The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1906-12-18
PRESIDENTS
MESSAGE
He is Confident Of the Result
and Praises the Men Engaged
III the Work On Panama.
A TASK or EPIC NATURE.

Al TASK OF EPIC NATURE.
President Roosevelt transmitted 10
congress a special message giving the
/ results of his observations during his
recent inspection Of the Panama canal
work and his recommendations there
on. The message was accompanied BY
photographs taken on the isthmus and
By various official reports. mortality
tables. etc
Beginning with his arrival at Colon
on the battleship Louisiana at 2:3O
p. M Wednesday, Nov. IA, the presi-
dent says:
was three days ashore mot a suf-
ficient length Of time to allow Of an
exhaustive Investigation of the nil
nutiae Of the work of any single de-
partment, still less to pass Judgment on
the engineering problems, but enough
to enable me to get a clear idea of the
salient features of the great work and
of the progress that has been made as
regards the sanitation Of the zone,
Colon and Panama, the caring for and
housing Of the employees and the ac-
tual digging Of the canal The zone is
narrow strip Of land, and it can be
inspected much as one can inspect fifty
or sixty miles of great railroad at
the point where it runs through noun
tains
chose the month of November for
my visit partly because it is the rain
iest month Of the year. the month in
which the work goes forward at the
greatest disadvantage and one of the
two months which the French Canal
| company found most unhealthy
Immediately after we anchored there
was a violent storm Of wind and rain.
From that time we did not again see
the sun until Saturday morning. 1t
would have been impossible to see the
work going on under more unfavorable
weather conditions.
First Day Ashore
On Thursday morning we landed at
about half past and went slowly over
the line of the Panama railway. end
ing with an expedition in "a tug ut the
Pacific entrance of the canal out to the
islands where the dredging for the
canal will cease. We took our dinner
at one of the eating houses furnished
by the commission for the use OF the
government employees, no warning of
our coming being given. l inspected
the Ancon hospital, going through va
rious wards both for white patients
and for colored patients. / inspected
portions of the zone police, examining
the men individually. / also examined
certain Of the schools and saw the
school children both white and coll
ored, speaking with certain OF the
teachers. In the afternoon Of this day
/ was formally received in Panama by
President Amador, who. together with
the government aud all the people OF
Panama, treated me with the most
considerate courtesy, for which / here
| by extend my most earnest thanks.
was driven through Panama and in a
public square was formally received
and welcomed by the president and
other members Of the government, and
in the evening | attended a dinner
given by the president and a reception,
which was also government func-
ton / also drove through the streets
of Panama for the purpose of obsery-
| ing what had been done We slept at
the Hotel Tivoli. at Ancon, which IS
on hill directly outside Of the city
OF Panama. but in the zone.
second Day.
On Friday morning we left the hotel
at Z o'clock and spent the entire day
going through the Culebra cut, the
spot in which most work win have to
be done in any event We watched
the different steam shoyels working;
we saw the drilling and blasting; we
saw many Of the dirt trains (of the two
different types used), both carrying
the earth away from the steam SHOW
els and depositing it on the dumps,
some Of the dumps being run out in
the jungle merely to get rid of the
earth, while in other cases they are be-
ing used for double tracking the rail
way and in preparing to build the
great dams visited many different
villages, inspecting thoroughly many
different buildings the local receiving
hospitals, the houses in which the un-
married white workmen live, those In
which the unmarried colored work
men live; also the quarters Of the
white married employees and Of the
married colored employees as wen as
the commlssary stores. the bathhouses.
the water closets, the cook sheds for
the colored laborers and the govern
ment eanteens, OF hotels, at which
most Of the white employees take their
meals. went through the machine
shops talked with scores of men
superintepdents and heads Of depart
ments. divisions and bureaus, steam
shovel men, machinists, conductors. en-
gineers, clerks. wives Of the American
employees, health officers, colored la
borers. colored attendants and man
ayers Of the commlssary stores. In
the evening had an interview with
the British consul, Mr.. Mallet, and the
French consul. Mr. Gey. saw the
lieutenants. the chief executive and adj
ministratIve officers under the en-
gineering and sanitary departments.
also saw and had long talks with
two deputafiDns-on of machinists and