The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-09-01
LABOR On PANAMA CANAL.
NEGROES FROM WEST lHCfEc
FURNISH TIE euLN.
Lack Energy and Erains-The seri-
Gus Problem Of ticw to Secure 2
COMPETENT Supply OF unshii!ed
Workmen on the Great Work.

In IN article on the Panama Canal.
John Foster Carr. writing in the Out
! look, says that the blacks who ars
doing the drua aing toll OF the work
there come from the chain CT Carlib-
bean Islands that curves its 2G00 miles
from the mouth of the Orinoco TO
! Iuca1an-the islands that are soon
! In naval strategy to be the Outworks
OF the canal. Compare these negroes,
man with man, and you find astonlsh-
ing differences The Barbadian often
| has all the marks Of his African
I fathers. The Jamaican less by blend
/ ed blood than by education and a
/ NATURALIZATION grown national, shows
! a surface advance in type, AS his
! shovel works through the crushed
stone and mixes the concrete he VIII
join in a monOtOnOus chant, but MS
music has 10 melody like that Of our
negroes. He is very English, some
times 20 the point of mutton-chop
wliskers. and sometimes. by per-
varsity in imitation. be becomes
vcritahle h-less Cockney in ebon. In
the Martiniquan the African traits are
TRANSFORMED There is often French
cOmclincss: in the women a French
daiatiness and intelligence. full
half of the men wear the frencn
goatee and bear preposterous re-
semblauce to abe hol.evardier Ma
poleon. They ply their picks sullenly.
And so the men OF no two Islands are
alike. Grenadians are quite different
from Lucians; the man from ST. klts
requires more tactful handling than
the Fortune Islander.
Study them as laborers and the es-
senial similarities of all West IN
dams appear. II does not matter
whether they are digging drainage
trench in Colon, or laying tracks at
the very bottom of the Great Cut, or
breaking up the ancient cUDblest enc
pavemeEts of Panama. Watch them
work for but single day and YOU
are pIZzling over the worst problem
that faces cur engineers. The only
labor they can find in the Western
less than one-ihild the efficiency of
our labor OF the North. The Nes
Indians every movement is Slow al'.
bun"Iil@; every small obstaf 10 a sub /
ject for debate: anything 1T al
sufficient excuse f1r all hands 70 STOP
work. ! slow ra0at,i look from ere (.
or two Of = gang IS usually the o0.y .
sign hat they have heard the fore .
mans yell. for there is 10 change in
pace Or manner Il work. Both re
main SLOW, incredibly slow-''siow as
the wrath of God" is the .impatie"t !,
descriptive phrase Of the chief en-
gineer. They seem in a topic trance
OF idleness and stupidity. They can
not learn 10 master a tool. Taey will
bend over the ground with pick.
and use no muscles for the work bat
their biceps. Let a good foreman keep
at them and they can finally be
brought 70 lift it above the shoulder
ss long as they are watched. but il
always falls of its own weight.
The poorest labor l have ever
tlown' is the condemnation OF a
slobetrottirs engineer. And yet We
can we'll spare some of our denuncia
ton of the West Indian. for his i'm
provCment lies mGasurably in cur own
hands. His lodging is already better
and more cieanly than any that he has
ever known, and the new type of his
quarters is a further advance in ven
tilation and protection against mosqu!-
toes. But he has net Jared 50 wei.
In the matter Of nouri5hment Allow
ing him to feed himself for peace
sake has had unfortunate consequence,
la bOrerS do nOt eat sufficient or prop
or food to enable them to do any kind
Of hard work. | have looked into hum
dreds CT their pots boiling over bon
fires, as they crouch beside them A
very large number contained nothing
plantains. Others had added a small
piece of salt pork, beef Or Goldfish. H.
The rainy season, when with damp
wood their primitive fires fail them,
hey tell me that they have often to
choose between half-cooked vans and
ice. which the doctors say is not d.
sestihle-and biscuits Bread is al
most unknown. The ColCmbians alone
Know how to forage we'll. Their f-h
md meat stews are always hearty AMI
ometimes delicious. as can testify,
md they al.ne of all the laborers
N the Isthmus who feed themselves
seem to live better than those who 5
% to the Commission kitchens. |
Weak and anaemic are all these |
)oOrly-fed laborers. They FALL easy {