Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1910-01-07
PANAMA EDITORIAL TRIP.
Letter No. 10.

Diverging tracks on which could be
seen putting engines dashing in va
rious directions with trail of cars
groaning and creaking behind, while
the welkins were frequently made to
ring with the scream of these rush
ing locomotives and their way back
aud forth. The Chagres river in It's
sinouS course intersectS the Panama
railroad in about as many places as
do the headwaters of the Chickasaw-
hay the Mobile & Ohio. It's of about
the size of Big Greek in Greene
County, that is the stage we saw it.
We passed through one stretch Of
what would probably answer to the
name of Jungle, the trees being thick
and pretty we'll interlocked with cane
and underground. This stretch was
dark and rank looking and we were
glad to emerge from it after bit.
There are quite a number of stops
on the run over, some of which are
entitled to the name of town, others
mere villages and still others but
flag stations. Running in and out
of these we were struck with the
number of chinese faces TO be seen,
There are lots of Chinese and Japa-
nese on the Isthmus, though an EX
clusion Act by the Panama Repub-
lie now keeps them ont of there as
in this country but they flowed in
there in vast numbers before the law
was enacted. They are found more
in family groups down there than up
here. Rushing along over the rails
we could at several PAGES look out
and see some of the native matched
roof huts so common to pictures OF
| African life In some shanties along
| the railroad side we saw naked mig
ger pickaninnies unblushingly stand
| ing up in their family circles watch
ing the flying train go past. In Co
lon we also saw some such on door
steps in houses on the main streets,
1t seemed that the farther we pro-
ceeded across the Isthmus the more
locomotives we saw plying this way
and that. All told we suppose we
must have seen on the Zone enough
of them to man one of the trunk lines
in the States, Most of them were Of
the heavy high driver modern build.
The Panama Railroad of course owns
it's engines, but they are few indeed
compared with them that bear the
stamp of I. c. c. which stands for
tIsthmus Canal Commission, the
official designation of Uncle Sam in
a legal way down there so far as the
Canal is concerned. They have some
large engine sheds, engine shops and
smithing shops at several OF the in
terror American towns in the Canal
strip. This would remind you of 60
ing through the shops of a big rail
road system in some city OF America.
The NJ. & 0. shops at Whistler give
faint idea of what these are. .Prac-
tically all of the work proper in dig
ging the Canal is done with mechan
ical power, except such as man per
forms. We mean that neither horses
Lor mules are employed to dig the
cuts with scrapers, as in this coun-
try much of the grading is done.
There ii is steam-ShOvelS and blast
: ing powder with steam engines and
: cars to carry it off. The draught
animals are used in auxiliary work
like for Ambulances, Commissary
Wagons and as mounts for the Zone
police and officials, but that's about
) all the figure they cut in aiding this
ditch work through.
The shades OF night began to en-
velope us when our train got within
!, a dozen miles of Panama City Along
about here we were very much star
tied to hear the sudden and terrific
roar az of several cannon turned
loose in quick succession. Someone
informed US that it was blasts beng
touched off in Culebra Cut, which
place we were rapidly nearing. From
that on at intervals we could bear
these reports and thny grew londer
andstill louder as these deadly explO-
sives rended apart giant rock in the
adamantine crevices of the mountain
which man was piercing with his ar
tifcial canal bed Of in the distance
we now espied ascending volumes of
smoke in the edge of the mountain
range which we were winding into,
these puffs having ths t color and be
ing the result of the explosions.
But more of Culebra Cut, when we
tell you of our special visit toit. Up
till this time we had not had any sur
cease from the heat, but the whisk
of the train through the nocturnal
air began to make our coat feel pleas
ant one more time, we were ascend
ing the mountain grade and great
er part OF our route over had been III
the bed of the Canal, alongside of it
and zigzaggingg back and forth
through it.
Through the cleaning now we gaze
| out Of the car window at 4 decided