Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-18

be completed but the progress already
made is very marked. bitches have been
dug through the town. connecting the salt
water on both sides. and into these the
ponds, which have served as breeding places
for the mosquitoes are drained. These
ditches have answered their purpose, for
they are probably the chief cause of the
astonishing diminution in the number of
mosquitoes More bitches Of the kind are
being constructed.
improvements in Colon and Panama.
It was not practicable, with the force at
the commissions disposal, and in view OF
the need that the force should be used in
the larger town OF Panama, to begin this
work before early last winter. water mains
we're then laid In the town and water was
furnished to the people early in March
from a temporary reservoir. This reservoir
proved to be Of insufficient capacity before
the end Of the dry season and the shortage
was made up by hauling water over the
Panama railroad so that there was at all
times an ample supply OF the very best
water Since that time the new reservoir
back OF Mount Hope has been practically
completed. 1 visited this reservoir. 1t is a
lake over a mile long and half mile broad.
It now carries some 100000 gallons of
frst-class water. forward herewith pho.
tograph Of this lake together with certain
other photographs Of what l saw while l
was on the isthmus. Nothing but cata-
clysm will hereafter render 1t necessary
in the dry season to haul water for the use
of Colon and Cristobal.
One OF the most amusing Cas well as dis
honesty attacks made upon the commission
was in connection with this reservoir The
writer in question usually confined himself
/ to vague general mendacity, but in this
case he specifically stated that there was
no water in the vicinity fit for reservoir
I q drank It and it was eXcellent, and that
| this particular reservoir would never hold
water anyway. Accompanying this mes
| sage, as l have said above, is photo
| graph OF the reservoir as I myself saw it,
/ and as It has been in existence ever since
| the article I'm question was published with
! typical American humor, the engineering
corps still at work at the reservoir have
| christened a large boat which is now used
on the reservoir by the name Of the indi-
vidual who thus denied the possibility of
the reservoirs existence.
l rode through the streets of Colon, seeing
them at the height of the rainy season,
after two days of almost unexampled
downpour, when they were at their very
! MOISl. Idkeu as a WHUlbt litE "0l0 VII
doubtedly very bad as bad as Pennsyl-
vania avenue in Washington before Grants
administration. All men to whom ! spoke
were a unit In saying that the conditions
of the Colon streets were 100 per cent bet
ter than year ago The complaints
brought to me- either Of insufficient pro-
vision in caring for some of the laborers,
or CT failure to finish the pavements Of
Colon or OF failure to supply water, or Of
failure to build wooden sidewalks for the
use of the laborers in the rainy season, on
Investigation proved, almost without excep-
tion to be due merely to the utter inability
OF the commission to do everything at
once.
Police and schools.
In addition to attending to the health Of
the employees, it is of course necessary to
provide for policing the zone. This is done
by police force which at present numbers
over 200 men, under Captain Stanton.
About one-fifth of the men are white and
the others are black. In different places
questioned some twenty or thirty Of
these men, taking them at random. They
were fine set, physically and in discipline.
With ono exception all the white men l
questioned had served in the American
army usually in the Philippines, and be-
longed to the best type Of American soldier
Without exception the black policemen
whom / questioned had served either in
the British army or In the Jamaica OF
Barbodoes police. They were evidently CON
tented and were doing their work well
Where possible the policemen are used "a
control people of their own color, but ir
any emergency no hesitation is felt in
using them Unfortunately.
] Ina Of tsyI,{ -
and colored employees, have brought theii
families with them, schools have been es
tablished, the school service being under
Mr.. O'Connor. For the white pupils white
American teachers are employed: for the
colored pupils there are also some whit,
American teachers, one Spanish teacher
and one colored American teacher, mos
OF them being coored teachers from Ja
maica, Barbados and ST. Lucia The schoo
: rooms were good, and II was a pleasan
thing to see the pride that the teachers
were taking in their work and their pupils
There seemed to me to be too many sa
2 looms in the zone; but the new high licens
4 law which goes into effect on January
A next will probably close four-i6ths o
$ them. Resolute and successful efforts ar
being made to minimize and control tn
I sale OF liquor.
! The cars on the passenger trains on tn
a isthmus are divided into first and second
2 class, the difference being marked in tn
I price of tickets AS a rule second-clas
[ passengers are colored and first-class pas
s sengers white; but in every train which
To- saw there were a number OF white second
J. class passengers, and on two of them ther
were colored first-class passengers.
}, Care of Employees.
Y Next In importance TO the problem O
It sanitation, and. indeed. now OF equal i'm
a portance, is the problem Of securing an
h caring for the mechanics, aborers an
h other employees who actually do the wor
r on the canal and the railroad. This grea
h task has been under the control of Nj
8. Jackson Smith, and on the whole has bee
IS well done. At present there are som
j. 5000 white employees and some 1900 co
II ored employees on the isthmus. / wer
4, over the different places where the differ
v ent kinds OF employees were working;
3 think I saw representatives OF every tyr
a both at their work auc in their home,
Al and l conversed with probably couple {
n hundred Of them all told. choosing thel
y at random from every class and includin
- those who came especially to present ce
,, tain grievances. found that those wi
10 did not come specifically to present grie,
"a ances almost invariably expressed ID
=, greater content and satisfaction with II
!, conditions than did those who called
- uaka compIa{nt