The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-12-21

type Of American soldier. Without ex-
questioned had served either in the Brit
police. They were evidently contented.
and were doing their work well. Where
possible the policemen are used TO con-
any emergency no hesitation IL felt in
using them indiscrimfnately.
Inasmuch as so many both OF the whlie
FAMILIES Seore with have
established, the school service belng un-
der Mr.. O'Connor. For the white pupils
Wnte isere are aso
white American teachers, one Spanish
teacher. and one colored American teacn-
er. most of them being coioIed tea anc;a
The schoolrooms were good, ana II W vas
pleasant thing to see the pride that the
teachers were taking In their work ana
their pupils
Care of Employees.
Next In Importance to the problem OF
sanitation, and indeed now or equal Inn,
portance, is the problem OF securing ana
other employees who actually do the work
on the canal and the railroad. This great
task has been under the control OF Mr.
been we'll done At present there are
some 5000 white employees and some
$4,000 colored employees on the istnmus;
the different kinds OF employees were
working! / think I saw representatives
of every type both at their work and IN
their homes; and I converSed with PROP
ably a couple of hundred of them all
told, choosing them at random from
every class and including those who came
olmost invariably expressed far greater
content and satisfaction with the con-
ditions than did those who called TO
make complaint.
Nearly 5000 of the white employees had
come from the United States. No man
can see these young, vigorous men
energetically doing their duty without
They represent on the average a nigh
, class. Doubtless to congress the wages
paid them will seem high. but as mat.
ter. of fact the only general complaint
which I found had any real basis among
the complaints made to me upon the
isthmus was that, owing to the peculiar
distance from home, the wages were
really not as high as they should be. In
fact, almost every man / spoke to felt
money! view, however, which the aver
age man who stays at home In the
United States probably likewise holds
the wages paid, SO that the congress can
judge the matter for itself. Later l snail
confer on the subject with certain repre-
States, as well as going over with Mr..
Stevens, the comparative wages paid on
the zone and at home; and I may then
communicate my findings to the canal
committees of the two houses.
Chinese and Other Labor.
OF the 10000 or 10000 day laborers
employed on the canal a few hundred
are Spaniards. These do excellent
work. Their foreman told me that
they did twice as well as the West
Indian laborers. They keep healthy
and no difficulty is experienced with
them in any way. Some Italian labor
ers are also employed in connection
with the drilling. AS might be ex-
pected. with labor as high priced as
at present in the United States. it has
not so far proved practicable to get
any ordinary laborerS from the United
States. The American wage-workers
on the isthmus are the highly paid
skilled mechanics of the types men
| toned previously. A steady effort is
being made to secure Italians, and es-
pecially to procure more Spaniards
because of the very satisfactory re-
suits that have come from their en-
ployment and their numbers will be
| Increased as far as possible. 1t has
not proved possible, however. to get
them in anything like the numbers
| needed for the work, and from present
appearances we shall in the main have
to rely, for the ordinary unskilled
work, partly upon ..colored laborers
from the West Indies. partly upon
Chinese labor. 1t certainly ought to
be unnecessary to point out that the