The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-07-01

Soon after finishing our dinner each
mar was given station by the time
keeper, which had to be built one hun
dred feet long. thirtyfive feet wide and
all the way, according to the location,
from four and a half to nine feet in
height. The payment for this was, for
easy station work, twenty-five cents
per yard and for difficult station work
thirty to thirty6ve cents per yard. It
was, according to the work, very good
pay and man could easily make from
three to four dollars a day.
The great heat in this country soon
stopped the men from working during
the middle of the day and so we had
to work from four to nine O'Clock in
the morning and from four to seven
o'clock in the afternoon; though, some
times when the moon was clear most
of us would work during the night and
rest in the daytime. This, however,
did not last very long. Not changing
the bill of fare for weeks and months
most of us were getting sick, and the
remainder laid down their tools and re-
fused to work under these conditions.
Furthermore there was no protection
against the numerous mosquitoes. Con-
sequently we had no opportunity to
rest peacefully after our daily work.
To get medicine for the sick, many
times l walked the distance of ten
miles to the doctor in Sa!adO. The doc
tor was an Italian and could not speak
word of English. On explaining to
him that many of the men were sick
with fever he would give me package
of quinine which be said was to be di-
vided among those who were sick. Not
long after this one of our fellows died,
leaving wife and three children. He
was buried on the beach about half q
mile west of Salado. But this was not
the worst of it. The rainy season which
begins in the latter part of October
flooded the whole region with two feet
of water. 1t made things worse. There
was no way of getting any provisions
thereafter, except some of our fellows
should wade through the water for
four miles to the river. There they
might obtain few articles from the
crew of piledrivers who were camping
on the river bank. Under these cir
cumstances the whole camp became de-
moralized. Men with their few dollars
saved went to the nearest saloon to
taste the socallei whiteye. The result
was they had to te tied down. If this
had not been done they would have
killed one another.
Seven fellows started out for Porte
Baroas, a distance of 10 miles, where
they thought they could stow away or
board the fruit steamers for the United
States. But what should be done with
the sick who were not able to walk
There was only one thing lett to do ant
that was to carry them to the hospita
in Salado. So one morning we proceed
ed, carrying the sick on our backs ant
up to our knees in water, to Salado
After our arrival in Salado the com
pany advised us to stay at the hospita
until the Joseph Vaccaro came bacl
from New Orleans aud then they woul,
send us all back to the United States
The condition of the hospital left mucl
to be desired, as there was room fo
only dozen men, so that the other
had to stay in the boat shanty withou
blankets or anything of comfort o
convenience.
In regard to the doctor 1 must ss
. that during my stay in this unhealth
country, l never saw him making
visit to the many sick men. But afte
landing in New Orleans saw all thes
men, one after another, walk up Tulan
avenue seeking shelter at the Charit
Hospital.
G. E.