Show A CRITICS ERROR 4 that minor personal habits have no important bearing upon ones ability is illustrated by a little joke that the late general goethals builder of the panama canal was fond of telling on himself long before the now unique tous coffin nails became popular or even respectable the general became an inveterate cigarette smoker he also parted his hair in the middle when goethals then a major was assigned the difficult task of building the canal in after other eminent engineers had failed a washington newspaper editor commented unfavorably on his selection for the job after recounting the failures of others to accomplish the task the newspaper said and what in heavens name can we expect of a man who parts his hair in the middle and smokes cigarettes yet goethals did build the canal although he continued to part his hair in the middle and smoke cigarettes as long as he lived |