Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-09-05

CANAL ZONE LETTER
George Huntington Writes An
other Interesting Letter from
the Tsthnlus.
fnG Standard q
Perfect 8aking

Inc lSthn1uS.
George Huntington. who is now
/ permanently heated in-. the Canal
Zone, wrote to the WooD COUNTY
REPORTER the following interesting
| letter under date Of August Is, The
letter runs thus
IABoCA CANAL ZONE. August 3.
/ WOOD COUNTY REPoETEa-I am
now located at LaBoca, the Pacific
Ientraace to the canal, aud Z have
charge of the Panama Railroad com
pany's electric light aud power plant,
where electric current is generated
for LaBoca, Ancon, Panama, and q
little later we will have a new line to
CorozaI. We also have a day circQit
furnishing power for the LaBcea
wharves, where i've electric cranes
and i've Others supplied by steam are
in operation The steam cranes will
be moved by electric power as soon as
the motors arrive.
We are throwing our old engines
land dgnamos out and putting in new
land modern machinery. Some Of the
dyuamos thrown out are new. but
are too small for cur use. ny steam
plant has a battery of three large
boilers. Two will carry the load, but
after while We viii need the other
one. We are now putting in a new Z
panel switch board, and new Westing-
house engine and alternator, and our
told machinery viii be used at other
points along the canal. One engine
and dynamo Of 2500 lights capacity
viii 60 to Colon, and will double the
power at that plant. The voltage on
our lines will be raised in a few days
to Zoo volts, the same as on the
! primary circuits at home Grand
Rapids.
You will remember LaBoca as the
place where hubonic plague was
! reported just before 1 left the states
mo more cases have appeared since.
due to the efforts of the Americans.
A bounty Of ten cents is paid on rats,
and it is a common sight to see a
negro carrying large string Of rats
to the physicians for his bounty. lit
is also common sight to see negroes
carrying their dinner or supper home
/ on their bead the load consisting of
some sugar cane, pineapples, bananas.
or vans, a SORT Of tasteIess root taking
/ the place Of potatoes. You can buy a
whole bunch Of bananas here for from
is TO so cents in silver or seven TO
fifteen cents in gold. I have seen the
Panama Railroad company give
away three whole car loads OF bananas
/ because they came too late for snip
ment. You can bet the Grand Rapids
merchants never get such bananas as
these, though they pay twice the
!! highest grade prices for their really
inferior stock. 1t is the same With
/ pineapples; they are from two to three
times as large here. Cocoanuts are
the same as at home, only We can get
them green here. They have to be
consumed at once, for the milk will
| sour easily, the same as cows milk.
LaBoca is the main lumber yard for
the isthmus. and so, 000 feet of lumber
is unloaded every day, besides many
logs and piles. There is a ship repair
and machine shop here. Every
building is full IF lab0rers, and a train
of eight TO ten cars comes into this
place every morning at six O'Clock.
laden to OVERLOOKING with workmen.
Ten hours is the length Of the working
day here and is divided in two parts,
from six to eleven O'Clock in the fore
noon. and from one to six o'clock Ia
the afternoon. There are three or
four old French boats upon the ways
now being repaired and 1 hear that
the canal above is just. full of old
dredges and boats of inferior con-
structiOn and worthless. To is no
wonder nothing was done before the
Americans came. There is enc cid
dFedge here that cost a half a million
dollars, and is not worth as much
for real work as a railroad steam
shovel
am well satisfied with the isthmus
and have a good position as superin-
tendent Of this plant, (called here
General Foreman of the LaBoca
power plantl which means that all the
foreman at LaBoca are under my
supervision. I am responsible for the
plants service and condition, and as
a breakdown would call for thousands
of dollars demurage from the ships at
the docks. it makes a fellow feel life
to know he is responsible for the
whole plant, and it is a pleasure to |
see it run al right. There is mol
kicking here, and / am not IN d sort
of foot ball game this time. The
head OF the electrical department is a
man who likes TO build aud tx up the
plants be has under lis control, and |
his talk with me was not grumDling,
but about the interesting work in
store for me. He is the kind Of man
that a fellow feels Ike doing his
utmost for, and he has the confidence