Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-11

| mere Is Al nine IllOIlllS ldlly SSo
son in this region and during this pc
riOd the gardens are irrigated OF
course. all of this is due to American
enterprise and there was no such thing
as truck farms or any kind of farms
before Uncle Sam took charge. The
isthmus is really place now inhabited
by civilized people. And it is a notice
able fact that there are few loafers on
the isthmus. 1t is true that everybody
works there, the majority being en-
ployed by the United States govern
' ment.
THE native women are objects of
curiosity to those who visit the 18TH
mus for the first time. They are fond
of bright colors. For instance, one
saw had on q red turban, a green
skirt, yellow shirtwaist and a purple
shawl around her neck. The mems
dress is not so different from that in
other countries. while the children
don't seem to mind at all about what
they wear. I remember seeing a bri-
dal procession pass within a short dis
tance Of our home at Culebra. The
groom was dressed in the conventional
black, with frock coat. The bride was
bedecked in many colors, with long
bridal veil and two little pickaninnies
carried the train of her dress.
People imagine that the canal zone
is not a pleasant place in which to
live, having heard stories that the 18TH
mus is a death hold of fever, malaria
and all manner Of tropical diseases.
But this is not the case now, the
United States government having rem
dered the isthmus a habitable region.
It is now the region where some years
ago the natives were able to live with
out work amidst the riot of luscious
fruits, bananas, pineapples, oranges
and other varieties. The fruits are
still there in abundance, but there are
other things which make the isthmus
now a civilized, cultivated land and all
that has been done is to the credit of
Uncle Sans workers"
South CaroIinans' Part.
In the great work that is being car
red on in the canal zone there are
number Of southerners who have taken
a prominent part. And South Carolina
has furnished her quota, three Of those
who have been praised for the work
on the isthmus being: Jackson Smith,
a former Columbian, and until recently
head of the department Of labor quar-
ters and subsistence; Maj. Gaillard, in
charge of the Culebra cut; Henry
Smith, employment agent, the only one
now left of the three appointed by
President Roosevelt.
Mr.. Jackson Smith is well known in
this city. having worked here in the
office of his brother, Mr.. G. NJ. Smith,,
at the Atlantic Coast Line depot. AL
though Knoxville and other cities claim
Mr.. jackson Smith he started his ca
reer in Columbia, having come here
from his home in Marion. Mr.. Smith
has a sister living in Columbia now,
Mrs. H. D. Gasque. Before taking up
Of the Panama canal commission, Mr..
Smith was passenger agent of the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad COM
pany. Perhaps no other man at work
in Panama has done so much as jack
son Smith with the single possible eX-
ception of Col Gorgas, who became
world famous by his work Of rendering
the isthmus sanitary.
In accepting the resignation Of Mr..
Smith from the Panama canal COM
mission, President Roosevelt said:
q can not permit this occasion to
pass without expressing formally to
you my appreciation of the earnest,
thorough and effective service which
YOU have rendered in organizing the
department of labor quarters and sub
sistence and in developing it to such
state of efficiency that the task OF
your successor will be comparatively
an easy one. The supreme importance
Of the department Of labor quarters
and subsistence in the work of con-
structing is known to every one fa-
miliar with the work"
A Great Work.
It is estimated that the canal Will
be eight years in building from the
point at which the work is now. -Four
years of work under the United States
has wrought wonders and every eXpec-
tation has been exceeded in amount OF
labor done in digging out of rock and
mountain this gigantic excavation. Mr..
Claude N. Bennett Of Georgia, who is
cow manager of the congressional bu-
reau of information, has studied the
situation in the canal zone thoroughly
and has given to the public some val
liable information about the work un-
dertaken by the United States govern
ment
In an address delivered in Knoxville,
Tenn. before the summer school Mr..
Bennett spoke of the canal as being
the eighth wonder of the world" He
paid a tribute to the southern men who
have taken such a prominent part in
the work and gave some figures in the
course of his lecture that will show
what a great undertaking it is to cut
through this slender strip of terri
tory. Mr.. Bennett said in part:
Figures talk, and hence a mere re-
cital in figures will give an idea Of
what it means to build the Panama
canal. over 100 steam shovels, each
capable of lifting a ton Of material, are
at work there; there are unloaders and
spreaders and track throwing ma
chimes: there are several hundred
steam engines, ard 500 train loads Of
material are handled every day. That
little so miles of track, known as the
Panama railroad, is about the busiest
railroad on earth. Three thousand car
penters were at work for years build
ing houses There are more than 2,2OO
buildings of every possible size and
shapes: "a different types of dwellings
alone: office buildings; store houses,
hotels. magazines and whatnot. There
are four distinct water systems to sup
ply not only the cities of Panama and
Colon buf the entire working force