The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-13
RUIN ON THE ISTHMUS.
A GRAND sCHAME's TRAIL OF
WRECK AND SUFFERING.
rA. Penaining Leborers Dying Of
A Good Priests Experience - a
startling Contrast.

Stranger O1 Iu6 ISLuAAAuS VI
~ July II would have imagined the canal
rndoubted success instead of the gloom
81 failure and most gigantic swindle of the
s.,+urv The French assembly well timed
- sct in reference to the canal, so that
.ba news reached Panama on the anniver-
sorry of the falling of the Bastile, and every
r-sncb flag, from Panama to Aspinwall,
rss boisted on some kind of a stick, and
80 the train took US along we were
naver out of sight of the tri-color, nor out
&c rho sound or the "Marseillaise," either
nlaved bv some wretchsd band tramping
tbrnqh the mud and rain. or by Colo n
HAN negro. perched up high on some shanty,
cumming at a. accordion TO a small group
IF excl ed Freachm0n. Neither the rain
nor q surrounding ruin seemed to dampen
their spi its, and there was liberal supply
of ahsinthe at the Chinaman'S saloon
close by.
var one NAV hire small one-horse victoria,
With a negro driver, o take you to the
mouth of the canal at Panama The drive
i ahont two miles, on road well shaded
With all varieties of tropical trees and is
we'll " nth TAXI e, even if you do see moth
inc Init a dirty itch at the other end The
work at this ''show point" so to speak, was
SO slov4nly done that 1t is difficult to distin-
euish the lines of the canal at high water and
at low tide it has no mo g water tina a
New Jersey mud fat Further inland,
na.sinp few dredges the bed of the cut
becomes a pasture for the cat le i'll the vi
cinitv a d a few steps farther along bring
Won to banana trees growing in the track
Of the commerce of the world. On the en-
tire line there are regularly employed 100
meu. hey are watchmen, VINO guard the
company's property. aud others who
carry paint pots to paint the
hundreds of rusting engines. Near
fif y-cdd fine engines, which, vita their
fresh coats of paint, present. quite a pros
perou appearance, in strong contrast TO
tina Of two years ago, when everything
was going to ack and ruin through criml-
nal neglect. The engines and iron work I
formerl saw half buried in t mud at the
foot of The mountain are now out of sight,
probably TO be unearthed by future genera
tons of canal builders and to be regarded
as evidence of the inge uity of their ances-
tois as far back as g nineteenth century.
On all good building poi Is along the Ii Q
the company has beautiful cottages for its
superinte dents, englnee AID other OIL
cials of RANK These buildings resemble the
modern style of cottage found along the
Staten Island front. and must have cost,
close figuring, $1,000 apiece, so one may
judge Of the amount paid out for them BY
The company Originally they were pain ed
a pretty comb nation of lead C jlor, with
red trimmings, and were the homes of many
Jolly Ere chmen, who entertained on
Lavish scale on high salaries Many now
have graves close by. the lead.col0r has be-
come dirty rain-washed gray, and those |
entered were ilha tied by -uudreds of rats,
which found comfortable Tests in uphol-
stored chairs and sofas.
The dwellings of the employees of Ia YER
grade were put at points more convenient
10 the works. They are more humble in
style, and many are built on slender piles, so
that at a distance they look like large boxes
on stills. Any passe ger on the railroad
can see these dwellings with pools of stag
nant water underneath. They are occupied
now by negro families, who seem to do
nothing to earn a living, and any question
IN that regard is put at st when one sees
hanging from the caves of every roof
head OF ripening plantains.
Nowhere have seen such squalor, such
rags, such filth and laziless as among
the neg roes of the Isthmus. The
motbe', an immensely fat negress, is
usually seated on the doorsill smoking a
pipe and gOsSiping with some equally fat,
naked, and lazy fe male If the lei ynbo.-
LOCu. = . Id OlIGl lI6S SUTOtCuGu OUT GXDfS6l
to brol ing sul and sleeping as peacefully
as civilized person would IN a darke led
room; "nl o the two or three little jet-black
picka innes are playing around the lower
stelS kicking the green scum off the dirty
pools to make place to sail their pieces of
wood, which they have named after the
Pacific mail steamers. All the refuse of the
house goes inlo this pool of water, aud, as
there Is no outlet or drainage, it sinks and
Ia m coil 1.-Two, =
ia nilY is never i'll.
One afternoon, just as our train was
pulling out from station, We heard loud
cries 10 stop, and looking in the direction
OF the voice we saw ge tleman, easily dis
tlnguished by dress aud appearance to be a
Z 'tholic priest The train stopped. AID
the per plring, ruffing priest was taken on
BOARD. tie sal Immediately il front of me-
ana could not help thinking that a man
must have his heart in his work to come o
Vue Sthmus to save souls. His shoes were
covered with mud and his pantaloons were
solled to his knees, indicating a walk of
INahy miles. and he was persprng at every
pore from his Oh Sc for the train. After
nopplng his face and neck with his hand
kercnlef and getting cooler, he modestly
IooR from his pocket a book to read his
breVlary. When he had finished he haf
turAed In his seat, a as he showed desire
about his work among the canal lab ,rers
=, he t'ld me that some governments, when
the company collapsed, made provis ,ons to
take away their cit zsns; but that many
sun renamed too poor to get away. By
promises OF high wages many had been
Iured away from bome;. some, the happv
ones, TO fall early victims to the chagres
lever, others to drag out miserable, sicklv
IAsGence The high wages were ca en- up
10y the high prices, and remainder of
eIer pay with which they cou d clothe
Themselves at home here, went to buy medi-
zines winch were worth their weight in
sou. >, lie told me he had just made
d call six miles from the station
wnere be had boarded the train,
ou sick laborer who lived In
Mretched, leaky shanty with his wife and
SM9 small children. They were so poor. he
9aiu' that they had but one blanket. IN
mnlch the woman had wrapped her husband.
t Sno was sleeping on the ground, with a
t nluhaie OF cornstalks fer a pillow. He said |
sue family had tasted nothing but tropical
d LuloS Tor weeks, until the man finally went
;S with fever, without a doctor and |
"Nhout money for medicine. The man |
S.u.u not live more than two or three |
avs and then what would become of bis |
tIaiuiiys l asked the priest what he could |
~ IN such cases. He looked at me a |
said: ---'' ''-'o 'lis"
-, on know when we go off on such sick |
ans We are allowed flask Of brandy and |
c"e.tv-hve grains of quinine. Well" |
Stoullhued he in his modest way, 81 am |