The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-12-09

10 cents straight IN the states, but
which an obllging commissary sells
Tor cents each. His wife may pur-
chase real irish linen az 1-2 the price
to her sister in the States. The rea-
son is that there Is no duty on i'm
ports to the Zone when they are
brought in by the government.
The United Press Correspondent
with President Taft asked an engi-
neer on one Of the big locomotives
to tell him what he Thought OF the
work on the Zone. We'll" he said,
I'm not a main line engineer and
get only $3.50, gold, a month, as
against their 1910. But / have 800
every month of the year and live bet
ter than I'd even hope to live when
| was in the States"
How long have you been here ?"
he was asked.
I've only been back seven months
this last time he replied. Prior to
that time 1 worked here four years:
then l went home ana bought
farm. Now l want another farm, so
came back where the money was
easy"
There is no high cost of living"
on the Isthmus. The government en-
ployee there can purchase the best
porterhouse steaks (kept in a cold
stor.ge plant operated by the sub.
| sistence Department. for from 10 to
10 cents less than in the United
States. The two lone staples, upon
which the price has increased in the
last four years are ham and bacon.
The monetary system in the Zone is
based on the gold standard, of Amer
lean and the silver money of South
America. American money is worth
| twice as much as Mexican" 1t Is
rather perplexing for the citizens of
| the States to go into an american
bar" in Panama City run by. say a
| citizen of New York, to buy a glass
of imported beer and to receive $3.50
| In queer tinkly Panama money, as
change for $5 bill.
Everybody in Panama City takes
carriage. even IL going only few
steps. The heat Is 50 oppressive that
one learns quickly to husband his
energy The visitor used to Yankee
| cabbies will be astonished at the con.
| clusion Of an hours ride through Pan
anna City behind diminutve pony,
| ~
| cents gold. The only way in which
the cabby Che is generally q negro
who talks English haltingly with a
queer Spanish accent) gets even Is
by charging you enormous prices lin
Mexican money! for all stops and
waits
In the States one hears q great deal
| about earthquakes in Central and
South America and the fear has been
expressed by some that such con-
vulsion would destroy the locks and
dams of the canal. Down at Pan
anna, the visitor who thus expresses
himself Is given visual and docu-
mentary refutation. He Is first taken
to the Cathedral ruins in Panama
| City and there may see two magni-
flcent brick arches which have been
standing since early in the 18th GEN.
tury. They used to have real earth
quakes in those days but the arches
are still strong. Nowadays the only
earthquakes they have are slight
movements, hardly noticeable, and
very rare.
| The documentary evidence is in the
fact that scientists have classified
| Panama as without the earthquake
belt" A few hundred miles north
west in Central America lies Costa
Rica. shaken and often convulsed
nation. To the southeast lies South
America well within another quake
Zone. Panama's history shows no
earthquakes of any size for dozen
of decades.
The Seismographs installed by the
| m rfh cln
have made some peculiar records. For
instance. the "record" of the big
earthquake at Costa Rico a few years
ago was smaller. of less duration and
indicated feebler impulses, than the
seismograph records at Washington
of the same shock.
| 1t is a well-known fact that con-
crete resists earthquake shocks moro
successfully than any other construc-
tive material.
| 1t Is used to the exclusion of every.
thing else on the canal. a shock of
the same magnitude as that which
started the San Francisco fire would
have little effect upon the massive
docks and spillways
| No mere recital of specifications OF
the canal conveys the magnitude or
difficulty of the work. They are
making islands of two continents
down there and new geography-they
are building mountains and creating
rivers.
In the words of President Taft:
1T makes one feel prouder than
ever TO think he is an American
when he sees this work.
|