New-York tribune., 1886-08-15
THE PANAMA CANAL.
III.
CHIEFS ON THE VERANDA AND NEGROES
IN THE DITCH

Tho GU ttinH OF the Panama Canal has been nov
inaptly compared to military operation. The COM
pany has encountered the perpexltics of campaign
in constructing hospitals. supp ortng medlca
establishment. maintaining Its facilities ioi
transportation anc preserving the efficiency OF lts
commissariat And, as in army the personal
characters and habits of the rauk and 6lo are
factors of great moment in the determination OF It's
effective force. NJ. de Lesscps and his conductors
III the drectorYte no doubt selected the resident
officials of the company with as much discretion
as their financial alliances permitted. The con-
tractors selected themselves where the contracts
were undertaken by large corporations. Inc
personnel of this resident managers was regulated III
very much the same way as that of the canal com-
pany's officers. Many. however. OF the minor con-
tracts were awarded to haphazard spectators, VINO
had no special know ledge and no fitness for thelr
work. Enabled by opportune fortuity 10
furnish the required guarantee. they selected con-
tracts which afforded a certainty of proht ana
perfected themselves in the art OF getting the
official surveyors certificate of work achieved WIN
little outlay possible. Tho official surveyors
visit the chaniiers every two weeks measure the
excavation. and the contractor is paid for as many
cubic metres the surveyors certificate shows
These small contractors display amount OF
energy, well or i'll directed. in striking contrast
with the demeanor of tho saaricd men. WHAT
money they make out Of their contracts has to DO
made quickly. for in consequence OF an ingenious
system OF freezing ont" pursued by the larger con-
tractors. tho small fly rarely get more than ono
contract
There are at each OF the stations four social
strata. II. indeed, tie section happens to be the
capital of one Of the five great divisions. tue resi-
dent chef of division and his Immediate stan form
the first of five ranks The chief OF section 49,
however usually ut tho top of the tree. as the
division chiefs find congenial occupation Tor most
OF their time in Panama The houses built Tor the
occupation OF these officers of the canal company
are generally placed on the most desirable site NJ
the station The greater the rank. the higher on
the hill the house stands. large sum oil money
has been more or less judciously expended IN
building approaches to these houses, laying out
gardens: sometimes in making an avenue oil trees.
On the llth Of July many a frencbman at home
toasted the friend whom he Imagined 10 DO
cucamped on "A desert CT mud in Panama, with
qunine for a cOndimcnt and physlc for wine. But IN
fact the exile sitting on the veranda OF pretty
house poised on the summit OF verdant hIii-Hae'
and decorations all over tho chaHtr. commemorate
ing the Fall OF the Bastlc and the Rlse OF tho
Compaynie Universcllc, and surrounded by an I'M
limited supply of creature comforts. Inc petter
class Of the contractors live very Tuch as the
officials DO except that their houses are not quite
50 high on the hills nor quito so elegantly ap
pointed. Next come the subiltcrns. VINO Spehd
their leisure time at the caatno, and last the
ubiquitous Jamaica negro who sleeps IN a baffach
and cooks his food ont OF doors.
When the observer first sees the elaborate pro-
vis,on made for the health and comfort OF the
UPPER class OF residents on the line II Is hard LOT
him 20 believe tho ghastly tales lie heard in
- I'M IN s.f ID
residents in tho city is ndcscrbabIe Behind the
to-7n and AZ the foot of Mt Ancon lies the little
city Of hospitals; on the pretty road from Panama
To La Boca arc the large but insufficient cemeteries
Pconle in Panama see the hospitacar discharge It's
freight at the railway station, the ambniances
depo,it their burdens at the doors ot tho hospitals
the dead Wagons unload their hardly more ghastly
contents at the busy gates of the cemeteries lucy
see strong men. laughing 1t danger stride ao"h
the platform Of the railway station. leaving
Panama. nd see them returning from the line. borne
np the platform on stretchers foul with horrId
stains of black and yellow
Yes: the work on the lsthmus Is a campaign Il
campaign IN which the enemy gives 10 quarter
winch no truce interrupts, no treaty can ever
terminate And it is hard 20 realize all this when
one frs, how men live out on tho iine but
more intimar" acquaintance with fhelr haolts soon
explains the absolute Iutlllty OF al III"
precautions which were designed for their protec-
ton against the terrible climate. Consider tho
daily routine of life in one of these fine houses on
the line.
NJ. Chose rises at half past after night made
wretched by the heat aud mosquitoes. When he
has finished his luxurious bath. he walks ont upon
the veranda and approaches tho vcranda taoie'
This table Is II vc!y important element IN life on
7, IL. 1,..th IA uuts before day
liglt and is often not cleared until almost day light
the next morning On it stand. constantly
rcpenishcd. bowl of broken ice, bottles OK sod;l'
and n bottle of ahsnthe u bottle of cognac. u
hottie Of green chartreusc. Flanklng these are
dozen sorts of Hquegr and btters whiskey. GIN,
nobblers lines and all the other paraphernalit
appropriate. Opaque masses Of white mist roll up
from the valley below. and thicken about the table
One can fancy that the mAsna seems 10 oe most
dense about its chief ally, the bottle OF abslnthe.
NJ Chose il cool after his bath-just before II ne
was pcrspiring vioIently-two hours before that he
was awakened bv the sudden and brief chill which
il always noticeable iE tho atmosphere oil the lsiii-
mus at about o'clock in the morning. lie mixes
himself n cocktail. As he 10 drinking IL NJ MS
friend arrives from his BATH and he mixes two cock
tails. one for each Of them. If he is disposed 10
unusual caution ho compounds what he calls q
" brogi bttairc," peculiarly fiery and bilious de-
coction, which has obtained vague reputation rs
febrfupc for no better than that one OF its
ingredients is q sonpcon of bark Alter say Two
cocktails all round coffee is served with wafer OF
bread and this pouss6 by little neat brandy mus
amply fortified NJ. Chose walks about the cndn''T
in the pcrnicious mist until it is replaced ny
burning sun and then from the new-madc ground
he walks ou and from the adjacent jungle or man.
grove swamp are evaporated noXious exhalation'.
Having received from his subalterns reports OF the
disasters of tho night.-embap kments Ovcrtowed,
machinery submerged and tracks washed away
he returns to the veranda and 10 the veIanda table
Breakfast is p eceded by tho same whets. desluted
by copious draughts of heavy Bordeaux. and fol-
lowed by the same carminatives.
NJ Chose now rests during the heat of the day.
soothing himself with iced absnthe an discretion