The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-21
LABOR ON ISTHMUS.
COL. CHRIsTIE,s TRANSLATION
 GIVES vALUABLE ADVICE.
White Man Under Normal Conditions Must Be Cautious Working ns Day Laborer--Jamnicans
 Best Suited.
Advertiser Bureau. Washington. Aug. 19.

has completed a translation of French
 report on conditions in Panama shortly
 before the United States acquired the 1 canal route and zone.
 The translation has been placed in
 the hands of the Panama Canal Com l mission. and 1t is receiving careful | that Is of practical worth to the pres 1 ent promoters of the great enterprise.
 The expert who made the report Is M. C. Sendereggor, prominent French engineer, who spent eight years on the isthmus under both the old and the new regimes. It was published In Paris in 1909, and 1t has never before been translated into English.
 In his transmission of the report to the Secretary of War. Colonel Christie says:
 "sendereggors work seems to be ap- soluteiy fr.rnk in sentiment and con sistent wi,-. the official records careful ly and accurately kept by the French savants, both of the old and of the new Panama companies"
 Engineer Sanderregor discusses four subjects in his report. They are. In- fuence of Climate, Personnel, Work men and Hygienic Conditions. In the light of eight years experience on the Isthmus. his treatment of the subjects is timely and interesting.
 Of the climate the report says:
 'I do not recall that I ever really
 suffered from the heat, if 1t was met at the commencement of the work in the fresh cuttings of the virgin forests when the reflection of the sun from the dead timber raised the temperature of the atmosphere to a degree almost impossible to endure. In the marshes of the valley of the Chagres the survey ing was particularly trying. The ex- haustion of a prolonged walk over miry soil; the biting of giant mosqui- toes and the torments of the other par | asites of the woods, together with the great heat, rendered the torture almost beyond endurance.
 Fortunately the period of the hard est ordeals has passed. The trenches of the canal and the drawings off from the Chagres have drained the | marshy places. The extensive clearing | has made healthy the banks of the l canal. and the parasites of the woods
 have disappeared with the forests. There will be no perceptible increase | in the heat in the trenches as com pared with that of the surrounding I country. There was none in a trench
 in Bahio, which was 50 metres deep | in solid rock.
 However temperate 1t may be at Panama. thanks to the moderating ac- | tion of a sea a-climate, the heat is against the white mans manual labor in the open air. The exertion of a long | walk in the sun raises the pulse to 125 | minute. Even in the shade physical efforts continued rapidly depletes the vitality of Europeans. Tn a tunnel at Bohio, Piedmontese and Tyolese, en- gagged for the instruction of nation | workmen, fell below their apprentices
 in the amount of labor done. With the
 exception of two men, themselves often sick during their sojourn on the isth-
 mus, all have disappeared or been re. l patriated. Attempts made with the
 same people as excavators have proved | the same inability to do the work" Civil Engineer Sonderregor says that | the only use that can practically be
 made of white men on the canal work is
 to look after the machinery and to su perintend the work of the black men. | who seem to be best fitted for enduring | the heat
 | The absolute death of workmen in- | structed and of experience in haudi-
 craft was one of the main obstacles the | old company encountered" continued | the engineer, and 1t was four years ere this trouble was overcome. He | found that the largest number of these
 indispensable factors soon dispersed or
 were sent home. When he took charge
 of this work he employed Europeans l for the workshops, who, have instruc-
 tions to the colored workmen. the most l Intelligent and expert of the latter be-
 ing assigned to responsible places. He advises that schools be established to | train hands for the higher classes of
 work, saying that the poorest workman
 at his post Is better than the best who
 is sick more of his time.
 | Of the mortality rates during the
 eight years he was on the Isthmus, M. ISondreggor remarks that among the
 whites 1t ranged from 10 to 20 per
 cent, depending upon the kind of work
 done in the first year.
 After that the rate decreases. and
 one can live there without fear of yellow fever The city resident Is al-
 ways subject to more danger than the
 man who dwells in the open country.
 It will be necessary to have at hand | twive as many white employees for
 the work laid out. if 1t is constantly
 to proceed; that death and sickness
 will invariably keep the force half cut down. It will be necessary to econo-
 mize scruplously the precious capital
 of white labor and to give them lib eral leaves of absence. The opinion that whites from the southern coun- tries can better stand the climate than l those from the northern countries M. ISondreggor finds is erroneous, as Nor wegians and Swiss stand the climate
 just as well as Spaniards and Italians.
 Men of sanguine temperaments. he says, and young people fall victims
 for more easily than others, the con
 clusion being the minimum age limit
 should be twenty-five years. A strict | ly moral life free from al excesses Is
 urged as essential to safe health on
 the Isthmus.
 The Jamaica negro is credited as best suited for the canal work, as proved by years of observation. They compare favorably in strength with the Italians, and they are said to be superior In respect of honesty and
 obedience to direction to any other
 workmen. Their only drawback Is their immortality in which they are
 only surpassed by the natives of the | isthmus Unlettered and scantly | clothed they surprised the engineer by | their sang froid in time of danger.
 The attempt to import help from Asia
 and Africa was an utter failure The negroes thus imported were headstrong
 and disobedient and were always work | ed at a loss. Their excesses and
 filthy way of hving made them excep- l tionally liable to disease. The Chi nese. the engineer says, were worse
 than the other Asiatics. deserting the l work at the first opportunity, to the delight of the contractors.
 The main thing of the hygienic con- dition of the isthmus Is to have people
 who can react systematically against | the anaema of the climate. This Is | easy in the cities but if is quite inn