The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-16

han any other city in America,
n.y. ..sararably linked in history with
aarlv days of white mems pres
TIE the Western Hemisphere.
slsn5tng upon the highest point of the
e'''. the battery promenade at the
I.,,e one may, with the aid of
uiasses obtain a good view of the
If the cathedral tower at 'old"
n.no,,3 four miles away as the crow
az. six as one must journey to reach
49,. hose The way to "old" Panama is
,5on traveled-one needs a negro
. nachete for a companion, for
niles of that way is through the
,.no,a and the path must be cleared
~. foolish is the visitor to the isthmus
does not traverse it, for there was
coat of Spain's first glory In the
,,,...orn world, the center from which
,io+sd her forces in exploring the
- coast of the Americas, the gate
Wv, through which flowed the COM
700 which once gave her power and
,ahos and the city upon which she
f.n,ded her empire of the West.
What manner of place "old" Panama
uos in its halycon days no man now
,.ao,rs exactly. 1t must, however, have
,..r goodly city-time, location and
',..,,n,stances all consideration it's
,,;rs are eloquent of past grandeur.
:. was in 1517-a quarter of a century
,,,, after Columbus had discovered
vo western Hemisphere-that "old"
panama was founded. and in 1921 it
as nv roval decree, raised to the dig
xitv of a city. AS early as 1924 yes
.ds we're navigating the Chagres river
os far as Cruces. whittier merchandise
.ros transported from odd Panama
aver stone road. the only remnant
- which now remains is a stone tide
bridge on the beach near the tower
,ut, In 1897 the stone road was ex-
.o,,ded from Cruces to Porto Bello. on
tho Caribbean coast, and thereafter,
tor nearly century, "old" Panama
Aourished upon trade and commerce.
In 1571 Sir Henry Morgan and his
buccaneers. assisted by the Indians,
who were filled with an implacable ha-
fred for the Spanish, swept down upon
Panama and literally extinguished it.
That act of wanton despoilation pro-
duced the Panama of to-day, for the
stricken inhabitants of the old city fed
in terror along the coast to the volcanic
elevation where now stands the city,
and founded the only Panama the
world now knows. The old city is,
however by long odds the more in
teresting place of the two. Morgan's
cutthroats, after pillaging it and giving
It over to the torch, left it but a stone
ruin, and more than two centuries have
completed the work of spreading desc
lation.
ola Panama and the New.
was out there yesterday. There
lives amid these ruins, once the home
Of wealth, splendor and power, one
aged native Panamese. His home is a
thached hut; but his associates the
birds and reptiles that infest the place;
his thoughts of an unbroken idleness;
his ambition naught save to live
among the ruins, hard by the Cathe-
dral tower of which he fancies himself
the caretaker. But this native-Do-
ningo is the only name he has ever
knoWn-will cut paths through the jun
gle and lead you from ruin to ruin.
Time and the vegetable growth de-
caying and being deposited on the
ground, have sufficed to raise the level
Of the soil to what was once the second
story of the houses in old Panama.
The vegetation is so excessive that it
Is impossible to advance foot until
after the machete has done its work
Out persist and you may wonder
among the remains of homes and pal
aces-aIl i'll solid stone and now en-
numbered with vines, wild fig trees
and weeds. Bats will rise dazed and
messy from the roofless gables and
dark, dank, buried floors; but pres
eHtly you Will come to an open space.
Here-a few hundred yards from the
cathedral toWer-mount the walls of
"hat was once parish church. Thick
ana strong they were and they have
resisted the advance of vegetation so
!hat they inclose the only cleared place
10 De found where once were streets
ana plazas. And here within these
"aiiS spread about unfortunately,
eacn marked with a rough cross made
VI tWlgs tied together with the ten
ulll OF vine, is the native burying
ground patronized by those poor hui
mans in the interior and along the
eodSt 1t is a note of pathos empha-
sNIIg desolation, for here come these
g.esutute beings with their dead-to
t .lle only bit of consecrated ground to
De found for miles around.
H. between Panama and its progenitor
Od Panama, there is to-day little
similarity, though originally they
must nave been very much alike. Pam
ANA boasts it's ruins. numerous and
imposing. They are the ruins left by
nie' which has repeatedly swept the
pace Panama's more ancient feat
utes resemble in general outline those
VI the Panama it succeeded, and the
5sdnama of to-day has it's tragedy and
ooeSoiauon, just as did the other of it's
halne' Our Panama can. however,
tgLoasl the advantage of possibilities,
ulng the other never could have done,
ven rad Morgan spared it, for it is
,TIpoh the most inaccessible portion of
Is coast, and its site could never
i iI.e Deen made to accept modern
IDS as to sanitation. In this city
mel mngre am writing sanitation, healthy
ai iGQerh conveniences and comforts can
o oi De made possible with a minimum
Of effort.
The City's Bad Reputation.
vi, ms city stands upon a volcanic
ssIt'eIu, whose surface is several feet
love the level of high tide, and whose
,s.luerlying stone forms a natural wall
" check the tide, which rises and falls
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