El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-10

At the same time other girls of similar
ages were flirting with some men on
the opposite side OF the ROOM and at
the table one drank beer with a
Spaniard-
AS I looked the policeman said:
1hes girls are real slaves and they
are treated like slaves They lcok
very gay now in their Jewels and fine
dresses, but those jewels and dresses
Iney are allowed to use only at night
During the day they put on common
clothing, and take. care of the house,
scrubbing and cleaning The atrou
keeps them in debt, and they are so
AFRAID OF her that they do not dare to
leave"
this kind there are IN Panama and
Colon, but the number is large, and
1t is steadily increased by recruits
from France and southeastern Europe.
The houses are licensed BY the two
cities. 1t is claimed that they are IN
der medical SUPERVISION. and that the
girls are older than they look. I asked
one OF them whether she had yet passed
Is. She mocSingly replied that she
was IS, and danced away. swinging
her bare arms around her head and
Kicking her red, silkstockinsed toe al
most to the height of my nose.
The government is doing all it can
TO restrict the white slave traffic and
to reduce the vice Of the Panama cities.
1t has done wonders, and were 1t not
for our influence in such matters
things would be worse than they are.
1 believe that the morality among the
white employees of the canal is far bet
ter than could be found in such a
camp anywhere else. The canal has
many good American women and they
and the Y. NJ. c. A. clubhouses have
done much to build up a high moral
tone among the employees.
In the Opium Dens.
Leaving the rediight section. / visited
some of the licensed opium dens They
are managed by the Chinese and are
e39ctesedlngiy rude The beds are mere
platforms made of boards, running
along the sides Of narrow halls. Upon
these wooden hunks 1 found men and
women lying with opium outfits before
others sleeping off the effects of the
drug, Some Of the smokers were Co.
Iomblans, few were negroes and
some were Chinese. I did not see a
that some are to be found among the
patrons and that even American Wom-
en- have come to the joints I doubt
TINS ~ l nave seen the opium saloons
grand in comparison with these at
Panama, but the glazed eyes and
dreamy looks of the smokers ere the
same.
A City of Caves.
The average visitor to the canal
leaves Panama city knowing nothing
about it If you would understand
how these people really live you must
get inside the houses and examine the
caves which form the homes of the
poor.
Panama is a queer city. It is one
IN which 100 or more families have
all the money, and where the remain
ing thousands earn only enough to
Keep soul.a body together. The av-
erage family of the lower classes sleeps
IN cave on the first floor: or if on
the second, II is over a store and the
whole family Will have but one room.
There are thousands of families here
each Of which has only one room and
this Is so small that the cooking is
done in a common hall outside it The
Kitchen stove is pot of charcoal put
inside box to keep off the wind, the
box being nailed to the fence or post
of the veranda.
Most Of these cave homes have no
windows, being ventilated by an open
ing which runs around the tops of the
walls under the ceiling. There is no
PIaster nor paper. The walls are Of
boards. painted or not, as the landlord
may order.
am having my films developed by a