Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-28
$4,000 Men Now at Work.


How many men have you now a work."
Taking Americans, natives, negroes
from Jamaica, and all others, we have just
about 12,00o,' replied Mr.. shonts.
What they doing?'.
They are cleaning up the towns and the
zone. They are unloading lumber ana put
ting it on the cars. They are building the
new houses for the men. There are about
Loo Americans; some of them belong to
the clerical force. others are mechanics and
engineers. We have large number of
American carpenters and we are now send
ing down forty by every steamer"
How about wages? Does ii pay an
American to go to Panama?"
I'VE are now giving about 80 per cent
more wages than are paid for similar
classes of labor in the United States. We
pay stenographers and typewriters $115,
$125 and even more per month Mechanics
get 80 per cent more than at home, and all
labor is proportionately better paid. AS to
whether it pays young man to go there
1 should say 1t does. He gets better wages,
rangements in force he cannot help but
save money He can do so now. Indeed. I
don't see how a young man can possibly
spend more than $50 or $40 a month"
Health-Panama for Young Men.
But, Mr.. Shonts, do you think you can
make the health conditions at Panama such
that one would risk sending his son there?
If you had son who was an engineer. for
instance would you dare send him to Pan
anna? Would you go there to live your
self?'
Panama Is not health resort" replied
the chief of the canal zone Il don't think
1t ever will rank as such. / do think how
ever, that 1t will soon be as healthy as
many of the cities of the United States L
have no boys, but had l one who was an
engineer l should not hesitate to let him
rn pn in 10 ne
so. AS for myself, Iexpect to spend a good
part of every year on the isthmus and /
shall be there during all times of the year.
Experimental Work.
What are the engineers doing at Pan
ama?"
'They are working away. testing the diff
ferent parts of the canal route, making
borings and other experimental investiga-
tons"
rs there any excavating going on at
Culebra Cut?'
no use of wasting work, time and money
there until we have the machinery, tracks
and other facilities needed for the work 1t
was a mistake to use the little French and
Belgian engines and the baby dump cars.
Each Of those cars holds only about FIVE
cubic yards of earth. Our new steam shovels
each take up five cubic yards at one
mouthful and when they drop 1t into such
a car they are likely to break 1t or spill It
out. IF, as Is sometimes the case, the
shovel takes UP an eight or ten-ton rock, it
may crush the car. They are worthless
for job like this. Another thing, as 1t is,
twenty-five such cars make train load
for one Of those engines. When you have
train load you are only carrying away
ITO cubic yards of earth, and as we have
only one track. you can see how fast the
work goes on. Indeed, think it was a
calamity that we got that lot of refuse
stun with our French bargain. Had we
started free. we would have bought the
best OF modern machinery. We must have
that now. The best is by far the cheap
est"
How much excavation has actually been
done since we took hold?"
About one million cubic yards. should
say"
How much win have to be doneY.