The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-17
IN CANAL ZONE.
econtlnuea from preceding Page.1


talked with scores Of different men
superintendents and heads OF depart
gnentS. divisions, and bureaus steam
shovel men. machinists, conductors,
engineers. clerks wives OF the Alneri~
can employees. health officers, colored
laborers. colored attendants, and man
ayers of the commissary stores where
food is sold to the colored laborers;
wives of the coIored employees who are
married. In the evening had an in
terview with the British consul, Mr..
Mallet, a gentleman who for many
years has well and hOnOrably repre-
scented the British government on the
Isthmus of Panama and who has a
peculiar relation to our work because
of the bulk OF the colored laborers
come from the British West Indies. I
also saw the French consul, Mr.. Gey,
g gentleman Of equally long service
and honorable record. / saw the lieu
tenants, the chief executive and adj
ministrative officers, under the engin-
eering and sanitary departments. ] al
so saw and had long talks with two
deputatiOns-one of machinists and
one representing the railway men Of
the dirt trains-lIstening to what they
mad 70 say as TO the rate Of pay and
various other matters and going over,
as much in detail as possible, all the
different questions they brought up.
As to some matters 1 was able to meet
their wishes; as to others. / felt that
what they requested could not be done
ed States government as a whole; as to
YET others reserved judgment
Third Day.
On Saturday morning we started at
o clock from the hotel. We went through
the Culebra cut. stopping off to see the
marines, and also to investigate GER
tain towns; one. Of white employees, as
TO which in certain respects complaint
had been made to me: and another
town where I wanted to see certain
houses of the cOlored employees. We
y r-fk Il
Eatun dam. having on the first day in
spected the sites of the proposed La
Boca and Sosa dams. We went out on
a little toy railway to the reservoir,
which had been built to supply the peo-
Ole of Colon with water for their houses.
There we took lunch at the engineers
mess. We then went through the stores
ana shops of Cristohal, inspecting care
fully the houses Of both the white and
colored employees, married and unmar- |
ried, together with the other buildings. |
We then Went to Colon and saw the /
fire department at work; in four min
utes from the signal the engines had !
come down TO Front street. and twenty !
one 212-lnch hose pipes We're raising I
streams or water about IS feet high We /
rode about Colon, through the various /
streets, paved, unpaved, and In process /
q paving, looking at the bitches, sew /
SFS cdTDlng, and the lights / then /
went over the Colon hospital in order
TO compare it with the temporary town \
or field receiving hospitals which / /
had already seen and inspected. also
inspected some Of the dwellings of the
employees. In the evening I attended
reception given by the American EN-
plOyeS on the iSthmus, which took place
on one Of the docks in Colon and from
there went aboard the Louisiana.
Each day from u to IS hours We're
spent in going over and inspecting all
there was to be seen. and in examining
various employees. ThrOughOut nv trim
was accompanied by the surgeon gen
eral OF the navy. DIR. Rixey. by the |
chairman Of the far1
mission, Mr. Shonts; by Chief Engineer
Stvens. by DR.. Gorgas, the chief sani-
tary officer Of the connission; by Mr.
Bishop. the secretary of the commits
sion; by Mr. Ripley, the principal as
ststant engineer; by Nh. Jackson Smith.
who has had practical charge of COL
lecIlng and handling the laboring force;
by Mr. Bierd, general manager Of the
railway and by Mr. Rogers, the gen
eral counsel Of the Commission; and
many other officials joined US from time
TO time.
At the outset wish to pay a tribute
70 the amount of work done by the
French Canal company under very
difficult circumstances. MANY of the
buildings they put up were excellent
and are still in use, though, naturally.
ihe houses are now getting out Of re
pair and are being used as dwellings
only until other houses can be built
and much of the work they did in the
6uiebra cut, and some of the work
they did in digging has been Of direct
anu LEelA DGnEut. 1nIS country has
never made better Investment than
the $4,000. goo which 1T paid to the
French company for work and better
railroad
An inspection on the ground at the
height Of the rainy season served to
me of the wisdom of con
gress In refusing 10 adopt either a
seems to be universal agreement
among all the people competent to
Judge that the Panama route. the one
actually chosen. is much superior to
bcih the Nicaragua and Darien routes.
Preliminary Work.
The wisdom Of the canal manage
ment has been show in nothing more
clearly than in the way in which the
foundations Of the work have been laid.
To have yielded to the natural inpa-
tience Of i'll informed outsiders and
begun all kinds OF experiments in work
prior TO thorough sanitation of the
isthmus. and TO fairly satisfactory
out of the problem of getting
and keeping a sufficient labor supply.
would have been disastrous The vari-
Gus preliminary measures had to be
taken first: and these could not be
taken SO as to allow us to begin the
real work Of construction prior to jan
uary 1 Of the present year. 1t then
became necessary to have the type Of
the canal decided. and the only delay
has been the necessary delay until the
29th day of June, the date when the
congress definitely and wisely settled I
that We should have an SO foot level
canal. Immediately after that the {
work began in hard earnest and has
been continued with increasing vigOr !
ever since: and Ii VIII continue SO to
progress In the future When the con- ,
tracts are let the conditions will be I
such as TO insure a constantly inCreas-
Ing amount Of performance.
The first great problem to be solved, .
upon the solution of which the success
Of the rest Of the work depends, was
the problem of sanitation. This was
from the outset under the direction of ,
DR. w q Gorgas who IS to be made q |