Evening star., 1928-01-26

| The burial on last Tuesday OF Maj
Gen. George w. Goethals was the last
paragraph OF the life story OF one OF the
big men of American history. He was
big In more ways than as technica
engineer who had built the Panama
| Canal In fact, not all the credit ol
| that gigantic work can be given TO MN
| There we're engineers who preceded nm
| with great accomplishments in the pre-
| ltminarv work OF the canal-~Waliact
and Stevens--and 1t is 30 dimlnutioi
| NJ their worth that Goethals Is nes'
known as the builder OF the canai. doi
ne il was who actually made the orr
av" In accord with President RooSe-
/ yelt's famous order.
| There Is a newspaper man no" IT
Washington who found peculiar inter-
est Yesterday In turning back 10 ths
March 30. 1886. issue OF the New foTS
| Tribune and there reading his own III
teryiew with Count Ferdinand DE Les
Gems given in Paris and cabled to
| America Immediately following DE
/ iessrps' inspection OF the canal. ~hlch
| anticipated a threatened French gov
eminent investigation.
That article gives a picture OF the
contrast between the French !alioft
| and the American achievement nor
often found 1t gives today the iui
| measure OF 0oethaiS, as compared WIN
the builder OF the Suez Canal. ana III
It's limelight Americans VIII realize tha'
| Coethals was giant among men ol
accnmp,ishment For where the
! Frenchman guessed and paraded OPP
| timism. Gen. Goethals knew the facts
and proceeded 10 push aside obstacles
| whether the distractions were rock ano
| rlay or mosquitoes and yellow fever oi
| labor agitators and strikes.
The Tribune correspondent asked
Count DE Lesseps In 1896:
| AS the work was begun six years
ago and you expect It's completion III
| three wears ti8S9i. may say the cana
is two-thirds finished"
J Il cannot say what proportion IL com
nleted 1t has taken "a good deal o'
| lime getting ready. We are nov pre-
nared To go on with the work. which,
wlr he finished In three years"
! Cn,estion, WIN the remaining cN'
sgation be- as d!tficut as that airead,
done"
. will the expense exceed your frS'
III viii not. The entire cost vii
not be over f4i 900 900 sterling
The suez Canal cost 100000 900
and the Panama Canal Is ten times ~
dlftlcu!t AS the Suea was, IL VIII bt
three times aS much beneflt to tht
v,nrids commerce as the SueE
After Gen. Go"thala had been N
| ~ "a i9tPt "A fgA wears
he informed President Taft that, instead
~ the estimated cost of $40O, 900 cot
| Inel,,ding the $40 600, 900 we paid Il
| France for her works and the $40 900,
| no0 We paid Ia Panama for the Cana
lnne and her assent To our building tif
canal acroas hrr territory. IL would bt
about $3.50 900 900. The Government
fecords show that IN 1890 NIX years
| after the commerce across the lAthH'iF
had been operating, the total debit VA
x37o 400 900 Since then va have paid
Gallons il S2h 900 900 on her claim ni
damages for our alleged aid Ia panama
I'm It's revolt and establishment of inde
nendenee from Colombia,
n III recalled that the he tesaepb
| plan VAS tide water canal. when waa
| sefapied ah GnDn rs the American en-
| atneefh book over The work. In eNplh'
nation nt The change Ia inrk rh',al
when ii visiting Congressman pfoiehtel
to Gen unethals that there was nc
reason for lncka since ships could sal
right out ot the canal into the taelil'
Ocean. The general conceded that point
| but Algaehlrd That aimee the tldea on
! The Atlantic 81 Quit aide were 40 trtl
below The i'aritle level, tie seeaes would
be climbing tile fall when they under
took IA enter from The Faelfic side 81
| locks were useful
Tie De i.esseus plan was IA divert
| The Ghagfrs River 10 Itna, as tie eA-
| plalntd Ia The correspondent, ''un lhe
| other side 0f the mountain, and In The
same interview he also explained that
there would be no danger ol overflow uI