Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1906-05-03
A PEN PICTURE OF PANAMA

~ FEN flO ONE Or PANAMA III
Editor Times: After eight
months residence on the Isthmus
OF Panama as an employe of the
Isthmian Canal Commission. Il
have returned home on a six
weeks vacation; and, at the sug-
gestion of several, as well as in
justice to myself, | submit the
following sketch of conditions
past, present and prospective
along the line of ''the Great
Canal" Not that consider any
formal justification necessary in
behalf of any individual who may
participate in the tremendous
task of digging ''the big ditch";
on the contrary, | think any man
may we'll be proud of his con-
nection in any capacity with what
is admitted to be the greatest en-
gineering work Of the ages. But
so much interest has been mani
tested, and / have been asked so
many questions regarding life on
the Isthmus, that / feel con-
strained to resort to the medium
of your columns in order to graft
fy the curiosity of all; and per-
haps, shall be, incidentally, of
service.
Now, naturally, no matter how
good place one has been living
in, home always seems good. bet
ter, best; and while ] found my
self pleasantly located, and en-
gagged in congenial as well as
| highly remunerative employment,
nevertheless have to confess
that, on the voyage home from
Panama, | perpetrated the fol-
lowing stanza. entitled,
RE-vIvICATION
I've taken my hand from strife now,
And I've donned the soft kid glove;
I've journeyed back TO life now,
And I've journeyed back to love.
Relieved of onerous duty
In the wilds where have been,
I've come now back to beauty, A.
And to my own hind and kin.
| I've come now back to all things
|
Where the voice that can enthraft
sings
And back to my sweetheart's smile.
Back to rest and roam now
! Under the scarlet trees;
Back TO home, sweet home, now,
Over the star-lit seas.
And so on ad fnitum.
But there has been a gradual
evolution on the Isthmus. Mira
cles have been performed in the
way of sanitation, and the dread
yellow-fever dragon has been
driven into the sea. Out of an
archary has come order, and out
of chaos has come comfort. And
so, while the voice of love says
linger here, the hand of duty
beckons me back to that huge
human beehive in the tropics
where Heterogeneous thousands,
from the scum to the cream of
Uncle Sans and other domains
heroes, martyrs, drones and dev-
ils-as well as just ordinary men
toll among the mountains and
morasses like so many pigmies
among giants.
Yes, | am going back to resume
what | was temporarily relieved
of-keeping the record of holes
drilled, pounds of powder used,
material issued, cubic yards of
rock and dirt removed and hun
dreds of other things-a all inter-
esting and fascinating. And
after many years-perhaps about
twenty-who knows but even
home-loving Fortmillians may sail
through the great gap from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, in the
making of which so many lives
have been, and will be, sacrificed,
and SO many millions OF dollars
spent.
The towns which average
about the size of Fort Mill lex
Guiding the factory population)
are located in the following order
from the city of Colon, on the
Atlantic side, to the city Of Pan
anna on the Pacific: Colon, Cristo-
bal, Bas Matachin, Bohio, Bas
Obispo, Las Cascades, Gorgona,
Empire, Culebra, Paraiso, Pedro
Miguel, Corozal, Mira-Floresa,
Panama.
| Excepting a very small upper
class, the natives are very list
less and physically unattractive.
The entire populace CANDLES from
the cradle to the grave. They