The Saint Paul globe., 1902-02-09

the banks of the canal, so that it now
looks like a sluggish river centuries old,
emptying into the bay of Limon, on the
shore of which stands Colon. The point
at the mouth of the canal is called
Christobal Colon. and it is here thae
Count de Lesseps built for himself and
his friends the houses which cost the
company millions of dollars, where the
real value was in thousands, and which
today are abandoned to the bats and
insects which swarm in the forests of
the isthmus.
The first stop the train makes is at
Monkey Hill, the famous cemetery
where were buried the bodies of those
who died during the construction of the
railroad and later the canal Nature
shows a freakish mood here, for while
she struck men down with cruel malig-
nifty she as gracefully and quickly re-
moved all traces of her handiwork.
Trees, vines, grass and plants of all
kinds now cover this hill with riotous
growth. 1t is with great di1ticulty that
the location of any particular grave can
be retained, and it is only the resting
places of a few which can be pointed
out, and in all cases it has only been
through the unremiting efforts of friends
that the site of these graves was not
quickly returned to forest. Hundreds OF
men died and were buried here, but the
rains came and the grass grew. The
vines raced with each other across the
hills and quick-groWing trees shaded the
streaming earth, and the most Of Mon
key Hill again became a wilderness, for
man, living, with all his energy, can
scarcely keep a clearing to himself In
this part of the world, and man dead
soon molds away to feed the new growth
Which covers his resting place with
broad leaves which are ever green and
moist and dark.
Leaving Monkey Hill the train winds
through the hills, following generally the
valley Of the Chagres river a sullen,
muddy stream, which at most seasons
is small but when filed with torrential
waters becomes a raging flood The
banks of the river are heavily shaded
with variety of leaf ana flower. Birds
of bright plumage and harsh cries fly
from the trees as the train approaches
In the fOrty-seven miles to reach Pana-
ma there are thirty three stops or sta
tionS, and it takes about three hours to
make the trip. The stations are gener-
ally store or two, a few native huts
and perhaps group OF frame buildings
owned by the canal company. Tiger Hill
Lion Hill, Frijoles (beans), Lagarto (al-
| Igator and other similar names suggest
that the builders of the road did not go
far from each location to get names for
the stopping places. Between the sta
tlons there is little or no population.
The groups Of buildings at the stop-
ping places are Inhabited by a conglon-
crate mass Of humanity apparently
scraped UP from a4 corners of the earth.
The storekeepers and more prosperous
looking seem to be mostly Cinnamon.
while the mob is Jamaica negro unaduI-
terated The Spanish-speaking native is
q at7+n fY,
The Chinaman is largely in evidence
He is generally a trader and nearly al
ways prosperous. He speaks Spanisb
more often than English, though gener-
ally poth. He marr1es into the foreign
element where he Wills and the cross
between a Jamacia negro and a China
man produces some of the most remark
able-looking children to be seen the
world over. A mulatto-colored slant
eyed, Spanlsh-speaking infant is hard To
classify -
Ine railroad is seldom more than q, few
yards from the line Of the canal. and for
~iTtan of sixteen miles from Colon
with the help of the Chagres river, 1t NAV
De sad to present quite a navigahle ap-
pearance The water is full of sharks
and alligators, and near every settlement
the native laundry is in operation along
lts banks. The women stand in the water
up to their knees and wash the clothes
IN the running stream These washer
women seldom have more than a skirt on
and the train often surprises a group at
their labors where everything in the line
OF clothing has been temporarily dis
carded.
At Empire thirty-four miles from Colon
and thirteen miles from Panama.-tne
train enters the range of hills through
which the great Culebre cut of the
Panama canal is being made and no
tourist has ever crossed this lir. without
being Impressed with the enormous
amount Of dirt which has actually been
moved and the stiI greater amount vet
to be removed before the bottom of fba
cut is near enough to the level of the
sea for canal purposes An frnnressive
! feature OF every side track and railroad
yard is the endless amount of maehinerv earv
standing idle, left there by the old canaI
company when it stopped work ten wears
ago. Trains Of locomotives, miles ~
dump cars, rows of sheds, under whtcb
lie acres of engines, hoists and everv-
thing else conceivable with which dirt can
be moved. Nearly all Of it looks foreign
to American eyes and unfortunately