The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-06
BACK TO WORK
 ON NOVEL ROAD
ecentisusd from Pas. on..,

ttDnHMue0 rom Page OMe.l sufficient number of men at work at Forty cents day without the impor- tatiou of single bit of labor.
 As To Convict Labor.
 When the proposition was outlined to Mir. Flagler by his representatives he declined to build the road by any hands other than free American labor. and the work of bringing in this labor was begun. At first the men were paid yi.25 a day and had to make their contributions toward their own com missary department This, as was found early In the proceeding, was unsatisfactory and within a snort time the railroad was paying a minimum or $l.b0 day to It's men and was pro- yiding them with their food and quar- ters. Figures connected with the work show that 1t has cost the company $1.08 a day to feed each man employ ed and both Generals Shattuc and Brooke of the United States Army, on tours of inspection of the work, de- clared that the sanitary conditions of the camps and of the commissariat for the men were better than was to be found in the regular United States Army.
 It Is significant fact that while the so-called peonage cases were pend- ing in the United States court fully l.500 letters were received by the men In charge of the construction work and of the litigation. written by men. who had been engaged in building the road and who voluntarily offered their services as witnesses to tell of the con- ditions of the camps and of the work. The government. on the other hand. had to pay expensive mileage charges n xyar Nrrft. nesses that it's attorneys brought from long distances, without even establish ing so much as a semblance of sub stantiation for It's charges.
 It Is noteworthy, tn connection with all that has been said and written concerning the work on tlals great line. that each fall. when construction work iz resumed after the hot summer months, more than fifty DOT cent of the men who go to the camps are men who have worked on the line during previous winters.
 How Men LsEe.
 The camps in which the men I've are provided with welI-built bunk houses. each consisting of c large sleeping room with two tiers of hunks extend in9 down the center and along each side. Each bunk is supplied with clean bedding and q clean mattress filled with cut sponges. and Is covered with la mosquito netting. There iB c jani- tor employed at each home to make the beds and keep the place clean, Then there is camp eating-houso. where fresh meat Is served at least twice q week, although in hot climates meat cannot be eaten so heartily as in the north.
 The houses of the superintendent and of the engineers aye located in the camps and there also are libraries weli-stocked with papers and maga- xines to which the men have free access, and hospitals. in charge of surgeons, where all minor cases of illness or injury are treated. The more serious cases are sent to the main hospital of the road at Miami All of these institutions are main tainea by the railroad, which already has spent upwards of sT5.0Qe for medi- cal services.
 What this vast enterprise win mean. when completed. to commercial Cuba. belongs to the realms of fancy, but it is doubtful if It's importance could be exagFerated. It's utilization also would give the United States tremen- dous strategical advantage, from 6 military standpoint, were 1t necessary at any time to rush troops to the Is- land Republic. Furthermore, in view of the tremendous possibilities for the future of Cuba, Panama and South America, the F'Iagler road will supply the closest link connecting the UniteI States with those countries.