The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-12

place for white men to live. But UNI
til this is done Colon must, from mere
force of circumstances and the rail
roads long years of neglect, be haunt
of pestilence.
To go from the native quarter of Col
on to Cristobal Colon Point is ike
stepping from hell into a garden, al
though the Point is now in a sad state
of deterioration. Cristobal Colon Point
is a magnificent example of the ex-
travagance of the French Canal Com
pany during it's flush days. 1t is
wholly artificial having been con-
structed as breakwater to protect
the entrance to the waterway. But the
French planned to link beauty with
utility in this instance, and the result
is a remarkable product. The Point
puts out into Limon Bay for a dis
lance of more than 500 feet. 1t is well
laid out, with avenues of cocoanut trees,
a superb drainage and waterwOrks
system, both of which have now fallen
mot disuse and consequent decay. Its
foundation is of great concrete blocks,
purchased under contract by the
French Canal Company at a cost of
$50 (gold) each and dumped down in
irregular masses, later to be filled in
with sand.
French Lavishmess.
Upon this point the French company
built houses-regular bungalows, but
of a charming architectural style
and so set down as to make a most at
tractiVe park out of the breakwater.
On the extreme western end of the
point stands the statue presented by
the Empress Eugene to the canal
company, an artistic creation done in
bronze and intended to exhibit Column
bus in the attitude of exhibiting to
the startled natives the western pas
sage to the Far East, for which he so
vainly sought. Close by the statue are
two magnificent examples of French
| extravaganza upon which money was
lavished most recklessly. One was
built to serve as a residence for Fer
dinand de Lesseps, the protector of the
| canal; the other as a residence for di-
rectors of the French company who
| might visit the enterprise Millions of
francs were expended in building and
| furnishing these hOuses-they have
been occupied for about three weeks
since they were completed more than
| fifteen years ago. e.te
| They, as does everything else upon
| the point, stand to-day monuments to
| the utter wreck of the French efforts
to cut this waterway. Upon their
roof combs over their deep plaZas,
over every other house upon the point
as over the city of Colon proper, now
stalk the innumerable flockS of turkey
buzzards that infest the isthmus and
impart a gruesome aspect to every
detail of the landscape. Over the point
the swamp grass, cacti, tropical vines,
palms and other isthmian vegetation
grow so freely as to cucumber and lit
ter the drives, once such beautiful
stretches of soundless sand. Life on
the point is not more bearable now
than it is in the other parts of Colon,
a fact the Canal Commission from the
United States discovered when, after
a weeks residence in the De Lesseps
house, it sought quarters elsewhere.
The buildings, once intended for the
executive and administrative forces of
the canal company, have been given
over to the natives, and over the whole
place. with it's improvements gone to
ruin. broods the pestiential atmos-
phere so characteristic of Colon.
Omen Rondstead a Menace.
1t is at Colon, however, that all of
the canal work of the future must CEN
ter. a fact which makes pertinent the
question of sanitation. OF which, for
the entire isthmus, l shall write in an
other and early letter. 1t is here, too,
that the commercial activity of the
isthmus must principally center, a fact
which should turn the attention of the
American Congress to this harbor. AS
things now stand Colon has no harbor.
Limon Bay is an open roadstead, into
which rolls all the swell of the Carib-
bean, and into which sweep several
times each winter ''northers
most destructive to shipping. The
docks at Colon face the open sea, and
weather hereabouts is SO treacherous
that vessels must lie at all times with
a full head of steam in their boilers,
ready on a moments warning to slip
anchors and stand out to sea to es-
cape being driven on the rocks of Girls
tobal Colon Point, where they are sure
to go unless they can reach the open
water before a "norther" strikes them.
Across Limon Bay, distance of about
three miles. IS Toro Point, and beyond
that is the Chagres River. Within this
bay is water deep and ample enough
to float all the shipping of the world,
but protection of some sort must be
afforded. Whether that protection
shall be afforded by a new breakwater,
built outward from both Toro Point
and the Island of Manzani1la, or wheth-
err it shall be by a breakwater formed
by extending Cristobal Colon Point,
supplemented by extensive dredging
operations, so as to furnish anchorag e
back of the point, is a problem the Ca
nal Commission to be named by Pres
ident Roosevelt must decide. Protec-
ton of some sort must. however, be
furnished, for visits to Colon are now
a menace to every ship making them,
and commerce across the isthmus,
either by rail or through the canal,
cannot be greatly stimulated until 3de-
quate harbor facilities shall be pro-
vided.
At the present time Colons commerce
is limited entirely to transisthmian
shipments. The trade of the place it.
self is small, for there are no industries
in Colon, and the native consumption