The Washington herald., 1908-07-15

~---- Af--D A4-E <1AA4IA aAe-AA A--A-
sent Of the isthmian canal force is that
every man seems to feel himself the
owner Of the canal and is anxious to
get the job completed as soon as possible,
II order that he may begin TO get income
from 1t instead OF suffering a perennial
OUtgo. Every ore Of the 5000 OF more
Americans connected with the undertak-
ing is deadly in earnest. He is proud Of
the record that IS being made. and seems
70 be imbued with the desire TO have a
hand in the making Of this record The
time for loafers. time servers, drunkards
and shirkers is past
a wee6ing-out process has been going
on for a year now. The Inducements
which can he held out are strong enough
10 attract good men. and the commission
no longer md itself under the necessity
OF tolerating incompetence OF indiner-
encs. The men who care more for the
cup that cheers than for the canal
soon ind themselves canned" as they
say on the isthmus when a man loses his
position Now and then you see one Of
these He has either lost his place or
has been reduced in position. He is the
only man on the isthmus that has a word
70 say against the work He threatens
all sorts Of exposures He viii tell YOU
that he has a friend IN Congress. and
that he IS going to have an investigation
that viii reveal shameful conditions. He.
perhaps. intends going 10 Peru. or some
other place where they pay good wages
and appreciate good men-that is If he
can get the passage money But without
exception, It IS all a kick because he has
lost a job or has been dropped TO a lower
position
Every body else IS satisfied Most OF the
men in the construction work are all old
hands at the business. They have come
in from everywhere Some OF them have
spent years in construction work in trop-
ical countries. and call themselves ''trop-
ical tramPs-" But they have no aversion
10 hard work Years Of residence in the
tropics have Injured them 10 climatic con-
ditiOns, and years Of experience have
taught them 10 care for their health
They have known conditions elsewhere.
and are qualified TO speak Without ex-
ception. they viii tell you that they make
more money and have every. condition Of
construction work better than anywhere
else they have ever been I met a fore
man Of one OF the big dirt ya-ds-the
one al Pedro Miguel where they make
Up the dirt trains for the big dump az
La Boca. He told me he had oeen on
construction work in the United States.
in Peru. in Bolivia. Ecuador, and Brazil
and that nowhere had he been able 10
save as much money as on the isthmian
canal He said that everything that men
could reasonably ask was given them
I heard the same thing from a hundred
sources. from men who have opportunity
to know At the La BOca dumps I met
several men who had been on construc-
ton work in the States for years, and
they. without exception. declared that
conditions down here, 2,s00 land miles
from New York. were better than they
had ever known on big construction jobs
IN the very heart Of the States.
From the chief engineer down. 1t seems
that the best talent obtainable has been
secured for the prosecution Of the work
The engineers Of the construction depart
ment are al men who have made good in
their respective fields. For instance. Civil
Engineer Sayille, who has charge Of the
experiments at the Gatun Dam, was Sc
lected for that work because Of his. proven
ability in connection with the Wachusetts
Dam. near Boston. an engineering prob
lem OF a similar nature as the construc-
know how 10 get all hands under them
70 doing a maximum amount Of work. and
are accomplishing wonders by combining
the Intelligent direction Of those higher
up with the main strength and awkward
ness Of the nliterate Spaniard and the
ignorant West Indian negro.
Nearly every American member OF the
force has some pet ambition IN c0nnec-
ton with the work. There is Capt
AIIchaelsO1, OF the big sea-goinE dredgs
AncOn- which can suck Up a half-miIIion
cubic yards Of earth a month and carry
Il out 10 sea His pet ambition IS 10 pilot
the first ship through the canal He saws
he intends 10 stick 10 the work until the
Job Is finished, If his health allows, and
then he hopes to be the head pilot at the
big celebration when the canal is finished
Another employe with a worthy anl5i-
tion is PaymasteTs Clerk Page He al
ready has the record OF being the Oldest
employe in point OF service on the canal
He has been connected with the canal
project for twenty-five years. He was
on the pay force under the old French
regime. and was inherited by the new
company with the other assets OF the
canal He was employed by the Ameri-
cans when they began operations. and
wants 70 see the job finished He can
pay Of as many men in a given time as
any man on the isthmus. and the mis-
takes he makes are as few and far be-
tween as f0ur-leaved clovers-
There are nearly 900 white people in
the Canal Zone. out Of a total population
Of more than $500 OF these about 800
are women and 100 are children, who live
in Canal Commission quarters About y
per cent Of the white men in the Zone are
aliens, mostly -Spaniards and Italians: but
only very small per cent Of the women
and children are not Americans. The
working force averages about 800 men
with the Canal Commission. and about
600 with the Panama Railroad Approx
imately, u,e90 are at work on the ex-
cavations- On dredging there are some
800 al work. On other COntributOry con-
struction work there are about 5000 en-
gagged, making a force of approximately
zl,o3J at work on the construction work
Of all kinds on the canal.
There are slightly more than 203 women
employed On the canal Of whom about 90
per cent are with the commission and the
remainder are with the Panama Railroad.
The highest salary paid 10 a woman is
Si75 a month and the lowest So. The av-
erage IS about So It IS not the policy
Of the commission 70 employ many worn-
en- and those II does employ are mainly
related TO men living in married quar-
teTs who furnish them q home. The com
mission finds that il would cost more
propOrtionately 20 furnish homes for
women than for men
No one can imagine the difficulties that
beset the Americans v-ho r7ana,a 49,