The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1908-08-14
PANAMA MONEY EASY,
POOR PLACE 10 UVE
w. E. FLEETWOOD, ONCE OF NOR.
FOLK, HOME ON LEAVE.

Sioux City, Aug. S.-That Panama
Is a fine country in which to make
money but n poor place to live in is
the view of William c. Ellenwood. n
conductor on the Panama railroad.
formerly a conductor on the Chicago,
st, Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha.
with headquarters at Norfolk. Mr..
Fleetwood, accompanied by Mrs El.
lenwood and their two children, has
arrived in Sioux City for visit with
relatives. He has a leave of absence
for forty.nne days with pay.
The family returned via New York,
the trip on the water requiring seven
days. Mr.. Fleetwood will spend part
of his vacation shooting chickens on
his brothers ranch in Nebraska. In
cidenttally he intends to invest a part
of his Panama savings in farm land
along the Niobrara river.
Been There Many Years.
Mr. Fleetwood has run train in
Panama for seven years and is quail
fed TO speak of conditions there. AS
to the climate he said the tempera.
ture never fell below rs degrees
Fahrenheit and never got above 80 de.
grees. The rainy season, which comes
during our summer months. is the
most disagreeable part of the year.
The rain doesn't drop; 1t actually
pours, sometimes raining almost con.
stantly for two weeks at time. Nat.
urally the vegetation is rank, and the
weeds breed mosquitoes, reptiles, ia
rantulas and the sort Mr.. Fleetwood
has brought back a collection of skins
of snakes he has killed, remarkable
among these being the coats of whip
snake and a coral snake.
The sanitary crew of the Uuited
States government keeps the weeds
its employees live and that helps keep
the reptiles away from the premises,
although it is not an uncommon thing
to discover deadly reptile under the
house. All houses are built on
stills as a matter of protection in
this regard.
Railroad men and other employees
of the government are given furnished
houses free of rent The houses are
modern in every respect.
Easy to Spend Money.
The observation of Mr.. Fleetwood
has been that Panama is a better
country for a married man who has
his family with him than for a sin.
gle man. The trouble with so many
single men is that pay day finds them
with lot of money in their pockets,
and they hike for either Panama on
the Pacific side or Colon on the At
lantic side, which are only forty-seven
miles apart, and proceed to give a
fair imitation of riotous living. The
temptations in these two cities are
many. The demimonde of all coun-
tries are there and gambling houses
are everywhere. The United States
government does not control condi-
tions in these two terminal cities.
Another trouble so many single men
run into in Panama is the drinking
of intoXicants. The best booze fighter
who ever lived in the states cannot
handle" the stuff in that tropical eli
mate. He won't last; that's all, Mr..
Fleetwood says. The fever will get
him, and a quick death will be the
result.
Uncle Sam Popular.
Fine progress is being made on the
construction of the great canal, the
most wonderful engineering project
of all time. Uncle Sam as all the
natives or "Spheggeties," Spaniards,
Italians and other nationalities speak
of the United States government, is a
mighty man, and down there he COM
mands all the respect there is. An
American woman is shown Difference
at all times, and room on the side
walks or in public places is always
made for American children. The
feeling is that if harm should come
to any of these that Uncle Sam would
send squadron of his big battleships
the next day and blow up the whole
country.
Among the numerous interesting
collections brought back by Mr.. Ell
lenwood is that of Panaman coins.
| The country has no gold coin or DaDer