The Washington times., 1906-02-05
DECLARES BIGELON
WROTE FALSEHOOOS
W. ID. Mabry Scores Writer
in Letter From Panama.
FORMERLY LIVED ERE
Letter Refers to SPECIAL Article" on
Canal as a Mess of Rotten
Misrepresentation"

W nat DO YOU tnltlk or writer VINO
gathers up feathers of truth only that
he may give wings TO falsehoo1?"
In a letter written from COrOzal. canal
zone. W. u. Mabry asks this question
with reference TO POultney Bigelow and
tie latter's now-eelebrated article de-
scribing alleged conditions on the 18TH
mus.
Mr. Mabry is a former Washingtonian
and was employed In the War Depart
ment here before going. last tail. 10 ac-
Cept Office under the isthmian govern
ment. The letter was written TO A II
Gibbs. a clerk in the office of the Audi
Tor for the War Department.
II deals scathingly with BigeIow. The
letter is as follows:
.'CorozaI. c. T.. Jan y. 1906
Dear friend Gibbs; / have Just received
your letter Of the Sth. You ask me what
! think OF Poultney Bigelow's article.
which YOU inclOse. / think that the per
son and the newspaper giving out such
rotten MISREPRESENTATION do more 10
hinder the work OF building the canal
Than do the yellow fever and malaria
with which We have had To contend ]
can understand how the notIye of the
newspaper that publishes such things.
" IL believes them 10 he true. caIs be
sod: but ] do not know what the mo-
I've Of the writer of them can he un-
}ess IL be for pelf. When Il man flag
rantiy misrCTreseEts In one thing. vOL
cannot believe anything else he SAYS.
Take THIS for example.
90 AT Corozal. three miles from Pan
anna. I was taken hY an official of lie
canal company 10 see magnificent
hotel erected by our GOVernmeut. u
was "A splendid edifce. and cost. of
course. a corresponding sum Of money.
But IL was deserted.
" Our political architect builder SAN
itary inspector. and engineer had placed
this hotel i'm a depression Of land which
became a lake, or, rather. a vast hog
wallow. when it rained and vUnS,-
0uently II was breeding ground or
pestilenCe.
Calls 1t Faisehood.
That statement Is Drumming full OF
Misrepresentation. rXagEeration and
falsehood from quotation 10 quotation.
] have been ia -n,s hotel ~ycl day ana
night, except when It Office. since the
2Sth OF last June. The building has
accommodations for 2 little more than
lGo people There has not been a day
since ! came when there have been
less than eighty people quartered in the
hcuSe, while Al times II has been next
To Impossible % md room for one
more. True IL IS that. from 5 o'clock
IN The morning 70 5'30 In the afternoon,
while We are "u out at work, some in
th- offices some on the line the mlfld-
ing Is practically deserted, like a hive
when the .oees are at wo~k; but what
DO you think of a writer who ,rar14srs
mp feathers of truth only thAt DE olaY
give wings 10 falsehoOd2
hr. BlgelOW Charactcc4zCs the site
uI the hotel as q lake or vast bDlr-
Eallow. That is all fancy. an.t Yer,
filthy fancy at that. CorozaI IS nos
recognized as one Of the pr"ttIrst and
most healthy places on tile whO.e linz
what were once low. marshv Diaces
close to the hotel site, have been thor
ongAly drained until pair of big gov
erument mules are often seen dTaWfny
a Mccormick mower over the very low,
est OF the low places cutting down The
grass These places have more the an
peHIanc' or meadows, with never hog
In sight
Work Of Imagination.
About a month ago ! had been nm
IN the hills for a walk. Returning
when I reached the valley 7 took n
short cut across one OF Mr.. Bigeiow's
'hog-wallows.' having on pair Of
white canvas shoes. After about a
quarter OF a mile wa.fing Through me
grass, l came out at the hotel with
out sign of dampuess, even on the
soles or my shoes. Even after a hard
rain, an old razor back would have
10 hustle into one OF the Government
bitches and get down To business In Il
hurry II she succeeded in getting her
Wallow before the water disappeared.
4he nog- -Wali0W exists only in
Mr Bigelow's fertile brain.
Now. If Mr. Bigelow so grossly
misr' presented IN one thing, you may
safely dismiss all the rest as utterly
unre liable. You may know that / do
not care a rap about this matter. eX-
cept as l want the exact truth To be
known Let truth have a square deal.
'N ours, sincerely,
Wv. ID. MABRY.E