The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-07


without coming TO the conclusion that 1t
IS a land of contradictions, and this char
acteFistic accounts, doubtless, for the con-
Trajectory reports concerning the isthmus
that are dated at Colon and Panama,
writes Rev Dr. Francis T. Clark, in the
Boston Transcript.
One man can see nothing but misery,
miasma, and mistakes; another nothing
but health, happiness, and hope. It de-
ponds partly upon ones point Of view,
but even more upon ones habit of mind
One does not need to be much OF a muck
raker 10 find plenty Of muck Cat least in
the streets. On the other hand, il one
lifts up his eyes he sees that the stars
are still shining over the Canal Zone, that
the greatest canal in the world is becom-
ing a tremendous fact, fact that is
growing more and more impressive day
by day.
If one has a moderate gift Of magma
ton, and can project himself into the fu-
ture dozen years, or even less. the 18TH
mus becomes one of the most notable and
interesting spots in all the world. If. on
the other hand, he looks only at what he
sees Immediately around him, when he
lands in Colon, he viii declare it to be
the most God-forsaken spot on the foot
stool
These contradictions and contrasts greet
one at every turn. especially in Colon. De
Lesseps' palaces crown the wind-swept
point OF CristObal. where balmy breeZes
sweep the shore fresh from the salt sea
at al hours of the day and night. while,
scarcely a stones throw away, over the
line in Panaman territory, are wretch
ed huts in which no self-Tespecting Ameri-
can would shelter his swine Two or
three well-paved streets run the length
of Colon, while a quarter of a block
away the swamp just being redeemed
from the possession of the mosquito and
the alligator, stops ones progress. In
fact only few days ago, as / write.
young slmian six feet long was caught
In the very middle of the town, as he was
seeking his ancestral swamp which he
found though in the process of transfer
nation.
so much 10 do" says the pesslmist.
$50 much already done answers the op-
timist ~ miserable, maIarial ditch,
says the Dessimist a magnificent canal
fl the making" says the Optimist.
striking Contrasts.
The contrast Of Colon and Panama Of to-
day and the Colon and Panama Of a year
ago also give rise 20 many of the contra
dictions which appear in the public press
and the confusion of American ideas. We
remember the man who could not lie
about Chicago. because it grew so fast
that it kept ahead Of his presentations,
do the best he could. So it is difficult TO
keep an with the changes in these Pana-
man cities since Uncle sam began To
dig the canal in good earnest "Old resi-
dents" who took uD their abode in those
cities a year ago tell me that they hardly
know the towns to-day as the same ones
they remember a twelvemonth ago.
Then the streets of Colon were a mass
of reeking mud Now several are very
respectfully paved or macadamized, and
on "a dozen others workmen are engaged,
so that every passing week makes a very
decided difference in the highways of the
city. The same is true Of the buildings
which are going up in many sections of
the native city OF Colon. To-day a
swamp, the next day a paved street, the
day after a fOur-story wooden building. is
only a little eXaggeTation of the facts. OF
course many of these buildings are the
himsiest of jerry-built houses but they
afford shelter at an enormously high rent
tial can be provided for population in
Colon that is growing by leaps and
bounds
In Panama the same improvements are
being made, though Panama, being an
older and more substantial city. does not
show the same lightning transformation
scenes. Yet here. scarcely eighteen
months ago, there was not a paved street
IN all the city. The roads were full Of
pitfalls and stumbling blocks, and whether
man was dead or alive. whether q
mendicant or a millionaire. the cab driver
ratified his bones over the stones" like
Hoods pauper. whom nobody owns"
Now all the principal streets are paved
with brick and we'll paved too, and are
far mere comfortable for the foot or ear
rage passenger than many of the streets
of New York or Boston
Boom Towns Spring Up.
Al along the line of the railway from
Colon TO Panama neat villages have
sprung w almost in a night There are
more boom towns in the forty-eight miles
of that short railway than anywhere else
in the world in the same distance And
these boom towns will continue to boom
for they have come TO stay, at least until
the canal is finished, since each one was
planted 70 meet a distinct need by expert
enced and far-sighted officials.
These sudden transformations account.
as I have said. for many conflicting re-
ports Month before last some visitors
10 the Canal Zone might have written
with truth of a dismal, malaria breeding
swamp. 1t only fer the residence of mos
ouitoes and alligators. Month after next
another visitor, writing of the same place.
might tell of a thriving colony. of happy
homes. of a free public school attended
By diligent children, and of the local
habtatiOn of all kinds Of progressive
American ideas And both writer's would
be telling the truth
Another thing that imprcsscs the visitor
10 the isthmus is the enormous scale on
which everything is undertaken. It is one
of the worlds biggest undertakings, and
IL is provided for on the largest scale
There is a steamer straight from New
York. unloading great fiat freight ears for
carrying dirt from the cuts. A foreman
is checking them off when they are swung
up 10y the huge derrick. as he might check
so many punches Of bananas. He tells
as that they are q part Of q consignment
Of 1.0OO fat cars which they cannot get
fast enough from tl3e States though there
were thousands of such cars in the 18TH
mus before.
On the Grand scale.
Portable houses. or material for houses
by the hundred. are ordered. stores Of ali
kinds by the million dollars worth:
cranes, derTicks. dredging machines.
steam shovels that can dig away a small
mountain in a month, are some Of the
equipment which one sees on every side.
Everything is on the biggest ana most