The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-03-13
"A Trip to the Tropics,
Continued from Last Sunday.)

4
10 the Editor: Looking from
the ships the wharf at Colon
unnears very much like any wharf
at n CITY in our Southern States. Moth
ing foreign about it, crowds of good ma
tured negroes. q few white men in lights
suits and straw hats-think of it and
shiver. for this is January-and in the
background a train of cars, each marked
| L. II. II. panama RalIroad)
After the usual delay caused by the
pullings and tightening of ropes, the
placing of the gang-way,a and the round or
handshaking with people whom we have
sat opposite at the table and whom we
will probably never meet again, we huf-
nv down to the wharf and our heads
feel half dizzy because we feel something
under our feet whioh doesn't shake. a
pollceman-half negro, half Spanlard
and the other half, so to speak, Indian
calls for our keys and gives our baggage
politely formal examination. The
keys are returned and we pass ON and
enter Il coach, or cab, or whatever you
may choose to call it drawn by tough
| little pony, and away we go through
streets bOrdered by strange trees, behind
which rise funny little bousRs-some of
them sadly i'll need of paint for the salt
air is deStructive-and at last we reach
| the beach, pass the Washington hotel
and stop before a house, with two tiers
of porches, over which floats the stars
and stripes and above whose door the
American eagle is framed. What de-
lghtful situation! COcoanut palms all a
round lis, near by an open square with
monument to the memory of AsplnWall
and the other American founders of
Colon in front of the house the break
ers come rolling, and foaming. and thun-
dering in to within twenty feet of tho
door. This, they say is the best season
of the year, the dry season-ColOn'
summer-and n strong breeze is rush
ing in from the sea and will continue to
do so for the next six months without
interruption day or night. Flowers are
in bloom wherever they arc given a
chance. but with exception of the buzz
yards there seems to be little bird life.
What a languid feeling is already be-
ginning to creep over us! The air is hot,
though the breeze DISCUSSES the fact. An
hours stay i'm Colon begins to rob one
of his energy. 1t is not a place for
hustling. in the New York sense Of the
slang term.
Colon, (which is the Spanish word for
Columbus) is a strictly American town
in some ways. Its leading citizens are
Americans and it is owned, body and
soul one might almost say, by the Pan
anna Railroad Company which has its
head office in New York. The land was
partly built by the company and is al
together owned by it. Nearly every per-
son of consequence in the town is in the
employ of the company. The negroes all
work for the company. The railroad
company even owns the ships which
bring us here and which, we devoutly
pray, will carry us home again safe and
sound if we escape THE yellow fever, the
chagres fever, the tarantulas, the mos
quites and the other bugbears of this
much maligned Isthmus.
Colon is the Atlantic terminus of the
Panama Railroad and also of the famous
or, if you prefer, the infamous-Pan-
anna Canal. 1t is situated on the low
island Of ManzanillO close TO the main
land and is elevated about six feet above
the sea level. The height of the tide here
is less than q foot and Il half, while at
Panama the difference in the sea level
at hIgh and low tides is over twenty five
feet. Colon has a population of FIVE or
six thousand, mostly Jamaicans-nearly
all of whom are negroes with more or
less white blood.
Next door to where | live is the Eng
lish church, beautiful stone edifce,
cruciform in shape. The church has
peal of bells and vested choir. The
rector and most of the congregation are
Jamaicans, though some of the Ameri-
cans are regular attendants. A prayer
is used at each service for the Queen,
the President of the United States and
the President of Colombia.
Strange, is it not, that though so far
away there is much here to make us
feel at home. 1t is indeed difficult to
realize that we are not actually in the
United States. The language of the
town is English. My neighbors are from
Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina-all
active, high toned young men. My spe-
cial chum is a South Carolinian. In
short, American interests and American
influence give life TO the Isthmus.
| GEO AITTDDLTN