much of the excavation
by the formation Of Catun Lake, but
also to insure plenty of water for
ships Of deep draft. The lake, as
completed by General Goethals, is
IS feet above sea level, covers more
than $50 square mile. in the in
terror Of the Isthmus, and is deep
enough for the largest ocean liners
to pass through.
Following close upon the heels of
this problem came the building Of
huge concrete locks with filling and
emptying SYSTEM, and great steel
gates with opening and closing de-
vices. Many times the plans were
changed, and many sleepless nights
the chief himself spent working out
the complicated calculations, but
finally the job was done, and it was
not the least of those for which
General Goethals in 1915 received
the thanks Of Congress "for dis
tinguished service in constructing
the Panama Canal"
Despite the fact that Goethals
used Z heavy hand on his aides and
laborers alike, and that they were
pushed and driven to the limit Of
endurance, he was one Of tho most
popular men on the lsthmus when
the time came for him to wind up
his affairs and sail for home.
Born in 1855
General Coethals was born in
Brooklyn, N. r, June %, 1858. His
early education was obtained there
and also in the City College Of New
York, following, which he was up.
pointed to the United States Mill.
tary Academy 1t West Point, whore
hs was graduated in 1880 - = Sec
ond lieutenant in the engineering
corps. From then on his promotion
WAS rapid, until he received in 1915
The rank Of major general. In the
meantime he had been honored with
tho degree Of LID from Princeton
end also from the University Of
Pennsylvania.
A short time after his graduation,
General Goethals was appointed in
structor Of astronomy and civil en-
gineGring at West Point, charge Of
Improving the Ohio River for navi.