Author: Ira E. Bennett

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-25

Total Pages: 737

ISBN-13: 9781330373712

Excerpt from History of the Panama Canal: Its Construction and Builders In the ensuing pages an effort has been made to tell the plain, unvarnished story of Panama and the Panama Canal. The information contained herein has been gathered from many publications and from public and private persons. The records of the Government have been available at all times, to the writer, thanks to the courtesy of the authorities at Washington and of Major-General Goethals. Special acknowledgments are due to the Hon. William H. Taft, who, as Secretary of War and President of the United States, from 1904 to 1913, directed the affairs of the Panama Canal from its beginning to its virtual completion. In 1912 President Taft wrote to the author as follows: My dear Mr. Bennett: I am very glad to hear from you that you contemplate publishing a history of the construction of the Panama Canal. There is a great deal of detail connected with ii which is forgotten and yet which is interesting to know with respect to the great work-There are a good many facts, indeed, that have never been brought to the public attention, that arc of record and ought properly to be put in an historical form. 1 shall be very glad myself to furnish you with all the data that I have in my correspondence, which covers the whole life of the Canal from the very day that the Canal Zone was turned over by the Republic of Panama to the United States. I am glad that such an enterprise is on foot. Cordial encouragement was extended, also, by the Hon. Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, and Col. George W. Goethals, Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Mr. Stimson wrote: "I think it is very important that a full and careful history of the construction of the Panama Canal should be written while people are still alive in whose memories many of the most important events will rest, and 1 am very glad to hear that you are contemplating publishing such a history. I should be glad to put at your disposal all the data that I properly can while in office here in the Department which has had supervision to a certain extent over the work." Col. Goethals wrote: "I am very glad to hear from you that you contemplate publishing a history of the construction of the Panama Canal. To facilitate you in the enterprise I will take pleasure in authorizing you to collect information from any reliable source and give you access to the records for verification of such information or any additional data that may be available." The author is indebted to Prof. Patrick J. Lennox, Professor of English Language and Literature at the Catholic University of America, for valuable assistance in preparing the history of the Isthmus of Panama. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.