The Washington herald., 1908-07-18


million dollars worth Of stun from the
states, including all the fOodstuffs fur
nished 70 the householders Of the Canal
Zone. This commissary IS one OF the
things which makes life on the isthmus
toleTable. It sells the individual empioye
the best Of everything at cost. plus a
very narrow margin
This commissary is nNshing more or
less than a big department store with
branches is every town on the isthmus-
It's prices are astonishingiy low, when
one thinks how far they have brought
things a suit Of linen selling for g.
in the States can be bought here for s.
Bottled buttermilk as fresh as II lust
from the churn, can be bought as low
as in New York, Chicago. or St Louis.
Strawberries and watermelons can ne
bought as advantageously here as in
any good market in the States
All the beef comes through the COM
nissary- The householder sends in his
order 10 the e0mmissary, Just as he
would send II 10 his corner grocer in the
Slates. and 1t is filed just as promptly.
Nhen Il gets home he finds that he
mas paid less for corresponding cuts Of
meat than he would have 10 pay in any
.esoiH5 American city. II is hne meat
ne gers, big, juicy steaks and roasts.
mat would make the heart Of the aver
age American householder glad
In the City Of Washington. where
there is as high a class Of beef eaters
as In any city in the country. because
OF It's large percentage OF saIaried peo-
PIE, only 70 per cent Of the beef sold
TO consumers by one Of the leading Chi
cago packers is prime beef. One-third
Of the remainder is the second grade
and the remaining two-thirds is third
grade meat Here on the isthmus no
third-grade beef is brought in Il is al
good 10 prime, and 10 less an authority
than Chief Engineer Goethals himself
says that he cannot buy as good beef
IN Washington as he gets every day at
Cuieora Any one who has eaten the
lstnmian Canal Commissions hotel fare
day after day will ccucede the splendid
quality OF their beef. and the same kind
IS supplied 10 the householders-
Inc same IS true Of everything
Wnetner Il IS something 10 eat. something
70 wear, OF something with which 10 fur
nlsh a home And everything IS delivered
al the housewives door. the perisha ble
articles directly from the refrigerator
ears So far as this phase OF life on the
lsthfnus IS concerned, there is little left
That could reasonably be desired
Married folks get the long end Of the
proposition or the isthmus- Those who
bring their families are given married
quarters as rapidly as possible. II the
Rnploye is q lcw-salaried man, he is
given furnished apartment OF four
rooms and bath. If he IS getting a few
hundred dollars more he is given a five
room house OF apartment. The man get
ting stin more gets a six-room house
and 50 on. the houses being Of a char
acter commensurate with the position Of
the ulan-about the same sort Of accom-
medatisns he would rent for himself, or
own, IN the States. He is furnished fuel.
light. and water free. Thus his only out
lay Is for something 20 eat. something to
wear. and the inCideurals OF life Mar
ried quarters are IN great demand. There
are several hundred applicants for quar-
ters now Il is not intended 10 build a
great many more. 50 that hereafter only
those vacated by people returning 10 the
States or by those who have been pro-
NOTED viii be available The isthmisn
folk get q pretty fair line on the ac-
tivities OF Dan Cupid by the applications
which come in, many Of them from sup
posedIy confirmed old bachelors
But Notwithstanding the fact that mar
red folks can live more cheapIy on the
isthmus than IN the States, and that
they have the advantage OF the unmaT-
ried, there are more tOngue-lashings
handed 10 Mr. Jackson Smith, the head
OF the department OF labor. subsistence.
and quarters. than TO any other man on
the isthmUs. For instance. Mrs Jones
had straight front dresser IN her bed
room It may have been put there a fun
year ago She goes over &c call on Mrs.
Brown, and fnds that she has Just gotten
2 new dresser and that Il has a swell
front Immediately Mrs. Jones imagines
herself Disseminated against and she cuts
her cali short 10 go down 10 the depart
ment resolved 10 know the reason why
she hasn't a swell front dresser ike the
one Mrs Brown has The explanation
that "A new order Of dressers had come in
and that all the new ones are swell fronts
doesn't appease her wrath, nor satisfy her
mind She is forever afterWard the pos
SCISSOR OF a grievance against the Canal
Commission IN general and the commits
sioner OF labor. subsistence, and quarters
In parJiculaT-
A woman at Empire wanted a mattress
on a hur-y-Up order. The local manager
told her he had only one. and that this
one was not very good. but he would have
others in the next day. She replied that
she wanted one at once and that the one
in stock would do, Next day she saw q
neighbor get a new mattress, and IN ten
inmates she was at headquarters demand
ing that she get one like her neighbor
had In another case a lady gave 4
little birthday party to her daughte-. She
asked the commission electrician to put in
a few extra lights for the occasion He
did 50. Within thirty hours he had twenty
ladies' asking for a similar number Of
lights
The average woman on the isthmus has
little 20 do, and, Of course. idle minds
like idle hands, are apt 70 ind mischief
to do The little fancied wrongs that
women have received rankle in their
bosoms and spread about, appearing
worse as th@- go Seeing this. Secretary
Taft planned club organization work.
which was done by Mss Helen Varick
Boswell She succeeded in interesting
nearly all OF the women on the Canal
Zone Il she had rot. married quarters
would not have been in such great de-
mand, nor housewives so content 10 stav
in the Zone This club work acts as a
sort of safety valve for the women folk
and since its establishment things have
been going along pretty smoothly.
The National Civic Federation sent Miss
Gertrude Beeks. secretary OF its welfare
department. to the fsthmus some time
ago 70 investigate living conditions One
Of her first criticisms was that the people
did not have warm water 70 batbe in