The Washington herald., 1908-07-20

----e--- A----4h eJ4lAu GEh4hAA4t4 DlNGAl-t-A1 NA
freebOoters OF the old Spanish Main had
planned q raid on the several million dol
lars OF gold and silver stored there Bot
Il IS only the pay force going 10 load the
pay car The vaults in which the money
IS stored are made OF concrete. in which
are imbedded all sorts Of old iron. from
steel rails 20 horseshOes, 10 give L Sc
curity.
The vault doors are opened. and while
dozen Zone policemen. armed TO the
teeth, stand around and see Il well done.
d half dozen brawuy Spania-ds carry the
gold and silver out 20 the wagons. The
bags Of silver. each holding S1e05. weigh
ffty-eighr pounds each The gold is car
ried In bass having $500 in each SIX
tons OF silver and about SI50.0lJ in gold
are carried out into the wagons. and then
the jack-o'-lantern parade proceeds to the
pay car, a helf mile in the distance The
money Is loaded into il. and by sunrise al
hands are ready for breakfast This IS
eaten in shifts. half the force staying with
the pay car. while the other half goes TO
breakfast By o'clock breakfast IS over
and the pay train stars for Ia B0ca. the
Pacific end of the canal, where the pay
ing on begins
Excellent arrangements have been made
for handling the crowds OF Iaborers. In
the pay car there are five doors on each
side, opposite each other At one end
there is one center door. and az the other
end two doors. one IN each corner The
silver" men are lined Up OF tire right
hand side Of the car in four files. Four
streams OF men are kept pouring through
the car all the time. Half a dozen Do
licemen line up the Iaborers- As one comes
10 the counter OF the pay clerk he is
duce his metal Identification check. The
policeman stationed at the counter exam
ines the pay check and the Identification
check II the numbers on them CORE
spond the pay clerk takes II. throws the
amount OF money called for into the hat
OF the iaborer, and commands him 10 pass
on. There IS no time for the lab0rer TO
count his money. but on the outside OF
the car there are several plain clothes
members OF the police force who keep
a weather eye out 70 see that they do
not make away with a part OF their
money and then come back and claim that
they have received short change
The Spaniards are paid of in American
gold, with Pananan silver for the small
ct change The negroes are paid or
IN Panaman silver entirely The ne
grOes get only half as much pe- hour in
wages as the white lsb0rers. yet they are
obliged 10 take theirs in silver. and
months wages IN Pauauau silver is
a bulky Pile OF money One American
silver dollars is worth just two Pauaman
silver dollars varLOusly known as 'Spig-
otry money ''tin money" and monkey
money" When the neEgo gets q whole
hatful OF this stuff and sees a Snaniard.
who works by his side. get double as
much real money. and in neat convenient
American gold pieces at that. he is fl
--Tz H.rr
he rC-lizes that he is still getting far
more than he would have gotten IN his
native land. and that there IS another
negro waiting Tor his Job, so he makes
the best Of things.
Elaborate precautions are made 10 pro
tect the men against mistakes on the
part OF pay clerks and The cupldIty OF
their feTow-laborers- American gold is
always at a premium among the negro
lsborers. and they will pay liberal dif-
ferences 10 get It. Some Of The Spaniards
who have been partly paid IN gold will
loiter around and offer them a s. gold
piece for eleven dollars "Splgotty-' Many
takers are found for these offers. but
plsin-clOthes men are mixing in the crowd
and usually the money changer has rather
uncerenonious notice TO move on
When a laborer thinks he Is underpaid
he goes 10 the cashier Of the pay car
and makes his complaint. II he can tell
which clerk paid him. the matter is
looked Up at once It IS usuaRy found
that he has forgotten that there was
reduction for comDissa-y books. and that
things are all right If his cash does not
tally with his ticket a note of IL Is made
and when the balances are taken they
can tell WHISTLER a mistake has been
made OF not. There are interpreters who
accompany the pay car who can speak
every language and dialect used in the
Zone.
The paying OF OF the negro laborer in
Pa2anan silver IS an expensive con-
cession 20 the Republic Of Panama The
United States is not bound 70 do 50. but
does Il simply out Of the goodness Of its
heart, in order to keep the Panama
money IN circulation There are no exact
figures 10 be had on the subject. but it
IS not improbable that il costs the United
States a thousand dollars a month more
TO paw OF the labor force IN this ''s1fE-
gotty" money than Il would cost to nav
Of in good American gold Imagine the
task Of counting cut million dollars In
American silver. and then reflect that
you have TO count two pieces Of '-s1Ig-
Eotty" money for every piece of An9eri-
trouble and expense involved IN handling
this Panaman money rather than Amer
lean gold II q thousand dollars q
month is a fair estimate Of the added ex-
pense. and il takes six years more to
build the canal, il viii cost US the tidy
sum Of $4,000 70 help die Panaman
keep an impossible currency in circula-
ton
And this. even. is a mere baEateIle
compared to what it viii eventually cost
the Americans on the isthmus- The stuff
is so bulky and so mucA in ones way
that no one from the States treats It as
money. Men spend il where they would
not think OF spending their American
silver and gold Tender a SO gold piece
In q native store when buying q dollars
worth Of stuff, and you viii get eighteen
Panaman silver dollars n exchange
You would have 70 walk around with a
travelling grip II you were doing or
dinsry shopping, and trundle a wheel
barrow II you were going 20 spend a
day repleaishing your wardrobe. The