The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-21

few hours the work Of months. but
before this operation was commenced
the dissolved. Thu stories OF
the wasteful extravaganza employed In
the performance of the work under tie
oid regime are not a bit oNerdraWn
The work completed by the eNpendi-
ture of S263. 900. coo Is comparatively
SLIGHT when compared with the vast
proportion Of this sum disposed OF N
the shape OF subsidies, salaries and
profits. "
The fabulous stories OF The palniy
days OF California and Australia during
the gold craze shortly after the dis
covery of this precious metal are
eclipsed by the tales from Colon n
Panama in the eighties. when Bern-
hardt gave performances at the Tor
mer city and the house was packed
at prices ranging from $40 To, $3' q
seat: when the little bank al Coon
held 5000. 900 francs all the time: when
wine and champagne flowed like wa
ter, and the city was %thronGed With
the demi-mondes VINO played bacoarat
n roulette at the same time with the
officials OF the company. n people
of the now dirty. hot and miasmic
Colon love to dream OF the days when
immense balls were given a the
guests to amuse themselves would
AlAbM Etll diiA ~ - 49,
ball rooms to the street below to see
the ~populace scramble and struggle To
obtain possession of the coins. 1hcy
teu OF the orchestra of 20 Parisinu mu-
sicians that was kept at Colon ior
three years at large expense solely 10
furnish music for the canal officials
and their friends of an evening. and
sigh regretfully over the memories OF
the past.
Those were the days when an agree
able man with a little money could
grow rich I'm "A few n FOR IN
stance, one man with a capital Oh
500. 900 in 1882 made 5000 900 profit sell
ing mules to the canal company IN
three short months. Another trough
down a stock of rubber boots from the
United States costing about $4,000. and
sold the lot for $50. 900 cash. NJ. Ethel.
the builder Of the famous tower bear
ing his name in Paris. Is reported IN
Colon to have made 81. J00.O 900 on m
contract in one year. while a firm OF
young men in Pittsburg VINO pleased
the canal company officials by iheir
convivial habits got a contract for EUR
nishing lubrioating oils. and succeed
ed in selling $4,000 worth in the
course of a year. Indeed the work
men, to give them more business. went
10 the trouble of throwing the unopen-
ed cases of oil into the river.
There were original contracts end
no end Of sub-letting contracts Tor me
same work. A dozen Pacihc coast
men were poor when they went down
to the isthmus to get a contract Tor
supplying something to the Panama
canal and all came away with tun
What wac the result? To-day there
IS SIS. 900. 600 worth OF machinery and
apparatus strcwn along the line OF me
canal. At q place near Almazllla-ll
miles from Panama-therc is a pile
OF rustad steel rails which were never
used costing about $4,000. one can
not go half q mile without coming
upon some rotting, rusting machinery
Steel cables lie on the ground loose
and coiled. rusting away in whatever
shape they were placed. Dirt cars
stand by hundreds. either side-track-
ed along the lire OF the railroad or
dumped in the adjacent ditch. The
new company has made a desperate
! effort to save the most valuable lots
of his machinery and with some sue
cess. At least 100 locomotives. English.
French. Belgium and American. nave
been stored in waterproof sheds ana
roundhouses with concrete floors. The
engines standing inside have been td-
ken apart and every bit OF metal
PAINTED over 10 preserve IL from rust.
Out in the swamp a few Of the more
/ costly dredges have been taken apart
and painted. Some of the machines
are enormous. Beside three that tow
err over all the rest i'm the station ny
the mouth OF the canal stand a dou-
bic row of tugboats. IL In all, that are
practically useless now. on a grass
grown. rOtting spur OF the c0nstfu'-
ton railroad. a few miles southwest
of the CulebTa cut. a a Phllacel-
phla locomotive attached To a train
Of Il work cars. standing just where
the engineer shut on steam when me
financial bubble burst and he and the
crew Quit their jobs. The soil Is so
sponEy and wet that the train mas
sunken a yard in the OOze n miTe.
This waste OF capital. however. was
pot confined TO and work.
-. .u..rz Colon frnnn the sea Inc