The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-11

controlled by the church, and the expenses
of a wedding ceremony are so far beyond
the reach of the average native that the
people seldom bother about marrying. The
fore, system of concubinage. and close
view of that system leads to the conclu-
sion that IL is concubinage in its worst
form. Instead of marrying men and women
TO raise their family II, as sometimes
happens, they can save enough money TO
defray the expenses of a wedding ceremony,
they may at some future date be legally
married, but even marriages of this class
are exceptional.
There was one in the native quarter of
Colon net long ago, however, and a gala
occasion IL was. The bride and groom
were the blacklist of the black natives.
They had been living as man and wife for
nobody knew exactly how long when good
fortune befel them, and they concluded to
be married. The native population thronged
the little church to see the sight; there was
q grand display of gaudy colors, and the
crowd retoiced with an exceeding great
joy when bride and groom marched solemn
ly up the aisle, attended by their seven
children, all born out of wedlock. That
was day to be remembered in the native
quarter. and accounts of the dissipation
that marked the celebration of that legal
union are still vivid in the recital.
Inexcusable as this system of concubinage
is on general principles it has here a phase
which makes 1t especially hideOus, and that
is the iEdiscriminate relations existing be-
or class distinctions are drawn among this
mass of the population. A negress lives
with Chinaman; a depraved white lives
with a mulatto; there Will be in one house
an Indian and slant-eyed negress living as
man and wife, while perhaps a smallpox
marked Chinaman. upon whom leprosy is
making its inroads and whose white hair
has become so sparse that there Is not
enough of it to twist into queue, will snare
the house with them as the father or
grandfather of the chocolate-colored "fe-
male" for among this native population
there is just enough respect for decency
to cause them to drop the word of wife"
when speaking of their women, and use the
designation of my female"
DOMESTIC METHODS.
To this ninety -and-nne modern comforts,
conveniences and facilities are wholly un-
known. The scarcity of water in Panama
all that is to be had is either caught in rain
barrels or purchased from the regular vend-
ors, who draw it from wells reeking with
filth, and peddle it about the city in barrel
carts-makes laundering a mater OF much
difficulty, and is the common excuse for the
scant personal use made of water. Clothes
are seldom or never washed in the city of
Panama itself, except during the height of
the rainy season. At all other times a pro-
cession of barefooted women, clad only in
their chemisetteS and with each putting
away at pipe or "a black cigarette, wends
its way along the railroad track I'm the di-
rection of CoroZal, about three miles out
from the city. There a tributary of the Rio
Grande river runs for short distance over
gravel, and is free from alligators and the
poisonous water makes that abound in
rivers and lagoOns hereabouts. In the pool
at this point, well shaded and comparatively
cool, the women plunge with their wash, ="
after doffing the few clothes they wear.
Standing in the water, unblushing in their
nakedness even when a photographer is
about. these women moisten the clothes and
rub them with a root which grows freely
and which takes the place of soap The
clothes well saturated and sOaped, the
laundress goes 10 the rivers bank. There.
laying the wet garments upon the stone
she belabors them with board until all the
dirt is supposed to be loOsened, when they
are carried back to the stream 10 be rinsed.
after which they are hung about the
bushes and trees 10 dry. AT evening time,
seven days in a week, the procession that
| journeyed outward in the morning comes
| slowly hOmeward, each woman with a bun
| die of clothes, popularity supposed to have
been washed poised on her head In the
| interior the same practice is followed the
only difference being that brooks and rivu-
| lets commonly patronized, and the
| women, not having TO go into the water, re-
| tain their apparel during the laundering
process. Washboards and washtubs. hot
| water and other accessories to cleanliness
| are virtually unknown here.
Equally primitive methods are employed
| in other branches Of the domestic labors.
| Meals are usually prepared over small char
| take the place of beds; chairs a lux
| ury, the floor being the place most fire.
| Quentcd for rest and repose.
| PANAMA HAS 4 SOCIETY.
With the l per cent. Of the population
which knows and practices civilized ways
infinitely better general conditions obtain
This contingent is divided into two classes
| the mixed better element in Panama and the
| American colony at Colon. At the Panama
side of the isthmus this better element is
composed OF the educated. cultured and re-
| fined natives. some few hundred I'm number
with a sprinkling of English Germans
Americans and other advanced races. With
| this element modern methods are common
! Morality exists in an advanced state. the
sanctity Of the hcme and the domestic rela-
| ton being upheld with a scrupulOusness the
| exact opposite OF the utter disregard for
| morality found among the lower classes.
| The homes in Panama of this better element
| suner-aS suffer they must-from the want
| OF sewerage and water works systems. and
! are never luxurious as we of the north know
| luxury. The latter is impossible here. FOR
| with the excessive rains carpets and cur
tains would mildew and must be eschewed
! But here there is a real social life. marked
| by womens literary clubs. mems social
! clubs, a free exchange OF visits. a miugling
| of the people at balls and teas and due re-
| gard for social ceremonies and amenities. II
is here that the church wields a real and =
| benencent influence and, while the Who'll,
| social structure strikes the inquirer as q
relic of better days, II is good and whole
| some.
And that Il is a relic OF better DAYS can.
| not be gainsaid. The true Spanish social
| relationship, which is the natural part of
| the place. gave way under the influx of
| French and il is the remnant OF gayety OF
the French days which now survives. The