The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-12-27
heir treatment, Nv ,rv ,na,v,sr,, II nroves

their treatment by any indIvicusl it proved
examination that this indi gidual was
himself West India man OF color, either
policeman, a storekeeper, or an assistant
storekeeper. Doubtless there must be many
comp aints against Americans; but those
to Whom | spoke did not happen to make
any such complaint to me. There no
complaint of the housing. I waY struck by
the superior comfort and responsibility of
the lives of the married men. IL would. In
my opinion. be most admirable thing If
much larger number of the men had their
wives, for with their advent all complaints
about the food and cooking almost sure
to cease.
One of the greatest needs at present is
TO provide amusements both for the white
men and the black. The Young Mems
Christian Association is trying To do good
work and should be in every way encour-
aged But the government should do the
main work. l have specifically called the
attention of the commission to this matter,
and something has been accomplished al
ready. Anything done for the welfare of
the men adds to their efficiency and money
devoted to that purpose Is therefore prop
erly TO be considered spent In building
the canal. 1t Is imperatively necessary to
provide ample recreation and amusement
IL the men are to be kept well and healthy.
Work of Construction.
The work is now going on with a vigor
and efficiency pleasant to witness The
three big problems of the canal are the La
Boca dams, the Gatun dam and the Guile
bra cut. The Culebra cut must be made
anyhow; but of course changes as to the
dams, or at least to the locks adjacent
to the dams, may still occur. The La Boca
dams offer particular problem. the bot
tom material being SO good that there Is a
practical certainty, rot merely to what
can be achieved, but as to the time of
achievement. The Gatun dam offers the
most serious problem which we have to
solve; and yet the ablest men the 18TH
mus believe that this problem Is certain Of
al hn inn IL al -
of course. IL necessitates great toll, energy
and intelligence, and although equally, Of
course, there will be some little risk In
connection with the work. The risk arises
from the fact that some of the material
near the bottom Is not so good could be
desired II the huge earth dam now con-
templated Is thrown across from one foot
bill to the other will have what Is prac-
tically a low, broad, mountain ridge behind
which will rise the inland lake. This arti-
fetal mountain will probably show less seep-
age, that Is, will have greater restraining
capacity than the average natural mountain
range. The exact locality Of the locks at
this dam-as at the other dams-is now
being determined. In April next Secretary
Taft, with three Of the ablest engineers OF
the country-Messrs. Noble, Stearns and
Rlpley--will visit the istbnus, and the three
engineers will make the final and conclusive
examinations as TO the exact site for each
lock- Meanwhile the work Is going anead
The CuIebra cut does not offer such great
risks; that Is, the damage liable to occur
from occasional land slips will not repre-
sent what may be called major disasters.
The work will merely call for intelligence,
perseverance and executive capacity. 1t Is.
however, the work upon which most labor
will have to be spent The dams Will be
composed OF the earth taken out Of the cut
and very possibly the building Of the locks
and dams will taken even longer than the
cutting in Culebra itself.
The main work Is now being done In the
Culebra cut. 1t was striking and impress
sive to see the huge steam shovels in full
play, the dumping trains carrying away the
rock and earth they dislodged The imple
ments of French excavating machinery,
which often stand a little way from the line
Of work, though of excellent construction,
look like the veriest toys when compared
with these new steam shovels, just as the
French dumping cars seem like toy cars
huge cars. dumped by steam plows, which
are now In use. This represents the enor-
nous advance that has been made In ma
chinery during the past quarter OF CEN
hence this new machinery, of which we are
now so proud, will similarly seem out OF
date, but 1t Is certainly serving It's pur-
pose well now. The old French cars had
to be entirely discarded. We still have In
use a few Of the more modern, but not
most modern, cars, which hold but twelve
yards of earth They can be employed on
yards apiece and instead Of the old clumsy
methods OF unloading them, steam pillow
Is drawn from end to end or the wnole YES
tibuled train. thus immensely economlzlng
labor. In the rainy season the steam snow
els can do but little in dirt, but they work
steadily In rock and In the harder ground
The most advanced methods, not only In
construction, but in railroad managemena'
have been applied in the Zone. with CORE
spending economies In time and cost. Inls
has been shown In the handling OF the
tonnage from ships into cars, and from
cars into ships on the Panama raiiroao'
Scores the Critics.
1t is not only natural, but inevitable,
that a work as gigantic as this which has
been undertaken on the isthmus should
arouse every species of hostility and criti-
cism. The conditions are so new ana SO
trying, and the work so vast, that IL wouiu
be absolutely out of the question that mis-
takes should not be made. Checks Will &C
cur. Unforeseen difficulties Will arise:
From time to time seemingly well-settied
5000 men are are engaged on the task After
while the number will be doubled In
such multitude II Is inevitable that there
should be here and there a scoundreI. very
many Of the poorer class OF laborers iack
the mental development to protect them
selves against either the rascality OF others
or their own folly, and IL Is not possipie
for human wisdom to devise plan Dy
which they can invariably be protected In
a place which has been for ages byword
for unhealthfulness, and with so large \
congregation Of strangers suddenly put
down and set to hard work there Will now
and then be outbreaks of disease. There
will now and then be shortcomings In adj
ministration there win be unlookedfor ac-
cidents to delay the excavation of the cut
or the building of the dams and locks.
Each such incident will be entirely natural,
and. even though serious, no one OF them
will mean more than a little extra delay
trouble. Yet each, when discovered by
folk OF little faith, will serve as an excuse
for the belief that the whole work Is being
badly managed. Experiments will continu-
ally be tried In housing, In hygiene, In
ging earth and rock. Now and then an
experiment will be failure; and among
those who hear Of Ii, a certain proportion
OF doubling Thomases will at once believe
that the whole work Is failure. Doubt
less here and there some minor rascality
will be uncovered; but as to this, l have
to say that after the most paiustaking In
quiry l have been unable to find a single
reputable person who had so much as t,eard
OF any serious accusations affecting the
honesty of the commission or of any re-
sponsible officer under It, l investigated
the most serious charge, that OF the owner
ship of lots In Colon the charge was not |
advanced by reputable man. and Is utter
ly baseless. 1t is not too much to say that
the whole atmosphere Of the commission
breathes honesty as II breathes efficiency
kept absolutely clear of politics. l have
never heard even a suggestion of spoils poll |
tics In connection with IL.
So much for honest criticism. There re-
mains an immense amount of reckless
Islander as has ever been published. Where
the slanderers are of foreign origin l have
no concern with them. Where they are
Americans, l feel for them the heartiest
contempt and Indignation; because, in a
spirit of wanton dishonesty and malice,
they are trying to interfere with, and ham,
per the execution of, the greatest work of
the kind ever attempted, and are seeking
to bring to naught the efforts of their |
countrymen to put to the credit of Aneri-
ca one OF the giant feats of the ages. The
outrageous accusations of these sland~rers
constitute a gross libel upon body of |
public servants who, for trained intelli-
gence, expert ability, high character and
devotion to duty, have never been excslled |
anywhere. There Is not a man among those
directing the work on the isthmus who
has obtained his position on any other ba- |
sis than merit alone and not one who has
used his position in any way for his own