The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-21

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unwillingneSs To appreciate this simple
fact. Again, as the thousands Of labor
srA ere brought over and housed. tt Is
not always possible If the outset 10
supply wooden walks and bath houses.
because other mere vital. necessities
have t. - met: aud in consequence.
while most OF the settlements nave
good bath houses. and. 10 a largo OK
ient a. least. wooden walks. there T
plenty 81 settlements where wooden
walks have not set eeen laid dow, am
| visited one where the bath houses
rave not vet been provided. But IN tnls
very settlement the frames OF the oath
house. are already up. anu IN eFcFE
case the utmost efCrt is being made IA
nrovide the wooden walks. Oh course.
N some Of the newest camps tents are
usel pending the building nj houses.
Where ross. bic. I think detacnsi
hou>es would BE- preferable 10 the semi
detached house now in general use.
UNJUST CRITICISM.
Care and fore:hought ave been eN-
erciscd by the commission. AMI 'ntn-
Ing has reflected more credit upon them
than their refusal either tn 20 ahead
too fast or 10 be deferred bN the
fear OF criticism from not going ahead
fast enough. II is curious to note the
far. that many Of the O severe
critics Of the commission criticize theui
for precisely opposite reasons. Soma
complaininC bitterly that the work y
not in 81 more advanced condition.
while the others complain that Il has
been rushed with such haste that mere
has been insuric ent preparation i"r
the hv-ieuc aud comfort Of the ctN-
u~layecs. As a mater of fact heiih's
criticism il just II would have be"h
impossible 20 "a quicker than the IoN-
mission has gone. for such qul'hnS~S
would have meant insufficient p"cnar-
alton. Or the other hand, TO rciua"
To do anything until every pnsstni"
tutu,c CONTINGENCY had been met would
have caused wholly unwarranted de'dN
The right course To follow was exactly
the course which has been followed
Every reasonable preparation vas
made In advance. the hygieilic coHdi-
tions in especial being made rs neirIE
/ perfect as possible, while on the otA"T
hand there has been no tlmid reihSot
10 rush forward the work because nf
inability 10 anticipate every poaslol'
emergency, for, OF course. many delN'S
can only be shown by the WORKING OF
the system in actual practise
In addition to attending to the h2aith
OF the employees, it Is OF course HeceS-
sary to provide for policing the zone.
| This is lone by a police force which
at present numbers over 200 men.
under Captain Stanton. About one
fifth of the men are white and The
others black. In different places
questioned these men. taking them II
random. They were "A fine set. paysi-
callv and IN discipline. With one ex-
caption all the white men | questioned
Md served in the American army. nsu-
ally in the Philippines. and
to the best type of American soldier.
Without exception the black policemen
whom | questioned had served e.ther
in the British army or in the Jamai@l
or Barbados police. They were eyidea,-
ly contented. and were doing their
work well. Where possible the police
men are used TO control people OF their
own, color. but in any emergency no
hesitation is felt in using them indis-
Criminately.
Inasmuch as so many both o. ths
white and cOlored employees have
brought their families with them,
schools have been established, The
school service being under Mr.. OCon-
nor. For the white pupils white Amer
lean teachers are employed: for the
colOred pupils there are also Jnm"
white American teachers, n Spanish
teacher. and one COlored American
teacher, most Of them being cplored
teachers from Jamaica, BarbadO,. and
ST. Lucia. The schoOlrooms were good.
and it was a pleasant thing to see the
pride that the teachers were taking IN
their work and their pupils.
There seemed I me to be too many
saloons in the zone; but the new high
license law which goes INTO effect on
January | next will probably close four
ffths Of them. Resolute n succe ssful
efforts are being made to minimize and
sontrol the sale Of liquor.
The cars on the passenger trains on
the Isthmus are divided INTO first and
! second class, the difference being mark
ed in the price Of tickets. AS a rule
second-clacs passengers, are oolored
and frst-o.-ss passengers white: but in
every train which / saw there were a
number OF white seccnd-class passen-
gers, and on two of them there were
colored irst-class passengers
CARE OF EMPLOYEES.
Next in Importance To the problem Of
sanitation. and indeed now Of equal i'm
p~ortance. is the problem OF securing
and caring for he mechanics. labOrers.
and other employees who actually do
the work on the canal and the railroad
This great task has beer nde the con
troll on Mr.. Jackson Smith. and Oh the
whole has been we'll done. At present
there are some 5000 white employees
and some 1900 colored employees on
the Is-hmus | went over the different
places where the different kinds of n
playees were working; ! think | saw
representatives Of every type both at
their work and in their homes: N I
conversed with probably a couple Of
hundred OF them all told, choosing them
at random from every class and in