gy, skill, and
good faith that Congress promptly voted him an advance of a million
dollars. It also sent a commission to inspect and to report on the
progress and efficiency of the works. This commission, while reporting
favorably, advised against any further advance payments. But Congress,
nevertheless, voted him three-quarters of a million more. It is said
that this is the only instance where the government has voted money to
an individual in advance of the specific terms of his agreement.
Moreover, his contract was re-arranged so as to be less oppressive.

It has been said that if Eads had failed with the Jetties he would not
only have destroyed his reputation, but he would have been a
beggar,--though, some one added, he would still have deserved
everlasting gratitude for his efforts and sacrifices. And now he had
already succeeded in changing the little pass into a grand channel of
commerce sufficient for the largest shipping that visited New Orleans.
Yet the violent opposition and the calumnies still continued. There was
a wonderful persistency in the false reports which came from bitter
opponents who would not be convinced. The foolishness and ignorance of
their arguments are almost incredible. But however foolish, they had to
be disproved; and Eads set himself patiently to work to point out the
errors in logic and in physics; and in doing so he wrote what those who
know call one of the greatest works on river hydraulics.

While there were so many men's hands against Eads, it is pleasant to
record that there were also many for him. It was the "Scientific
American" which first suggested his name for the presidency. It
advocated him as a fearless, honest, and forceful man; but the peculiar
compliment in it was that this was a technical paper that upheld him.
The proposal was repeated in many newspapers, but Eads had no more
intention now than ever of going into politics. He knew in what line he
could do most for his country, and had an ambition rather to be a
supremely useful engineer than to be president.

Another of his admirers was the late Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II.,
who, after a visit to the Jetties, first tried to persuade Eads to go
to Brazil to do some very important work for him, and who then, failing
that, sent him a personal letter asking him to recommend an engineer.
And he engaged the one whom Eads recommended.

In 1879, a little over four years from the time the Jetties were begun,
the United