The Newark journal. (Newark, Ark.) 1901-1959, 1909-08-27

me space, / will write few NOR,
lines in regard to this country.
As a rule we cannot get GU
when work is being prosecuted OF
the canal, except on holidays, ant
then everyone has a holiday anC
are out sightseeing too, SO larg'
per centage of the population o
the Canal Zone are on the NOV,
on such occasions. For this rea
son it is not easy for one to SCI
very much of the work in opera
ton except what is going on II
the near vicinity.
The Fourth of July is our great
est holiday, 50 Mr.. Brown and
decided we would cross the CONT
nent (isthmus) twice in one day
and at the same time see few
sights in tie cities of Colon and
Panama, the cites at the east and
west ends of the canal.
| had never visited the cemetery
in Panama, and this was most in
teresting to me. The dead are
only temporary tenants of their
graves. The city has a number of
cemeteries, but the system of tenn
porary tenancy prevents any cal
culation of the number of past oe-
cupants. When a cemetery be-
comes crowded, the collins are
taken out, the bones shaken out
in a heap and the empty recep-
tacles are again offered for sale or
hire. The cemetery is in the form
of a quadrangle, surrounded by
walls containing three tiers of
bovedas Vaults just large enough
to accommodate one coffin, and
are sold permanently or are rented
for term of eighteen months.
After the coffin is deposited, the
opening is sealed with a slab or
cement and brick, and, if perma-
nently secured, a memorial tablet
is generally placed in front. Those
rented have the date when lease
expires clearly marked on them,
and when the rent becomes due
again, if not paid, the contents are
thrown out, just as a living tenant
would be done by harsh landlord.
Those who are buried in the en-
closure fare no better than those
in the sepulchers, as they do not
hesitate to make new grave
where an old one may have been.
Laborers were at work digging a
grave while we were there, and
we saw a skull and several bones
that had been unearthed.
But this custom of disturbing
the dead is confined to the natives
only. 1t has been the custom in
Spanish countries, for ages, to
''let" the right to conduct a GEM
etery to the highest bidder, just
as one would be granted the priv
lege of running a gambling estah-
lishment, and it may truly be said
that graft extends even to the
grave in Spanish countries.
About seven miles east of Pana-
ma can still be seen a few of the
ruins of old Panama, or Panama
the Golden" as it was called at
the time it was destroyed by the
Buccaneers under Morgan in the
year 1870. 1t was, at that time,
the largest and richest city in the
western hemisphere. The city
contained twelve thousand or more
buildings, with many grand man
sions. There were eight monas-
teries and a magnificent hospital.
The wealthy inhabitants lived in
the greatest luxury and the poorer
natives were their slaves. The
wealth and prosperity of Panama
was the envy of all the world.
But today one must look for the
ruins of Panama the Golden"
amidst the rank growth of a trop-
zeal Jungle, among which may be
seen the towering ruins of St.
Augustine, with its many under
ground passages and catacombs.
1t is supposed that a good deal