“Bill, ye’d better go up to the barn an’ git some more fodder”
Subject(s): Animal feeding, Canals--Design and construction, Cows, Economic policy, Milking, Panama, Panama--Panama Canal, Shonts, Theodore P. (Theodore Perry), 1856-1919, Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
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Theodore P. Shonts milks a cow labeled “Canal Commission” that is feeding on a mixture of hay and money labeled “Appropriation.” Shonts has a bucket labeled “Progress” between his knees. Secretary of State William H. Taft stands in the background holding a pitchfork. Up a hill on the right is an outbuilding labeled “U.S. Treasury” full of hay.
Comments and Context
J. S. Pughe’s cover cartoon in Puck is a virtual lesson in cartoon iconography — hay-barn, fodder, milk, funds. The actual context is the figures and the dialog-caption, addressing a rather continuing challenge in the construction of the Panama Canal, centered in the Culebra Cut.
That portion of the canal’s path, involving earth-moving and problems that ranged from labor problems to additional financial requirements, was a major construction challenge and a matter of much discussion between the Canal Zone (Theodore P. Shonts, Chair of the Panama Canal Commission; and Chief Engineer John F. Stevens) and Washington (President Roosevelt and his point-man, Secretary of War, William H. Taft). Of the many issues were Stevens’s recommendation of Chinese and Spanish laborers, deemed more reliable than West Indians.
The “cow” was sufficiently fed, and the imminent hire of engineer George W. Goethals, and Surgeon General Doctor William Crawford Gorgas, who defeated malaria and the yellow fever on the isthmus, ultimately saw the Panama Canal open under budget and ahead of schedule in 1914.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-11-15
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
“Bill, ye’d better go up to the barn an’ git some more fodder”. [November 15, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278461. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. “Bill, ye’d better go up to the barn an’ git some more fodder”. [15 Nov. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278461.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1905, November 15]. “Bill, ye’d better go up to the barn an’ git some more fodder”.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278461.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
