The Washington herald., 1907-06-30
IN The CANAL zone
POlyglot Population at Work
Oh the Big Ditch.
AMERICANS ARE NOT POPULAR
They Lack Tact and Diplomacy, and
Trent the LatinS with Scant COur-
tesy Cocktails and Gorgns Are
LiIxea-Eyeryb Admires RoOse-
welt, and Secretary Taft, Too,

Correspondence Of The Washington Herald.
Ancona, Canal Zone, June at is !
doubtful If. since the confusion OF tongues
at the Tower Of Babel. there has been
congregated such a poyglot population
engaged in industrial occupation as that
between Colon and Panama at present.
There may be no Samoledes or Eskimo
present. but I think all other peoples
are represented. You may see a Rou-
manian hobnobbing with a Swede, an
Australian with Pole. The man from
the North Of Tweed or from Cork, from
Swaba land, is strongly In evidence.
Levantlnes. Syrlans. Armenians. South
Africans. Canadians. East Indians. and
many others are present and accounted
for. The predominant element is West
Indian negroes As men they are gen
orally dOcile, amenabe 20 discipline, and
honest, but as laborers very inefficient;
especially so are the Martiniques. These
latter speak French, or what they cali
French. The Jamaicans that Barbadoans
speak the English Of Cromweirs time,
and il Is hard for an American 10 under
stand Recently there have been many
arrivals Of Gallegos from Spain, These
are understood men as compared with
Americans, but are snappy fellows and
do good work. Their most Objectionable
characteristic. I learn. is q tendency 10
mutiny when things do not suit them.
Recently at Pedro Miguel some Of them
became turbulant about their food, and
/ in an aff.ay which followed one Of them
was killed and another was wounded by
/ the police. 4 policeman was also severely
hurt.
Greeks Good WOrlmen.
/ was told by a foreman who had a
/ number Of Greeks under his supervision
that they are the best workers Of the.
/ Mediterranean peoples, and be thought
/ for one reason on account OF their in
djviduallty. as each man acts upon his
/ own responsibility instead Of being con-
1 trolled by padrone as are the Italians
/ and Spaniards.
/ In my opinion the labor question VIII
/ be satisfactorily settled by the employ
ment Of Hindus from India, judging
/ from the satisfaction they have given as
plantation laborers in the Island Of
/ Trinidad. Quite a number Of these peo-
PIE have arrived recently and more are
/ expected.
Police Force Efficient
/ think some newspapers and maya
zines 20 the contrary Notwithstanding
/ that the police force Of the Zone is com
/ posed Of an efficient SCI OF men as a rule,
/ but there should undoubtedly be more
/ Of them, especially more white men.
/ The personnel Of mechanics. shovel men.
4 clerks. and railroad men is very Ike
what one would find IN the States on
! some large construction work. except
/ that II is more cosmopolitan Their
| work IS performed about like 10 would be-
/ elsewhere. and publications 10 the effect
( that there exists an intense enthusiasm
/ 10 complete the canal are tho veriest rot.
/ Men come here for better pay than they
/ have been receiving. or for change Of
/ scene and better pay. or from wanfer-
lust and better pay. It is n very pretty
/ sentiment that the people here have left
/ Gods country through a sense OF
patriotic duty and that their waking
and sleeping hours are occupied with
plans and burning desires 10 finish the
work. but it is not true. and would
/ be unusual II true There is a
/ great deal more enthusiasm manifested
over a baseball game than there is over
the removal Of an abnormal quantity OF
earth from the Culebra Cut, And this is
natural
A. to Esprit de Corps.
Quite "a good deal Of stuff has been
published setting forth the almost super
/ human qualifications Of the men in au-
/ thority here and the wonderful esprit
De corps" existing among the rank and
file Of workers This also is vanity AS
IN an army some officers are well re-
garded. some detested. and some almost
ldolized by the privates. so II is here,
and an aggregation Of men when almost
unanimous in opinion can size up the
situation pretty well There IS one big
chief" here who is hated by fully 80
per cent Of the employees, irrespective Of
their. color or condition. There is another.
and think Il fair to mention his name.
Col W. c. GOrgas. Of whom have never
heard any words but praise. I know
personally neither Of the gentlemen re-
ferred TO-
The recent advent of Col Cocktails
was noted with a good deal of concern
by the rank and file. as they feared he
would be a severe martinez, but the SEN
timent toward him now Is Of esteem
and respect.
Cocktails Is AppTORChabIe.
As I heard one mechanic say. zone
can go to that army man with a griev-
ance and receive attention, instead Of be-
ing told gruffly that a steamer leaves
Colon every FIVE days for New York"
/ asked the man what his grievance was
He said he had none whatever. but il
was comforting to think that in case he
should have one he could go 10 a man
who would give him a hearing. This
sentiment is. 1 believe. general and has
a good effect
In nearly a years stay on the isthmus,
and in that time having met and talked
with men IN all ranks, il is 60 be pre-
sumed that one can judge the situation
more accurately than he could by a few
days sojourn There is one thing in
Panama | regret 10 see, and that is the
full unqualified dislike the natives have
for Los Americanos" We, as a people.
are without a doubt addicted TO the habit
of selfpraise and Of suppressing dis
agreeable truths which concern ourselves,
and while l consider it all right IL We
feel that way to publish and even mag
Nifty our accomplishments yet II is not
right 10 ignore some of our grave faults
Americans Are DisIiIxed.
| will state il as an absolute fact that
Americans are the most cordially disliked
people in Latin America and. further
more, that they are more disliked than
any other people in the Orient from the
Philippines to Alden. This dislike is
brought about and kept alive by the