Arizona republican., 1910-04-15
CANAL BUILDER |
 PHOENIX VISITOR
GEORGE Q. BROOKE, UNTIL RE- GENTLY SUpERINTENDENT OF MOTIVE POWER AND
 MACHINERY.
Tells of Life on the lsthnus and the
 Governments Great Work.

be the guests of Mir. and Mrs. A. k Stacy until Sunday morning, when the,
 leave for the east. going via the Gran, Canyon Mrs. Brooke and Mrs. Stac,
 are sisters and the home of the Brooke,
 for over five years past has been tn, canal zone on the Isthmus of Panama At least that has been Mir. Brooke. home and his wife has been with hin part of the time. Mir. Brooke iron the beginning of the work on the Pa.
 mama canal in 1904 until few month, ago has been connected with it anc
 most of the time has been weighted
 down with titles indicating great re-
 sponsibility. chief among which was that of superintendent of motive power
 and machinery, for the entire cana project. IL included the installation oi
 all the machinery employed in canal construction. the equipping and opera :
 ton of the railroad and steamships al
 either end and in fact all manner of
 construction. both in chief and auxili-
 ary to the big canal enterprise.
 MT. Brooke has of course been as-
 sociated with all the chief engineers
 Wallace. Stevens and Goethals. with all
 of whom he has enjoyed pleasant rela . i tions He has returned after strenu-
 ous five years. pretty well saturated
 with malaria, which has settled in one
 limb and though he is not sn invalid I he does not want to become one He I says five years is as long as an 1 an American should live in that ciim- { ate unless he decides to remain there
 permanently. For that reason he re-
 signed his position and expects to make 1 his home in the east henceforth. there
 being plenty of opportunity for the
 employment of his talents in the line
 of his profession.
 Colonel Goethals and his assisting
 board. says MT. Brooke. represents the i flower of the engineering department of the American army and the work of canal construction is now being
 prosecuted under the direction of the finest possible organization. He says
 the canal will undoubtedly he com plcted in 1915, though few who have not been there can have any apprecia-
 ton of the magnitude Of the work to
 be done, much less the greater work which has already been accomplished and which includes. for instance. 90 per cent of the mechanical equipment that will be needed on the whole job as well as the assembling of an enormous quantity of materials and supplies. Asked whether he favored San Diego. san Francisco. New Orleans or Wash ington for a celebration of the canal opening. he replied that he and the people working down there rather held to the opinion that the Panama canal zone was the proper place to celebrate. X big naval demonstration should be a part of the show and it would be fine place for an international show of that kind. He says he has been wear ing Worlds Fair Panama 1915" but ton for the last two years. Continuing on the subject of the progress made. Mir. Brooke said the canal presents no great problems that have not beer set tied and determined upon as to execu- tion. The plans are all mapped out the equipment is mainly at hand and the organization. which was the most expensive part of the problem. is now practically complete and in successful operation.
 The organization embraces every thing from the government of the zone to the manner of living of most of it's inhabitants. at least all in government employ. their conveniences. necessities and even their social and religious life Former conditions were SO undesirable that it became d matter of economy for the government to provide in its or ganiZation for practically every human need. even to building churches of vari- ous denominations. For instance. in the burial of the dead before such pro vision was made. religious belief and custom caused frightful delay before there were churches. priests and preachers and as the mortality was great at that time. a bettering of con ditions in this respect proved great saving of the time of the laborers who of course adhere to their religions whatever they may be and insisted on abiding by customs for which there were no conveniences.
 Speaking of laborers MT. Brooke says the race problem in this country is nothing compared with what the ca- nal commission had to face. Instead of the Jim Crow cars used in the south to meet public sentiment. it has been found necessary in the zone to recognize at least five class distinc- tions The laboring class for the first year or so was a tough lot. assembled from all over the face of the earth. among them many Indian coolies. among which the caste system pre- vailed A member of one caste would refuse to carry d plank supported at the other end by a. coOlie of another caste. The conditions are now greatly improved but there arc still five class distinctions. The first includes the Americans. the second is the Pana- manian; the third includes the Italians. Spaniards and Greeks. known as the white Ia bor." the fourth are the West India negroes. and the fifth are the American negroes. the two negro races refusing to associate with each other. In trains and in public places these dis functions are all recognized and trou- ble is avoided by keeping each class to itself. The laboring class as whole. however. Is now orderly and is regard ed as very efficient. the scalawags and criminals having been weeded out.
 Colonel w. c. GOrgas is the chief | officer on the isthmus. and is | a marvellous man in his line of work. | He is held responsible for the good | health of about 46.000 people. of whom | a. 900 tc 3S,000 are employed in daily | Iahor The death rate is now only |