Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-21

| Panama lives on the travellers; so it has
| been for years. so it always will be. unless
| the canal should be lost to the iSthmus,
| which all who know the disputed routes
| sincerely hope will not be the case. for the
! advantages of the Panama route are clear
! and convincing. But what a fine time the
| sharks will have when once the work Is eS-
| tabliShed.
| These same sharks now gathered about
| me. Offering all sorts of specimens. or urS-
! ing unrequired services. 1 soon tired of 1t
! all; there was nothing of real interest in the
| city, so | took one of the slow trains across
| the isthmus for Colon, hoping to have
| good view of the canal workings. There
was not much to be seen, however; only
! surface work had been done, though much
| earth had been removed, and the whole
| length of the canal was clearly defined, a
great ditch extending almost across the
| isthmus, and at some places opened to con-
| siderable depth. Not much work was being
| done. though a little digging was in prog
ress The splendid machinery all along the
| route attested the millions which had been
| spent. and the fact that most of the ma
| chinery remained without care, exposed to
! the damp, destructive climate of Panama,
was evidence of the careless methods which
mark all that has been done on the canal
| up to the present time.
| Crossing the fSthmus even on a slow
| train does not take very long. On the way
| there were not any attractive places and
! everywhere one notices the marks of the
| beaten track. and surely no route is more
| frequented than that of Panama.
| Il found a Panama rich country, where
| agricultural opportunities are attractive
| and mineral wealth is abundant. Panama
| Is everywhere accessible to the water. and
| as consequence the principal roads are to
| the coast, and little trading ships are
| numerous, for the ways of communication
| are principally by water Wherever a
| stream is found available for canoes, they
are used though, except on the Silsola
| river. on the northern boundary. and on the
! streams about the Chiriqui Lagoon, there is
| but little canoe travel.
| Panama is reputed the most unhealthy
| of all places in the American tropics, a
natural inference. because the route of
! travel has sought the lowest divide for
crossing the isthmus. and low lands in the
tropics are unhealthy; particularly where
there are sWamps, at Colon, and great
exposures of marine drift when the tide
falls. as at Panama City. These places are
unhealthy and their reputation is well de-
served. but after leaving the depression
between the two seaports one finds a better
country, where the lands are rich and the
climate reasonably favorable. If the canal
goes to Panama, the itshmus will enjoy
some years of active construction, with
large expenditures of money, followed by a
great commercial movement. Lands along
the central depreSSiOnS are good and fertile
but the climate is undesirable. To the south
the lnhoSplta bic San Bias Indians are dan
gerOuS element, so it appears that the lands
most desirable for foreigners are in the
northeastern part of the isthmus, and that
boCdS UeI i orc ana the Cnlrlqul Lagoon
g!onS VIII be the places from which sup
plies to feed the canal laborerS will be prin-
cipally drawn; though there Will be strong
rival some distance to the eastward in the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains
also portion of Colombia; for there every
thing can be grown. even the products of
the temperate regions of the north, and
from there vessels once loaded can run di-
ectly before the trade winds into Colon; but
of the lands on the isthrnus. those of the
northeast seem to me the most desirab le''
The book is written without any evident
effort at literary effect and tells thrilling
and entertaining story directly and without
immodesty. even though at times the au-
thor travellers adventures were such as to
warrant an expression of pride in the out
come.
THE MARK. By Aqdila Kempster Illustrated
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co. Wash
ington: William Rallantyne 4 Sons.
A strange, weird. creepy story, this tale
of Indian rencarnation. of avatars, of &C.
cult powers, of violence. treachery and in
trgue. 1t is almost too strong bid for the
readers acute attention. 1t taxes his credul-
ity, of course, for it is pitched in the key
of the claim that in India everything is
possible. 1t is the story of how a young
English physician working in the Bombay
hospitals played the part of a reincarnated
prince of centuries agone who was grievous-
ly wronged and treacherously slain and
whose temperance has been awaited with
patient faith by his tribesmen. He is to be
known by peculiar birthmark on the chest
and when accidentally native spy discov-
erS such mark on the young mans per-
son while attending him at the bath all
India trembies with the news, flashed from
end to end by the mysterious process which
battles westerners. love story is closely
intertwined with the theme and the tale
ends with tragic awakening of the hero
from his strange spell. to find his mind a
blank as to the inexplicable adventures in
which he has just participated. 1t is story
to read through and from it one gains
conception of the mystic pulse of India IL
Illustrations in colors by II. II. Foley add to
the artistic qualities of the book.
WIEN MMINDY SINGS. BY Paul Laurence
Dunbar illustrated Decorations by Margaret
Washington: Brentano's
Mr.. Dunbar has established his position as
the laureate of the negroes of America Rut
that rank does not confine his audience
10 his own people. His songs are enioved
perhaps even more by the white people than
by the colored- They have the lit of the
plantation, the pathos and the humor of the
race and the finish of a careful student of
good literary form. This present collection
is especially acceptable. In it are given \
score of short poems in dialect. in which
there IS not one lame foot. one hating line
iHtie ~ Sone SOunu philosophy in them
100, such as the complaint at the !rizzling
rain, which the singer compares to the in
effective. annoying talk of nconseouentiaI
shifty people. The book is in holiday dress
being printed on superior paper while the
Illustrations from photographs taken by the
Hampton Institute Camera Club are arts
tic as well as suggestive of the spirit of the
songs.
THE NEMESIS OF FROUDE: n Reioinder 70
James Anthony Fronde's MY Relations With
,arite ty Alexander Carlyle. 4 A. and Sir
Lane. " A. 'onh
Many persons believe that it is wrong and
dangerous To publish the letters of distin-
sulshed people. save they may bear upon
some important point of history. Others
nave more or less questionable interest
IN such documents. as disclosing the inner
lives of personages Certainly il nroof
were needed of the undesirabIity of mint
ing letters Of an intimate nature ii Is fur
nished by the deplorable Carlyle-Froude
controversy, which is now at It's height.
1t was started by Froudes Life" of Car
lyle, and after many fluctuations was def