The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1912-02-02
COLUMBIAN
IS MAKING GOOD N
PANAMA CANAL ZONE
ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR
MEN ON THE IsTHMus, SAYS
PAPER.
MAKES SPEECH At SMOKER
Deals With History OF Canal coun.
try and Pays Tribute to lts Great
Wealth and Saoaeity Of Uncle
Sam.

From the daily Star and Herald of
Panama City Is taken the following
extract of speech made there on
the night Of January 18th by William
G. Erwin, at Knights Of Pythias
smoker. The paper says he Is one
of the most popular men on the 18TH
,nus. He had for his subject Pan
aman. a Name With Which to Con-
jure Coin," and said in part:
From that day, when Balboa, the
first of all the great Conquistadors,
.ied on Isthmian soil beneath the
!headsman's axe, to the day when
Ferdinand de Lesseps, the first Of all
the great modern engineers, sailed
away from Panama, discredited,
dishonored and financial wreck, there
seems to have been a fatality at
tached to those who have sought end
won fame In the Isthmus of Pana-
ria. his narrow neck of land which
connects North and South America.
and divides the Caribbean from the
great South Sea, has seen more
bhghted hopes, more of the greed for
gold, and more of mans inhumanity
10 man than any other spot of like
size on earth. If the bones of the
rank end lie who have lost their lives
here during the past four-hundred
years, could be gathered together,
there would be enough to build a
beautiful, bleached boulevard across
the Isthmus from the Atlantic to the
Pacific
! During the first twenty years of
Spanish occupation the Isthmus
changed names several times. First
TT was Castillo de Orc, or Castle of
| iold, later on La Antigua, then
iDarien, few more changes and at
last in 1919, when they built the city
iof the Pacific, 1t settled down with
its present name. And two years lat.
er 1t was officially designated by
Gharles the Fourth, of Spain, as
Panama.
| In The old Isthmian Indian lam
guage the word Panama means,
Astounding in Fish" The noble req
man has always been more or less of
Ia Dclphic oracle-one who wasted
no words. Hence for four centuries
the world has been left to draw its
own conclusions as to just whit 1am.
lily OF fish gave the Isthmus its uame
This has always been a much mooted
question, and some Of the would-be
wise cnes have been so unkind as 10
claim that the word properly translat
ed means, Astounding in suckers. .
1t may be that they who made this
claim were prompted by a spirit OF
Jealousy. But be that as it may
Panama" has always been a name
with which to conjure coin.
For three hundred years the spend
thrift kings Of Spain when they rar
short OF money had only to write
,nree words, Panama, Dinero, Prom
to-" and a stream Of glittering gold
the blood-stained wealth of rich Pc
ru-would pour across the Isthmu,
to FL. their empty Golfers. Wher
Morgf n, the richest of all buccaneers
grew weary of his bloody game anc
decided to crown his victorious infa
NY with one master stroke for mil
hons from among all the wealthy cit
les of the western world he selectet
Panama as his treasure house. Eyel
though he knew that it was by ia
, the most inaccessible and guarde
, by five thousand men, two thousan
: OF whom We're the flower of the Span
: ism army. And twelve hundred null
: loads of gold and silver bullion, intel
, MINCED with priceless gems and co.'s
: ly silk and laces was the booty tina
ne brought away from the ruins o
/. hat sacked and burning city. Thi
vas mighty tribute to the instinc
of the first Morgan entering the Gil
cies Of high finance.
Fol more than three hundred year
Panama gave her wealth to tn
world. Now che is calling for the re
turn II her own. And-for sity year.
!. like bread cast upon the waters"
has been drifting home. 1t cost tn
Panama RailIoad Company over fv
million doliars to link the ocean
with ribbons Of steel 1t cost tn
: beasapts of France over two hundre
j. and fifty millions of dollars and vel
D nigh bankrup, the French nation {
r start the canal across the isthmu,