The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-07-01
AT THE HOTELS.


ably not developed an ADLER or more eff
cient man than Mr.. w. G. Bierd. assist
ant TO the president and general man
ager Of the Panama Railroad and Steam
snip Company, who was seen LAST even
ing az the Arlington He has been on the
isthmus for two years. and prior to that
time had held important positions with
The Lehigh Valley. the Rock Island. and
other big systems.
IL was with establishment. and also
some resentment" said Mr.. Bierd that
learned on reaching New York last Fri
Gay OF the ridiculous and absolutely
false stories that some Of our newspapers
nave been printing regarding conditions
on the isthmus They have misrepresent-
ed things in toto. for what reason, 1 am
at loss TO understand. Take their stor-
les about Col. G1eth8is. for Instance. lie
mas been quoted as sick and disguised
with his job, ready 90 throw il up, and
hopeless as % the canal This is pre-
p)sterous. and manufactured out Of the
whole cloth. Instead Of feeling IN a de-
spondent mood. Col Cocktails is as conh-
dent and clipper q man as one ever saw.
lie is getting along splendidiy, and fits
superbly into his Office at the head Of the
great project He is emphatlcally the
right man in the right place To COM
p.ete my surprise as. 10 these MUnchau-
sen exploits Of journalism. one Of the
New York papers turned is attention 10
me, and said J was leaving the canal with
all NY belongings, considering that ev-
efytAing was going 70 the demnltion
bow-wows, and would never return. Well.
this was certainly "a surprising piece 81
personal Information ] will. / trust. live
20 refute g. for I shall be going back
before the expiration Of the leave to
which 7 am entitled
Nothing has happened 10 the canal TO
reduce the satisfactory progress Of the
work except the action OF some Of the
stelm-shovel men IN quitting work be-
cause the government was not willing
% grant them a raise from their present
generous pay Of $40 a month 10 $500
Mind YOU, they got in addition To this
compensation. which is at least 81 per
cent IN excess Of the pay in the United
States free house rent and free light
for their homes. Their demand did not
appeal 20 anybody as reasonable. either
at Washington or on the ground and
some Of them ceased work, though they
did not call IL a strike. and their quitting
caused a diminution IN the amount Of
dirt handled. A good many Of them have
come back, and the per cent Of decrease
is not now material.
II wish you would say that the white
American employees on the isthmus (and
I include MYSELF are working under con-
1itIgns that contribute quite as largely
90 comfort 20 health. and 10 general con-
teHtment and good remuneration as any
under which they ever labored al home.
In fact. many Of Us never had such adj
yantages al home. Our men are b0Un-
ufJlIy fed and well housed You can get
as good a steak on the isthmus as In Chi
cago or New York The new bakery that
is q part Of our COmmiss8Ty system can
turn out $1,000 leaves per day of as fine
bread as anybody ever ate. The laundry
viii do $500 garments q day. Our cold
storage plant is modern in every detail
and would be a credit to a big city The
facilities for recreation are lacking i'm
nothing and We have five beautifully ap-
pointed clUbh0uses.
The inferior class Of labOrers are rel
8tiyely as Well or. and. 1 venture, not 2
man Of all the thousands ever worked
on his native soil under such happy cir
The Europeans who have
come 90 Us. the Italians and Spaniards,
are good workmen and well
but I think that we Will al
ways have 20 rely mainly on the ne
yroes from Jamaica. Martinique and
other West Indian islands These. while
or He al o
nearly so bad as they have been pic
ured. and when managed by a clever
brennan are fairly good hands Il must
llso be remembered. touching these ne
yroes, that IF they do not perform much
a5or neither do they receive large pay
"On a recent trip to South Georgia
and Florida. 1 found the natives Of that
section exulting over a comparatively new
source Of money-making that, to me. was
an absolute novelty said C-L George
L. Morton. a prominent business man Of
Raleigh. y. c., at the New Willard
In passing through the country on the
,ars, I noticed that large pieces Of ground
lad been Enclosed. and covered over with
R light roofing Of stats Of about the size
that is used for lathing It was curi-
1us sight. and on making inquiry.
learned that the structures We're built FOR
growing shade tobacco Shade tObaCcO?'
had never heard Of it. but ere long
found it was the one topic as 20 which
he whole region was apparently crazy,
FOR the Georgia and Florida crackers
are making more money out of it than
they ever dreamed Mother Earth could
produce"
About four years ago man named
Cohen started TO experiment in growing
tobacco that would be partially screened
from the rays of the sun. He put up a
.ew posts. and nailed 90 their sides and
ops stats that let I'm the light and air
through interstices of perhaps an inch
square. Under this l8thed canopy he
grew q little tobacco. the leaves Of which
produced q cigar wrapper as good as or
better than any heretofore obtained from
Tuba or Sumatra. From this insignif-
ant start the business has grown TO
amazing proportions. Cohen. the pioneer.
packed by Eastern capital has this year
eco acres in cultivation The ground will
FIELD 100 pounds Of leaf tobacco TO the
icre. and this will sell for from 81 to s. per
POUND. Even at the minimum price this
'rop would be worth 100000 But the
Expense per acre is also heavy being
'eckoned az SEQ for labor and $3.50 for
fertilizers. Unless heavily fortified with
he costliest material, there viii be no
zig production. With all expenses de
lucted. however, this shade tobacco
hould net the planter not less than S5o0
,er acre. a profit that makes the return
rom cotton or truck farming seem abb
iurdly small
1T Is also TO be taken in consideration
hat Il is not every kind Of land that viii
produce the required grade. There must
,e a sandy top soil with a substratum Of
ed clay. and this is found In only a COM
'aratively limited territory. Most Of the
uccessfuI growers are IN the country be-
ween Bainhridge. Ga, and Carrabelle.
Tla. was told of a small farmer who
bought ten acres Of land for H00, and
Who got it cleared Of trees and stumps
~ giving Il mill owner the lumber upon