The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-12-21

terlnS ana paving of the streets.
The new reservoir back of Mount
Hope has been practically completed.
visited this reservoir. 1t is lake
over mile long and half a mile broad.
1t now carries some 500000,000 gallons
Or first class water Water mains have
been laid in the town, and nothing but
cataclysm will hereafter render it
necessary in the dry season to haul
water for the Use of Colon and Cristo-
bal One of the most amusing as we'll
as dishonest attacks made upon the
commission was in connection with
THIS reservoir. The writer in question
usually confined himself to vague gen
eral mendacity, but in this case he
specifically stated that there was no
water in the vicinity fit for a reservoir
Il drank it, and it was excellent and
that this particular reservoir would
never hold water anyway. With typ
lcal American humor, the engineering
corps still at work at the reservoir
have christened large boat which is
now used on the reservoir after the
individual who denied the possibility
Of the reservoirs existence.
Colon Pavements.
rode through the streets of Colon
after two days of almost unexampled
dswnpour, when they were at their
very worst. Taken as a whole, they
were bad-aS bad as Pennsylvania
avenue in Washington before Grants
administration - but through three
fourths of the town it is now possible
to walk, even during the period of ire
mendous rain, in low shoes without
wetting ones feet owing to the rapid
ity with which the surface water is
carried away in the bitches. All
men to whom | spoke were a unit in
saying that the conditions of the Colon
streets were 100 per cent better than
a year ago. Complaint was made to
ne by an entirely reputable man as to
the character of some of the material
used for repairing certain streets. On
investigation the complaint proved
well founded, but it also appeared that
the use of the material in question had
Teen abandoned. the commission after
having tried it in one or two streets
finding it not appropriate.
Complaints Not Well Founded.
The result of the investigation of
this honest complaint was typical of
what occurred when l Investigated
most of the other honest complaints
made to me-that is. where the COM
plants were not made wantonly or
maliciOusly they almost always proved
due to failure to appreciate the utter
inability of the commission to do ev-
erything at once
In addition to attending to the health
Of the employees, it is necessary to
provide for policing the zone. This is
done by police force which at present
numbers over 200 men under Captain
Stanton. About one-fifth of the men
are white and the others black In diff
ferent places | questioned some TWEEN
ty or thirty of these men, taking them
at random. They were fine set phys
ically and in discipline. With one eX-
cepton all the white men | questioned
had served in the American army, usu-
ally in the Philippines, and belonged to
the best type of American soldier All
the black policemen | questioned had
served either in the British army or in
the Jamaica or Barbados police They
We're evidently contented and were do
ing their work well.
InaSmuch as many both of the white
and colorel employees have brought
their families with them, schools have
been established under Mr.. O'Connor.
For the white pupils white American
teachers are employed; for the colored
pupils there are also some white Amer
lean teachers, one Spanish teacher and
one cOlOred American teacher, most of
them being co!ored teachers from ia.
maica, Barbados and st. Lucia. The
schoolrooms were good, and it was a
pleasant thing to see the pride that the
teachers were taking in their work and
their pupils.
Too Many Saloons.
There seemed to me to be too many
saloons in the zone, but the new high
license law which goes into effect
on Jan. / next will probably close four
fifths Of them. Resolute and success
full efforts are being made to minimize
10 %
Care 81 Employees.
Next in Importance to the problem
of sanltation-and indeed now of equal
importance-is the problem of securing
and caring for the men who actually
Ito the work. This great task has been
under the control of Mr.. Jackson
Smith and has been well done. At
present there are some 5000 white en-
ployees and some 10000 colored en-
ployees on the isthmus. | went over
the different places where the differ
ent kinds Of employees were working.
| think | saw representatives of every
type both at their work and in their
homes, and | conversed with probably
a couple of hundred of them all told,
choosing them at random.
Nearly 5000 Of the white employees
had come from the United States. No
man can see these young, vigorous men
energetically doing their duty without
a thrill of pride in them as Americans.
They represent on the average a high
class. Doubtless to congress the wages
paid them will seem high, but as
matter Of fact the only general CON-