Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1909-12-31
PANAMA EDITORIAL TRIP.
Letter No. 9.

Hospital. The Wireless station of
course is of some interest. The pop
ulation of the city we were informed
is about ID, 900 souls. We haven't
had opportunity to look it up.
AS the evening was wearing away
we next betook ourselves with bag
gage to the depot of the Panama
Railrord Co. in order to be in full
time to catch our train across the
Isthmus, as the variations in time
here with at home, have made us
cautious, though by an actual com
parison sunset and sunrise is not so
far different from of Spring and Au-
tumn in Mississippi.
The first thing we observed on en-
tering this depot was that the color
line was drawn here too, though not
in a clear-cut way There were two
waiting rooms, and two entrances to
the ticket window, each of which
we're labeled respectively First
Class" and Second Class, AS the
fares for second class tickets are one
half of what the firSt-class are, and
the first-cass are high, being sc per
mile, naturally the Negroids, who
are improvident ana consequently
lean Of purse here if not more so
than our Southern Darkey, take the
second class passage almost EN-
masse, though occasionally you can
see a well dressed one who essays the
better passage as his pocket-b book is
longer. He thus thrusts himself
where he is not wanted and unwel-
come. Is a social leper, while if he
takes the usual second-class passage
with his fellows &c is both welcome
and on social parity. The differ
ence in the accommodation is the
seats. The first-class coaches have
seats like those in this country, that
is 10 accommodate two passengers
and facing 20 the front. The second
class coaches have one long seat on
each side OF the car and the inmates
sit facing each other in long rows on
each side, like on the Winter street
cars in an ordinary American city.
In the wait for the train S depar-
ture which ensued we suffered con
from the heat. The con-
traSt between the temperature here
and at home when weleft was brought
out. Owing to the rush of people and
the depot being too right in the bus
mess part of the city, the occasion
reminded us of one of the Summer
time excursions by train in the States
or that part we claim as home. Uncle
Sam virtually owns this Panama
Railroad and runs it Systematically
The gateman is as eXacting before
letting you into the enclosure where
the cars stand, us in some big city
in our homeland After we got IL
board and scrambled into seats. as
this in common with nearly every
train that is lun--and there are some
four or five passenger trains each
day each way and on Sunday about
a dozen, was crowded. There was
quite a bevy of school kids of dis
tinctive American kind even to the
noisy nuisance char
acterist;c of Young America, these
days anywhere. These children ride
on passes by courtesy of the govern
ment if they happen to be the off
springs of Canal employees or Pan
anna Railroad employees, to the near
est school which the government
maintains from their resident town.
We speak of the America govern
ment, and white children. As the
train ratified on it's journey and its
speed increased the tide of racket
among these brats rose higher and
higher. At nearly every station we
would drop off few of them till the
eutire rollicksone, juvenile crowd
we're deposited at their various home
doors.
The conductors on this road have
a uniform very wisely adapted to the
climate. Their suit has the brass
buttons and long coat all right. but
both coat and trousers are of vel
lowish linen, while the official cpp is
shaped in the usual way, but is of
some straw material. AS the pas
senger train engines burn coal oil
instead of coal, they can keep their
uniforms fairly clean despite it's
whitish appearance. It's rather of
the linen yellow color though. AS
grass grows SO rank everywhere of
course there's not so much dust to
encounter either.
The motion of the train felt good
to US. We we're now really to see
of the Canal and Isthmus
and that comfortably seated ia a car
pulled by the snorting Iron horse.
A slight grade was soon reached and
looking out we saw that we were
our first Panama bill.
This is called Monkey Hill and has
gruesome appearance, as scattered
along its face are multitude of sep
ulchral white headstones, proclaim
ing the ravages of Yellow fever. on
Canal Employees on days gone by.
1t looked to us like some battlefield
burial ground so many of the mounds
and headpieces did we see. In cross
ing the morass which stretching out
a piece from Colon has so severely
tried the skill and ingenuity of the
American railroad builders in main
tanning across it a railroad bed
which would not sink Dnder IFS