New-York tribune., 1905-07-17
REoREATION AT PANAMA.

A certain derision was affected by some su-
perior persons not long ago over the suggestion
that public amusements should be provided at
Panama 1t was asked, with wnat was meant
TO be whitening sarcasm, if we expected to over
come yellow fever with coon songs and to con-
struct the canal with vaudeville shows. To
these questions. as now even their supercillous
authors are beginning to perceive, a bold af-
frmative answer might properly be given. It
is being realized that the suggestion Of amuse-
ments was an eminently wise one, showing that
those who made it had a sound practical under
standing Of conditions and necessities on the
isthmus.
The melancholy fact is that Panama is al
most entirely destitute Of public amusements
or recreation Of any kind. On Sunday even
ings a band plays In the Cathedral Plaza, and
after the concert is over there is a ball at
the Commercial Club. The concert is enjoya-
bic, and hundreds Of people sit or stroll about
and listen to It. The ball is q delightful affair,
and is attended by some dozens Of favored
Panamans. But these are all. There are no
theatres. music halls, art galleries, libraries or
other places Of entertainment, the one sO-called
theatre In which Sarah Bernhardt once ap-
peared, coilSuLe Lesseps, being simply-imposst-
bic. When the days work is done there is alb
sOlutely nowhere to go, save to drinking sa-
loon or some place worse.
This state Of things is bad for the Panamans
themselves Many Of them, Of course, have
beautiful and cultivated homes in which to
spend their time, but many more have not. I'm
able to find other places Of entertainment, too
many Of them repair to drinking places and
gambling dens, and there, having nothing bet
ter to occupy their attention, talk politics and
sometimes plot seditiOn. Mr.. Lee now the
American consul at Panama, suggested last year
to President Amador that for the promotion Of
peace and contentment and loyal affection it
would be a profitable thing for the Panaman
government to engage bands to give concerts
every evening in several parts Of the city. The
suggestion was a sound one, and we may prob
ably perceive it's fruits in the fine opera house
and theatre which that government is about
to build.
But If places of amusement are desirable for
the Panamans themselves much more are they
for the many Americans who have gone to the
isthmus. The great majority of these are IN
married men or men who have left their fami-
lies at home. They have no homes the 18TH
mus In which to ind enjoyment In the United
States they were accustomed to go to theatres
and concerts and what not Now, exjled in
strange land, with few friends or acqunintances
and denied all legitimate social entertainment
and recreation, their lot is unspealIably dismal.
There is nothing to do but to work all day
and then spend the evening in a barroom or IN
a barracks, musng over the chances Of catch
ing yellow fever or dengue!
That is a forbidding picture, but it Is a true
one. Happily, that state of affairs easily
and speedily be corrected. It Is to correct it
that Mr.. Lee has made and has repeated his
suggestions Of public amusements, and that Mr..
Shonts is arranging to have what we may call
a director of recreation regularly employed on
the isthmus, installing reading rooms, organ
iZing athletic teams and social clubs, and in
other ways providing the entertainment which
man, as q social being, naturally Graves and
needs Such work, as we have already init
mated, is as essential a part of the whole
great enterprise as is the draining of mosquito
swamps or the operation Of steam shOvels. The
men who do the work are after all, the su-
preme factor in the problem, and their welfare,
physical, social and other should be the OBJ
ject Of supreme care.