The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-11

water in Panama-all that is to be had
is caught in rain barrels or purchased
from the regular vendors, who draw it
from wells reeking with filth and ped
die it about the city in barrel carts
makes laundering matter of much
difficulty, and is the comomn excuse
for the scant personal use made of
water. Clothes are seldom or never
washed in the city of Panama itself,
except during the hight of the rainy
season. At all other times a process
sion of barefooted women, clad only
in their chemisettes and with each
putting away at a pipe or a black ci-
gazette, wendS it's way along the rail-
road track in the direction of Corozal,
about three miles out from the city.
There a tributary of the Rio Grande
river runs for a short distance over
gravel and is free from alligators and
the poisonous water snakes that
abound in rivers and lagoons here
abouts. In the pool at this point, we'll
shaded and comparatively cool, the
women plunge with their wash" aft
er doffing the few clothes they wear.
Standing in the water, unblushing in
their nakedness even when a photog-
rapher 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 sat
urated and soaped, the laundresS goes
to the rivers bank. There, laying the
wet garments upon the stones, she be-
labors them with board until all the
dirt is supposed to be loosened, when
they are carried back to the stream to
be rinsed, after which they are hung
about on the bushes and trees to dry.
At evening time, seven days in a week,
the procession that journeyed outward
in the morning comes slowly home
ward, each woman with a bundle of
clothes, popularity supposed to have
been washed, poised on her head. In
the interior the same practice is fol-
lowed, the only difference being that
brooks and rivuletS are commonly pa
tronized, and the women, not having
to go into the water, retain their ap-
parel during the laundering process.
Washboards and washtubs, hot water
and other accessories to cleanliness are
virtually unknown here.
Equally primitive methods are en-
ployed in other branches of the domes-
| tic labors. Meals are usually prepared
over small charcoal stoves: hammocks
| and palm-leaf cots take the place of
beds; chairs are luxury, the floor
being the place most frequented for
rest and repose.
Panama Has n Society.
With the 1 per cent. of the popula-
ton which knows and practices civil
lied ways infinitely better general con-
ditions obtain. This contingent is di-
Vided into two claSseS-the mixed bet
ter element at Panama and the Amer
lean colony at Colon. At the Panama
side of the isthmus this better element
is composed of the educated, cultured
and refined natives, some few hundreds
in number, with q sprinkling of Eng
lish, Germans, Americans and other
advanced races. With this element
modern methods are common. Morali-
ty exists In an advanced state, the
sanctity of home and the domestic re-
lation being upheld with a scrupulous-
ness the exact opposite of the utter dis
regard for morality found among the
lower classes. The homes in Panama
of this better element suffer-as suf-
fer they must-for the want of sewer
age and waterworks systems, and are
never luxurious as we of the North
know luxury. The latter is impossi-
BILE here, for with the excessive rains
carpets and curtains would mildew,
and must be eSchewed. But here there
is a real social life, marked by wom-
ems literary clubs, mems social clubs,
a free exchange of visits, a mingling
of the people at balls and teas, and a
due regard for social ceremonies and
amenities. 1t is here that the church
Yields a real and benefcent influence,
and, while the whole social structure
strikes the inquirer as a relic of bet
ter days, it is good and wholesome.
And that IL is a relic of better days
cannot be gainsaid. The true Spanish
social relationship, which is the nat
ural part of the place, gave way under
the influx of French families during
the active canal work, and it is the
remnant of gayety of the French days
which now survives. The foundation
remains, however. It is a foundation
made of morality, an Unborn religious
instinct. education of a fair degree, a
native dignity and natural respect for
womankind. Upon this foundation
there can be builded, when Americans
arrive to touch the spring with the
riches to be poured into the country
by the canal effort, solid and sub
stantial society, advanced in its ideas,
and we'll worthy of respect.
1t Is too much to expect that Pan
anna will ever be a gay capitalize
Havana-for Panama can never attract
as Havana has attracted; but 1t may
easily become place where women
from the Northern climates may live
In comfort and find advertisement suit
ed to their natural instincts and incli- |
nation toward good society.
The American Colony at Colon.
It is in Colon that there exists the |
StrangeSt OF all the social conditions /
to be found in this part of the world. |
In the American section Of that city |
there are the bungalows of the en- /
ployes and the hotel. which is owned !
by the railroad. The policy of the I
railroad company is to furnish its mar |
ried employees with quarters in the |
bungalows housing the unmarried men |
in the hotel. In that section of the |
city life is made bearable by the loca- |
tion, which looks out over the whole |
expanse of the Caribbean sea, by ade- |
quate sewerage and waterworks sys- !
TENS, and by careful tending of the |
ADE VNgI a @.