The National tribune., 1906-04-19


sensations. Plain facts are all that ar
wanted" Well. IL plain facts" happel
to be sensations. then what? Mr.. Clun
is personally known TO me. He wouldn'
lie for anybody. He has been write
and correspondent for good man
the average mars bond. Mr.. Clum i
sending back some ripping" stuff a
plain facts" For instance. when some
body came up here and said that TIL
water supply of Colon and Cristobal wa
no good. there was an immediate rep!.
from inspired" quarters that the sup
ply was ample. Mr.. Clum finds it nil
water; paid it to Government officials
This is what Mr.. Clum says:
| secretary Taft. in a special repor
dated Jan. 8, 1906, informs the publi
that there is no scarcity of water il
Colon; that a permanent reservoir witt
4 capacity of 5oo,o0o.0o0 gallons is un
| Ter construction, with two permanen
| standpipes, one of 100000 and the othe
of 100000 gallons capacity, under con
tract to be completed by April l. Oh
| this last day of March / am able I,
| report that there is a scarcity of goot
| water in Colon; that the work of clear
| ing the ground for the 500, 1000, 000-gal
Ion reservoir has scarcely begun; tina
| the work on the permanent dam i
| practically at standstiil, and tina
neither of the two standpipes has beef
| begun"
| Mr.. Clum says that the spot where
this reservoir is to be is a big tree
| shaded valley at the present moment
He walked all over the reservoir sit,
| and counted the men at work. They
| numbered 200, mostly negroes, under
| a negrS foreman. He says that there
| should be at least 1000 men at work
there. Mr.. Clum says it is difficult t.
get the truth about things. The sore.
| heads can tell lot, and it is mostly
| true, but what they say is always dis
| credited because they are soreheads anG
| have a grievance. Government officials
| will not talk, or if they do, Mr.. CIun
says, they always say they must not be
quoted. but il he could quote them he
could give a lot of good news about
! how things are not being done down
there.
Mr.. Clum talked with George T. Ken
| Is, who was for six months one of the
engineers. Mr.. Kenly says the reser-
voir will be useless when it is finished
because there is nothing from which IL
| draw water. The surrounding country
| is but little higher than the reservoir
and is not natural watershed. and the
one stream from which the water sup
ply is to come is slow, sluggish, made
quate. Mr.. kenly says that the reser-
voir will be q disease breeder, because
the water will foul. He also says that
when the reservoir is constructed 1t will
take at least a year, and he believes
two years, to fill it with water, and ID
could not be used until once filled. And
1t is to be ready-nO, was to be ready
April / must have been of some other
year, don't you know. MIR. Clum also
says:
Some of the Governmental experts
on the Isthmus of Panama are taking
advantage of the Administration. Sec
| rotary Taft also stated on Jan. that
1000 feet of permanent (water) mains
have already been laid, and that the re-
naming 5000 feet are being laid at
the rate OF 400 to 500 feet daily II
this progress had been maintained the
laying of the mains would have been
completed within % days at the out
side. Nearly three months have elapsed
since then, and the laying of mains has
not been completed"
Mrs. Roosevelt has returned from her
cruise of the Cuban coast much re-
freshed in mind and body The FRS,
Lady in the Land was pretty well fraz-
zled out with the hard social work OF
the Winter. and rest was an absolute
necessity.
Gen. Adna r. Chaffee has been asked
to take the Presidency of the New York
State Society for the Prevention OF
Cruelty to Animals at q salary of Sc, 900
a year, which isn't bad on top of his
pay as a retired Northumberland OF
the Army. He has not accepted the
new office yet. And along comes some
OF the members of the Society and say
that he hasn't been asked to accept, and
that he will not be asked. Dear. dear!
Senator Alger. who has got out OF
life about all the honor and glory that
one man should want, has decided that
one term as a United States Senator Is
| all that he wants Well maybe not
exactly all that he wants, but at any
rate he feels that to accept six years
more would be to shorten his life by
hard work and anxiety, and, like the
sensible man that he is, he prefers to
spend his later years In quiet and ease
with his family, and they are eminently
pleased that he shall do so. Senator
Aiger has been in public life so long
that 1t will seem strange not to see him
about the Capital Of the Nation; but
his work has been good one, and will
| live.
OF course. there is to be great strug-
| gle for his seat. At the present time
il looks az though William Alden Smith
Hdd Il mortgage on III. MIR. Smith now
represents Michigan in the lower
House, and has for q good many years,
with credit to himself and honor to his
state. If nc shall be called to the upper
House he Will be missed, for he is re-
liable, companionable, capable and APP
proachablc. y man whom men like.
| There il the very mischief Of a row
| being kicked up in religious circles
here by Rev. Wallace Radcliffe, pastor
of the New York Avenue Presbyterian
| Church. over n lecture delivered before
| the National Geographic Society by a
| BUDDHIST priest. Rev. DIR. Radcliffe
! thinks that it was very bad taste, to
say the least. 10 let Buddhist lecture
In Christian city. The particular
| Buddhist who has aroused his wrath l.
Shaku Soyen, Lord Abbott of the
BUDDHIST Church Of Japan. He is GER
tainly one Of the most learned men OF
| his day. His lecture was highly enter
ftaining, and it had nearly as little re.
ligion In Ii as the average sermon in
the swell churches of the orthodox to-
day. DIR. Radcliffe wrote to the Geo.
| graphical Society. of which he is 8
member. by the way, and offered him,
self az a willing sacrifice for a sermon
on caivinism. and the Geographical So.
cicty had the bad tas-um well. YES
the Geographical Society said it WASH
hankering to hear him talk. or some.