The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-01-21

workman applied for his pay. He had
! finished his weeks work and wanted
TO get away on the steamer which was
| about to sail. This was at Carozal.
The negro waited all day Sunday,
and at the close of the day was told to
come again on the morrow. He came
| again on Monday and waited until 9
o'clock in the afternoon, thus losing
full days work. The foreman again
/ put him off-Said he was busy-tOld
him TO come next day.
The negro, whose steamer would not
wait, became impatient and begged the
| white man to give him his money and
let him go. The foreman met this ap-
| peal by ordering him off the premises
and addressing him as an ''imperti-
nent, sinking black"
The negro, who was from the self
! governing island of Barbados, felt in
dignant at this. and very properly let
/ ny MS fist against the front of the fore
| man, and then, knowing the nature Of
! Panama law, took to his heels
/ he was captured, hauled before an
! American Judge and sent to jail for ten
days. The white foreman was not even
! reprimanded, This story was vOuched
| to me by leading merchant of Colon,
! a ScOtchman, who had verified the de-
/ tails.
Another white merchant, whom had
| known fifteen years ago at St. Kits,
| In the Windward islands, told me that
! only few days prior to my arrival a
/ white man came up to a negro and de-
! manded Of him the loan of the horse
1 he was leading.
The negro refused, on the ground that
/ his master had ordered him to let no
one have 1t. The white man sought to
! lntlmidate him. The negro remained
/ true to his trust The white man then
! attacked the negro with his fists. The
negro, IN self-defense,. pulled a revolv-
| er and shot the assailant. The negro
| was promptly convicted of mansIaugh-
| ter-the white man as promptly de-
| clared innocent.
| My negro friend depressed me.
reminded him that Mr.. Taft had
| given a very pleasing picture of con
/ dItlons down here-and, indeed. from
! where we stood talking, I pointed out
/ to him clean. smooth street running
parallel with the railway, and on this
| street handsome ambulance pulled by
| two costly mules and driven by a pom
pOus negro.
naturally felt proud at this evidence
1 or municipal enterprise, and pointed
/ this out 10 my malaTiOus mentor.
! Fore God, sir, ahm tellin' YOU de
! troof!' said the negro, with tears in
| his voice "Mr. Taft an all dose big
! people dey didn't see real thing-dey
/ went to dances an talked with poll
! uclans. Dey don't know how de work
man has to live"
|
! And so 7 determined to act on this
/ lint, and for this purpose hunted up an
American merchant, who has lived in
! Colon since 1857, who has been con-
/ nected with the original railway and
with every subsequent great industrial
| movement on the isthmus
! had many letters to official pee Die.
/ L had none to him. AS a rule, I ind
! official people dangerous guides, unless
! their statements are recttfied bv such
/ as have no axes to grind
| Mr. Robinson kindly laid aside his
/ work for the day, and at my request
| conducted me through the whole of
/ Colon Tor the purpose of finding an ex-
/ plaaaLlon Tor the strange exodus from
| what should be a labor paradise.
/ We passed along the front street
/ the show street.-The only street We
/ went 10 the Central market, which COW
/ efs block, around the four sides of
! which [ found merely pools of stag
| nant water-''handy for drowning h9-
pies as negro foreman playfully re-
marked. Every Whit. Of air blew moi
son into the public market; the strings
OF meat on the butcher stalls hung IN
protected against flies, dust, and the
plentiful body Of germs which were
breeding IuXuriantly in the hot moist
air
While dozen or more amateur ply
slcIanS were cunning after MOSQUITOES
here in the Central market was a gath
erlng Of all that was vile in the way of
! mlcrObial prOpag cation. The market tes-
/ titled TO the pOOrness of the food sup
/ ply, TO the absence of roads or farms
In the neighbOrhOOd, in short, to the
indifference of the government 1Ivon y
matter Of prime necessity-food for the
labOTer
One glance at the Central market is
enough to account for the chronic state
of pest which eharacterizes this CITY
| In spite of all officials bulletins 10 the
contrary.
Did Mr.. Taft Inspect the labor
! quarters % I asked of MI Robinson. /
mo" answered my venerable friend.
l prayed him to let me show him the
real state or things on the isthmuS but
he declined; he professed to know ali
about 1t from official sOurces!"
Mr.. Taft spent five days down here.
said an eminent engineer TO me. In
that time he attended three dances and
a succession of social functions. But
he had no time TO look into the condi-
ton of the labOring man."
Mr.. Taft, it seems, and most of the
other high officials who had run down
at government expense, made them
selves ridiculous in the eyes of the res
idents by exhibiting a panicky dread of
disease in place where thousands of
their fellow men were exposing them
selves freely.
The natural thought in the minds of
many was: If this place is too rotten /
Tor such as Mr.. Taft why does not he J
order it Immediately drained and
cleaned? Is his life so much more pre-
cious than ours that he is hauled out to /
sea every evening on board a govern |
ment transport while we who have also
come down here for the United States |
government are condemned to sIeep i'm |
a poisonous swamp"
For the benefit of Mr.. Taft I made
hOuSe-tO-hOuseV visitation throughout /
the best part Of a blazing hot day. Nor
did l permit myself to be ''steered. - |
Wherever I chose to stop haphazard I |
did so, and entered houses and inquired /
or the tenants how they Jared. So soon
as they saw Mr.. Robinson they treated /
me as a friend.
To name all those with whom I talked +
along the streets of Colon would be |