Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-28
do 1t more quickly and more cheaply with
due regard to careful government inspec-

do It more quickly and more cheaply with
due regard to careful government inspec-
uon."
Situation at Panama.
what Is being done at Panama."
asked.
I'VE are doing everything we can to f1t
the isthmus for our working force. It -
useless to try to push the canal excavation
until we have food and houses for our work
men. We can only make haste slowly. The
work We are now doing will hurry up the
real work of the future
I'm the first place, we need yards for the
Panama railroad and docks at which to
land our supplies. We have hundreds OF
men at work constructing them. At Girls
tobal Colon we are building wharves and
excavating 80 that we shall be able to load
and unload a number of ships there at a
time. This is also permanent work in the
building Of the canal. Instead of making
a great breakwater from Colon to the main
land across the bay at a cost of millions
trance to the canal. We shall have rail-
road tracks running beside them, SO that
the goods from the cars can be taken al
most directly to the ships and vice versa.
We are also improving the harbors at the
Panama end of the canal. and are rapidly
bringing in lumber for the new buildings
Houses for the Men.
)
viding homes for the workmen?'
1--WE have building going on everywhere
throughout the zone,'' replied Mr.. Shonts.
when we reached Panama we found the
chief canal officers in the City of Panama,
in unhealthy localities, and in most cases
in buildings which were very unsanitary.
We found no adequate quarters for the
workmen along the canal route. ana also
that the American employees of Panama
xx-or 1it-t, IN hn oil
devote all our energies at first to getting
healthy working places We are now build
ing offices at Ancon, a hill which rises
almost straight up from the sea, on the
edge of Panama City, and we shall have
the houses of the clerks there. 1t is one
of the healthest places the isthmus, and
far better than Panama proper.
I'VE are building hotels and lodging
houses all along the canal strip We are
repairing the cottages and little houses
which the French built, and putting up
others. Many of these are for the common
native laborers, who must be well housed
If they are to do good work.
In Panama and Colon.
what are you doing in the cities?''
1--WE are cleaning up Panama and Colon
and completing the sewers and waterworks.
Panama has now plenty of water which
comes from a dam far up in the mountains
The water is very pure and better than that
of many of our cities. We shall also sup
ply Colon with good water. The sewers are
rapidly being put into Panama, and we
shall soon have the streets paved. We shall
lay the chief thoroughfares with brick. and
we now taking brick there in great
quantities. We are cleaning the city. 1t
has not been In a sanitary condition for
ages; we are Wiping out the cesspools and
we hope to make it as healthy as any town
of our gulf states. Heretofore Col Gorgas
and the other doctors have been devoting
hon Sa1I frxyj to ont nv
wiping out the mosquitoes and fSOlatfng the
yellow-fever patients. These methods are
good, but we also believe in the old-fash-
toned theory that cleanliness is next to
health as well as next to goodness. We
are doing some thorough cleaning on that
basis throughout the canal zone"
Those Food Contracts.
How about the food for the men and
those food contracts which involved mil
lions of dollars Mr.. Shonts?" l asked.
There has been a great misrepresentation
about those food contracts. 1t was neces-
sary that the contracts be let out at once.
When reached the isthmus we found
the workmen out Of food. and that they
could not labor for lack Of 1t. The whole
population of the isthmus Is but few
thousand. and when the ten or twelve
thousand canal employees were added, the
supplies of provisions became short and
prices went skyward The result was the
the necessaries Of life. They had to stop
work for lack Of eatables and some lived
for time on sugar cane. We saw that
we must send food to the isthmus, and
that at once. We hurried up the estab-
lishment of the commssary departments,
and we are now sending supplies there reg
ularly. We shall soon have it so arranged
that both the gold and silver men shall be
supplied at cost with almost everything
they need from these comTnissaries.'
But how about the millions of Uncle
get Mr.. Shonts?"
THE contractors will not get anything
out of Uncle Sam. They have merely the
privilege of opening hotels and supplying
food cooked and uncooked to the men at
certain fixed rates. They will make their
profit out of sheir business, and it will not
come from the government treasury at all.
The contracts are carefully worded and the
employees of the canal will be insured the
best of food and they will be protected
against extortion of any sort"
$4,000 Men Now at Work
How many men have you now at work?'
Taking Americans, natives, negroes
from Jamaica and all others we have just
about Il, co.," replied Mr.. Shonts.
What are 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