The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-09

part OF our Panama purchase The
horses went with It, and also the but
tons. The livery. long blue coat,
made by Panama tailor, was bought
By General Davis out Of his own POCKET 'tt,
and ns for the residence, that Is the OLD
5f home OF the man who had charge OF the
French stables. and IS In sight and smell
n OF where a hundred or, 50 canal ponies
and draft mules are now quart 8fsS5
was originally intended for the corral
y master and his assistants, but It has
/. since been sovcrhauled. repaired and re-
paintb8, and now makes n com forta PIE
bungalow homo for the governor.
The Ruler of Our Panama Zone.
Every one knows General Davis He !ss
Il has been IN the pu bile eye ever since
4 Dc Lesseps began this canal we are nov
building Born on a farm in Connecti-
cut, he was employed in lumber bust
ness In Georgia when the war broke out
but he mad & his way north and Joined the
Union army. He went In as a yolun-
teer sergeant and caTo out as cap
tain OF the regular army. He had al
h rcadysriscn to a colonelcy when VIC be-
+ gam the war with Spain, and during
that struggle his service was such tina I
4 he was promoted to be brigadier-general
and then mnjor-general OF volunteers
d General Davis has since served as gov
crnor OF Porto Rico. military governor
o, Manila, and he was for time the
commander of all the troops OF the.
philippines. He Is now one OF the
members OF the canal commission, and
IS also the governor OF our tcn-rllle strip
I on tho isthmus Of Panama, with Its pop
8 ulation OF $4,000 newly adopted Amerl-3
y can citizens. 81
How Governor Davis Looks
Governor Davis is now sxty-ilv years
OF age, but he is In his prime intellect
s ually, lie Is as straight al one OF the
royal palm trees not far from his house;
3 he is as brow as a berry and rs tough
az IA nut He has. with the exception
IS OF a few weeks, when he1went home on
account OF tho serious illness OF his
wife, been here since his appointment
last February, and he Is. In fact, about
the only one OF the canal commission
who has spent much OF his time on
tho ground. IIc represents the II conf
mission and also the government. As
y ruler OF the zone he has more power
than any state governor In the Union
He can order any one of the United
States territory ms an impeachment TO
the email work or ms detrimental to the
best interest OF Ills little prlncipality. he
has, In fact, the powers of a military ru 'fHe
and he might be called the car OF our
Panama possess ions.
Our New Colony on the lsthlnus
asked General Davis to tell me Just
what land Uncle Sam owns al Panama
Said he; ,oo 4 &
eve have nltogether. about 100000 !. Z,
acres. BY the treaty We own q strip
Ave miles wide on each side OF the
winding Panama canal. which, with tho.
Il three marine miles at each end. Is more
Than nifty miles long, rho land Is Of
every description. Some Of IT Is low
and rather lnarsly; other parts are
high lnnds covered with jungle Several
torrential rivers run through i, lnclnda-
I ing tho Cllagres. tho Rio Grande, the
Trinidad and others and its middle por-
tion is composed of the ragged low
mountains best known by tho big cut at
Culcbra. Tho strip runs from ocean
10 ocean, and, in addition, we have sew
oral Islands In Panama bay and the right
to take any other land that may DC
J, needed for the use OF tho canal,
Public Lands in the Zone.
nIIow are the lands held, Governor? ]
suppose they mostly belong TO the ma + Il
4 tives?''
owned was the reply III eo remain
belongs TO the United States by virtue
Of the canal and the treaty BY the
treaty with Panama we have the old
lands that Colombia held, and by the
purchase of the canal wo have all that
We're assigned to the French, as well
as those which have been acquired from
time TO time by the Panama railroad
which, ms you know, runs through the
strip right along the limo Of the canal"
as the land Of value for farming r.
0rhe most OF 1t could be so used; but
so far nothing has been done Win d,
There Is very little swamp land although
some is low ana marslly. The low lands
could all be turned into sugar planta.-,
Setlons, and the ground higher up would
& serve for raising coffee and cacao. the
Y trees from which tho chocolate comes.
uThe people" continued General loa-
Wis. 0do but little farming. There are,
In some places. patches OF sugar ,ca ne
from which rum lsE ma taeturen !. !.
fawGof the Chinese have gardens, hut the