Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-25
TROPICAL SAUNTERINGS.
SKETCHES FROM SUNNY ASPINWALL.
An Inside View of Affairs on the
' Isthmus Of Panama.
From The srAE's Travelling Commissioner.

nom shlpboard- one sees nothing but lore
ground of immense sheds belonging to the
lsthmian railway. backed by towering cocoa
trees and feathery palms. and in the distance a
dim waste OF tropical vegetation. This is the
harbor which Columbus is supposed to have
discovered on his third voyage and hence the
ancient name. CristOval Colon. which is Span
ish for the same. 1t not very much OF
discovery after all. for the water among these
dangerous coral reefs Is extremely shallow and
subject to all the storms that blow.
By the way through the isthmus is only y
miles wide. strange 10 say the sea level here Is
g. feet higher than lOw-water mark IN Panama
BAY on the other side: and while at Panama the
difference between the extreme levels OF the
tides Is "a feet here II Is scarcely foot.
GETTING Up TO THE DOCK
Is slow and serious matter, vessels being
brought thereto by a gang Of barefOoted ne
groes, running around and around big wooden
wheel. whose revolutions shorten the cable
inch by inch. The wharf is more than thou
sand feet long. with a solid foundation of coral
reef. and all Its piles that touch the water are
covered with copper TO resist the rayaSes OF
the ship worm here known as ell tereds
This industrious little creature Is precisely like
an animated anger. with boring head; whether
he L. born IN the wood or enters II in infancy
nobody knows: but certain II Is that he goes
right on boring all the days of his life. closely
following tRc gram anu never turning 0SlQt
unless he encounters felOw-wOrkman VINO
has the right of waT. The teredo can work
better, or. rather, worse. below salt water than
above II and seems 20 have an especial fond
ness for steamers lying IN tropical harbors.
Through his lnSIdiOus agency thousands of hui
man lives and millions of dollars have been lost
in ships whose tImbCrs he has riddied. the in
jury not being suspected till far out at sea,
when the first gale blew them in pieces.
The ship worm like adversely. has not been
borrowed ms idea for tunLeling under the
Thames. As the teredO's head IL furnished
with a series of disks that rapidly cut away the
wood Brunei constructed gigantic iron
worm" with windows IN its head. and in each
window he placed man. who removed the
earth before him and thus n2ade way for the
machine to be pushed forward And now most
tunneiing machines are made on the same prIn-
ciple.
PASSING OVER THE.CoRAL REEF,
through the long wharf with its chaos of bales
and boxes. you find yourself suddenly over
shoe in the mud Of at this time in the year,,
besieged By crowd of darkies with rickety
carriages and deorepit horses, each clamorins
To show YOU round sab Having selected
the vehicle that looks least likely to fall in
pieces. like the deac0n's historic chalse. drawn
by the horse or mule that hIrrOys your feel
lngs least by displaying the fewest gaping and
fostering sores. Won proceed to Maggie with the
Jehu about the price. At first he viii probably
demand not less than - per hour. but when
he discovers that You are not so yerdant as
perhaps appearance may indicate he viii come
down with graceful celebrity To Il, which is the
recognized tariff.
A BRIGHT sPOT.
But before setting out to do the town let
rs stop a moment at the office of the Pacific
Mail S. y. company and interview Capt. J. VI.
Dow. the superintendent.who has resided many
years on the IsthmuS and Is sIlll very much
alive. reports on the headlines of the elm
ate to the contrary notwithstanding. About
the brightest spot IN all this section IS the COM
pany's garden adjoining the Office. wherein
may be found a wonderful collection of tropical
fruits and strange flowers. among them the
celebrated Flor del EsperItu Santo Flower of
the Holy Spirit, known to botany perIstera
elata. a member of the orchid family Its
Waxy-whlte blossom resembles tulip and in
side the flower II the perfect figure OF a dove.
with dropping wings and head bent so that the
bill nearly touches the breast. The body of
tine dove is white snow, the bill is tipped
with crimson and a rich perfume Is exhaied
like that of the magnolia Ii Is said that the car
hest spanish explorers those cruel get supersti-
tious crusaders, kne!; before this flower and wor-
SHIPPED il and TO this day 20 much OF religious
reverence cIings to IL that native. however
generous he may he with the rest of his possess
slOns. never presents one to a person whom he
does not know TO be "a true Catholic. The sable
Custodian of the company ) garden will cut you
n gorgeous bouquet but never an Esperitu
SantOl using for the purpose a great. rusty
nechalo. the universal implement of the native
serving Class. which Is long and heavy as a
Roman sword and answers all uses from that
OF a tooth pick to hewlng paths in the phi
meyal forest
LOCATION OF COLON.
As all the world il aware Colon or Aspin-
wall, occupies the small island Of Manzanillo.
whose northeastern side Is washed by Lemon
NJ H., n. -.
long By mile wide and lies about midway be-
tween Porto Bello and CEagres-;he former
town fsmOus IN the DAYS OF the buccaneers as
the grand emporium OF American trade and the
latter, at the month OF the river of the same
name. Is the place of Decentralization before
the rise Of Aspinwall. Both are now nearly
deserted, wretched beyond description. the
LARS OF leprOsy and fevers.
Until leased by the Colombian government
TO the Panama railway company. in lS54-j5.
ManzanlllO Island WAS nothing but a series of
mud fats and salt marshes. The railroad man.
ayers forthwith constructed an isthmus, con-
meeting II TO the main land in the region of Fox
river established their headquarters OH the
Rrthern and western shores. after having
hiIed mp "a considerable portion of the mud
flats. and sublea,ed the rest Of the island 10
capita ISIS for building purposes. 4 mush-
room town at once sprang up. but being con-
structed with total disregard tor ali sanitary
regulations disease Of a malignant nature soon
merce nourIshed. uOtwlths LANDING deaths har-
vests. and Colon became popular resort for
fortune seekers. especially when the opening
Of the canal work IN ls-O put millions of dol
lars into circulation and gave a proDortionate
impetus TO trade.
~ ADyEksITY.
The revolution of lSsj was the turning point
in the history of the town. On the 10th of
March in that year 1t was invested by Prestan
AMI few days later totally DESTROYED by fire.
A. soon a. the cOHtagratiOn was suppressed
and order r,-tored rrcstan being executed in
August o: the same YEAR rebuilding was rap
Idly carried on FOR the most part the location
o. the hOrOUghfargs l. a. of old: but an I'M
mcnse Improvement has been wrought. espe-
eialIy III the western and northern portions of
the city. where macadamIZed streets and pave
ments OF plank or concrete occupy the swampy
highways that before reekei with human cess
and decGyIng vegetable and animal matter
One long street. with wooden houses facing the
sea. comprises nearly the whole OF II: and yet
u J. divided into quarters almost as distinct
from one another - though they were separate
towns. That nearest the wharf, where ;he
Americans mostly cougrcgate. l. called Aspin-
wall. IN honor Of MIR. W Aspinwall of New
York. one % the railway directors and i de-
cIdedly cosmopolitan IN its character
TIE FRENCH QUARTER
The same long street. merging into beauti-
ful ayeuue Of palms. leads TO the French quar-
ter. which Is universally known as Colon. This