Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-26
NEW LIGHT is THROWN
UPON PANAMA CANAL
Story of Darien and Effort to Colonize
Isthmus is Fully Revealed by War
Department Investigation.

the ISthmus would not only promote
trade with the West Indian and Carrt-
bean regions, but would make England
the worlds dominant commercial power.
Paterson believed that through the
founding Of great colony on the 18TH
mus the vast power OF Spain would be
humbled and other rivals Of the Brit
Such q settlement, he declared, would
provide 1.-THE key to the commerce Of
the world" and give Britain military
dominance as well. It would be boon
to trade not alone with the West Indies
but with China, Japan and the East
Indies.
With his genius for organization,
Paterson induced the thrifty Scotch
people to raise what would now be mil
lions Of dollars for the colony. The
first expedition, Of flve vessels and about
! 400 people, set out In 1898 amidst
the tears and prayer and praise Of
relatives and friends and country
men," At first the venture gave prom
Use Of success, but the jealousy of the
East India Co. and the consequent hos
tility Of the government, the attacks of
the Spaniards, the climate and the
fevers and the failure of the COM
manders to provide supplies and give
attention to the precaution enjoined by
on disaster.
Two Expeditions Fail.
Ultimately the first expeditionor
the wrecks of men and ships left Of it
quit Darien for New York and Scotland.
But before word of its departure reached
Scotland a second expedition had set
out. In the last addition to the settle
ment was the company of Capt. Alex
nh NJ IN
O leader Of parts. At any rate, he de-
feated the Spaniards In one surprise
attack and was in favor Of holding out
to the last. In the end, however, the
second expedition Jared no better than
the first It surrendered to the Span
iards and was allowed 10 depart.
Hardship, wounds, tropical diseases,
Shipwrecks and other Universities worked
their will, and in the end only o small
fraction Of the colonistS ever got back
to Scotland. Some remained IN the
British colonies along the Atlantic Coast
Of North America.
One Of the vessels sent out on the
second expedition to New Caledonia was
the Rising Sun. When the colony was
abandoned, that ship sailed northward
and went to Charleston, S. c. Later, OF
that harbor, 1t was pounded to pieces
in a storm and many of those on board
were lost Two of the other vessels were
wrecked and a third was badly damaged.
When the Rising Sun landed at
Charleston, among those who left the
ship there were the Rev. Archibald
Stobo, the Scotch minister, and his
daughter Jean. The mother, along with
them, had been through the ordeals Of
the Darien venture, but had been
drowned in the storm that swept the
ship. The Rev. MIR. Stobo remained ct
Charleston because he had been asked
to serve Is pastor to Scotch settlers
there.
In Charleston the daughter, who had
been through the vicisSitudes Of DarieR
became the wife of James Bullock, q
Scotch settler. Their son was Archibald
Bullock, one of the foremost Americans
in the Revolution, who was active In the
patriot cause in Georgia. The great
who was Jean Stobo, was Maj. James
Stephen Bullock Of the United States
Army. And Maj Bullock's daughter
Martha was Theodore Roosevelt's
Thus the ancestry Of the President q
the United States who brought about
the building Of the Panama Canal goes
directly back to one Of the Scotch fanni-
lies that participated In the attempt to
establish q great trading colony and
world trade route on the ISthmus. And
when Roosevelt, backed by Goethals and
Sibert and Gorgas and other strong
men, made the Panama Canal reality,
the dream of William Paterson Is to
the commercial and strategic possibili-
ties at the Isthmus came true-except
for one thing. The United States ii1r
stead Of Britain holds the key to thin
the worlds greatest trade route