Oxford eagle., 1906-12-20

otten inpossiblhty OF providing In every
place Tor the constant Increase In the
numbers Of employees Generally the pro
vision is made In advance, but IL ia not
possible that this should always be the
period OF time during which the condi
lions are unsatisfactory, until a remedy
can be provided. but / never found a
case where the remedy was not being
provided as speedily as possible.
Improvements In Cities.
The sanitation work In the cities OF
Panama and Colon has been just as
important as In the zone itself. and In
many respects much more difficult, be-
cause II was necessary TO deal with
IN. already existing population. which
na,u,fiy na,uraliy had scant sympathy with
rcNolutionary changes, the valuc Of
winch they were for long time not
able TO perceive. In Colon the popula-
tlon consists largely of colored labor
srs who having come over from the
West indies 70 work on the canal
abandon the work and either take To
the brush or lie idle In Colon itself
mus peopling Colon with the least de-
sirable among the imported laborers
Tor the good and steady men of course
continue at the work. Yet aatonish-
ing progress has been made in both
streets tbat snaa ia 20 bsy.s per gent q The
already paved with an excellent brick
pavement laid In heavy concrete n few
OF the streets being stiii In process of
in the city are OF the most modern hy-
Hienic type. some OF the service hav-
ing Just been completed.
In Colon the conditions are peculiar,
and IL is as regards Colon that most OF
the very bitter complaint has been
made. Colon Is built on low coral
island. covered Mt more or less shallow
depths with vegetable accumulatious
or mold. which affords sustenance and
strength to many varieties OF low
lying tropical plants. One-half OF the
surface OF the island Is covered with
water AZ high tide. the average height
OF the land being III feet above low
tide, The slight undulattons furnish
shallow. natural reservoirs or fresh
water breeding places for every varie-
" OF mosquito. and the ground tends
10 be lowest in the middle. when the
town was originally built no attempt
was made TO I'LL the low ground. either
IN the streets or on the building sites,
80 that the entire surface was prac
f'cailv ava grnire. whom the dua Y
mire became impossible certain OF the
streets were crudeiv improved hv MI .
ing especially bad mud holes with soft
rock or other material In September
1905. Systematic EFFORT wa. begun 10
formulate general plan for the prop
er sanitation OF the city. in February
taken, while In July the prosecution of
the work was begun tn good earnest
The results are already visible In the
sewering. draining. guttering and pav-
ing OF the streets. some four months
will be required before the work IN
sewerage and street Improvement Nill
De completed. but The proEr.sss ALREADY
been dug through the town. conuecfins
the salt water on both sides. ana into
these the ponds. which haye s.rt,- -
breeding places for the mosquitoes. ar
drained. These bitches have answered
their purpose. for they are probably
the chief cause Of the asfanfshiur
diminution OF mosquitoes. More ditehes
a a - laa.Na
unIus, Criticism.
Care and forethought have been erer-
cised by the commission, and nothing has
reflected more credit upon them than
their refusal either TO go ahead too fast
or TO be deferred by the fear % criticism
from not going ahead fast enough. IL is
curious to note the fact that many Of
the most severe critics OF the commission
criticise them for precisely opposite "a
sons. some complaining bitterly :iat the
work Is not in more advanced condi-
tion. while the others cSr..p plain that Il has
been rushed with sch haste that there
has been insufficient preparation for the
hygiene and comfort OF the employees
just. !; would have been impossible to
go quicker than the commission has
gone. for such quickness would have
meant insufficient preparation. on the
other hand. TO refuse to do anything un-
Ill every possible future contingency had
been met would have caused wholly un.
warranted delay; The right course to
follow was exactly the course which has
been followed Every reasonable prepara-
tion was made In advance. the hygienic
conditions In especial being made as
nearly perfect as possible; while on the
other hand there has been no timid re-
fusal 10 push forward the work because
Of Inability to anticipate every possible
emergency. for. OF course. many defects
can only he shown by the working OF the
system in actual practice.
lnasmuch as so many both of the white
and colored employees have brought their
established. the school service being un-
der Mr. OConnor. For the white pupils
white American teachers are employed: /:
for the colored pupils there are also some
white American teachers. one Spanish
teacher, and one colored American teach
er. most OF them being colored teachers
from Jamaica. Barbados and ST. Lucia.
a pleasant thing to see the pride that the
teachers were taking in their work ard
their pupils.
Care Of Employees.
Next in importance to the problem OF
sanitation, and indeed now Of equal i'm
portance. Is the problem OF securing and
caring for the mechanics. laborers and
other employees who actually do the work
on the canal and the railroad. This great
task has been under the control of Mr..
been well done. At present there are
some 5000 white employees and some
1890 colored employees on the isthmus
went over the different places where
the different kinds of employees were
working! | think | saw representatives
Of every type both at their work and In
their homes. and conyersed with prob
ably a couple of hundred OF them all
told. choosing them at random from
every class and including those who came
especially 10 present certain grievances
olmost invariably expressed far greater
content and satisfaction with the con-
ditions than did those who called to
make complaint
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
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 a mat
ter OF fact the only general complaint
which found had any real basis among
the complaints made to me upon the
isthmus was that. owing to the peculiar
surroundings. the cost of living. and the
distance from home, the wages were
really not as high as they should be. In
fact. almost every man | spoke to felt
that he ought to be receiving more
money-a view. however, which the aver
age man who stays at home In the
as regards himself. append figures of
the wages raid, so that the congress can
Judge the matter for itself. Later l shall
confer on the subject with certain repre-
sentative labor men here in the United
States. as well as going over with Mr.
stevens. the comparative wages paid on
the zone and at home. and l may then
communicate my findings to the canal
committees of the two houses.
Chinese and Other Labor.
or the 10000 or 10000 day laborers
employed on the canal a few hundred
are spaniards. These do excellent
work Their foreman told me that
they did twice as well as the West
Indian laborers. They keep healthy
and no difficulty is experienced with
them in any way. Some Italian labor
ers are also employed in connection
with the drilling. AS might be ex-
pected. with labor as high priced as
at present in the United States IL has
not so far proved practicable to get
any ordinary laborers from the United
States. The American wage workers
on the isthmus are the highly paid
skilled mechanics Of the types mem
toned previously. A steady effort is
being made to secure Italians and es-
pecially to procure more Spaniards.
because of the very satisfactory re-
suits that have come from their em-
ployment and their numbers will be
increased as far as possible. 1t has
not proved possible. however. to get
them in anything like the numbers
needed for the work. and from present
appearances we shall in the main have