, 1906-03-15

The following letter from Captain
George Stanton, dated at Ancon, 18th,
mus of Panama, February %, was re,
ceived by Colonel Thomas Stanton, his
father, this morning:
Dear Old pad;-Well, l suppose you
would like to know how Willie is get
ting along in Panama. | have him sta
Itioned at Culebra with Sergeant
Schenck, who is now a first-class ser.
!geant in charge of the district of EN-
perador, and who is, by the way, get
ting $125 per month. He mas delivered
the goods on every occasion and is a
very valuable man to the police de-
partment. Willie seems to like his
work very much, although at times he
vas more or less blue" and longed to
be back in Wyoming, riding some of
these big, fat horses. But l think he
will like it as time goes on, and gradu-
ally become accustomed to his environ
ments, and | will do all l can for him
and advance him as rapidly as he
shows his ability for police work.
No Diseases in the Zone.
Everything on the isthmus is going
along very smoothly. The cities OF
Colon n Panama are being well
paved, water works and sewers are be-
ing put in and sanitary conditions in
general are being improved every
where. There are no cases of yellow
fever at present along the entire one
and there has not been a case for nine
ty days-in fact, there is not one per
icent of sickness among other diseases,
and a general condition of c~Ontentment
and happiness prevails among the peo
pie as well as the employees of the
commission. Most everybody is now
living in a good house, well furnished;
and, as the wages are very good, there
is no reason why the work on the ca
nal should not continue smoothly.
Captain a Busy Man.
l have about 30 men on the force
now, and as 1 am marshal, warden of
the state pe%nitentiary and coroner, in
addition to being chief of police, you
will see that | have enough to keep
me always very busy. l have about
forty states prisoners at the present
time and am getting one or two every
week; make about three hundred and
fifty arrests per month, which are not
of a serious nature-mostly INSIDE
meanors among the very ignorant class
of labor which is on the isthmus. The
american element and the ~well-educat-
ed class of people OIL the isthmus give
the police department very little trou-
BILE; and the Isthmus of Panama today
is not what a great many people
thought it would be, or perhaps think
it is nova place of rioting, drunken,
ness, fighting, gambling. bawdy houses,
etc.
Canal Zone in Moral Shape.
On the other hand, the conditions on
the zone are just opposite-there are
no gambling houses or houses of pros
titution on the zone, and no more fight.
ing than will be found in any other
part of the world having the anne mum,
Der of population. In fact, on Sundays
and holidays one can See the employees
engaged in baseball, or scattered along
the rivers fishing, hunting and enjoy,
ing themselves in every possible way.
II think the canal zone today is a much
safer place for young men than a great
many of our large cities in the states,
on account of the temptations down
here being much less than in large cen
ters of population in the United States
Getting Ready for Start.
At present there is a great deal OF
work being done-new steam shovels
are being put up, ready for excavating
tracks are being laid, machine shops
erected, docks built, and hundreds Of
other things necessary to start this
great undertaking. And just as soon
as the type of canal has been decided
upon-which will prabably be ar
etghty-fva foot canal with five locks
the great bulk of the labor will be
brought in to begin the real ~excavat
ing of the canal. This will require