The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-05-26
PLAYING TENPINs AT GoRooNA

Pacific division OF tho canal. at Co.
, rozal.
Inside the CIubhouses.
l wish could take you into these
buildings. They have all the con-
veniences and comforts of our mems
clubs at home. These houses are great
pavilions surrounded by wide veran-
das, so that they are cool and airy.
The walls are yelled in woven wire
| netting to keep out the mosquitoes
and everything is so large and roomy
that 1t is cool day and night. All of
the buildings have reading rooms and
libraries. They have poolrooms and
billiard rooms. They have bowling
alleys and gymnasiums. as we'll as
| rooms for checkers. chess ami other
| games. Each house has It's own re-
| freshment rooms. and in the lobby
| there are cigar and candy stands.
Let US take look at the. clubhouse
here at Culebra. 1t stands high above
the great cut. and SO commands ii
that you can see for several miles the
work going on beneath you. The
building is about 200 feet long and so
| feet wide. We go in through the wide
front door. which leads to tho lobby
or office. which is also the library. The
library contains about 1000 books, con-
| sisting largely of biography and fic-
! tion and Is we'll patronized.
The books drawn out at Culebra this
| month numbered 700. and those dis
tributed throughout the whole zone
| were more than 5000.
But listen to the music. II comes
from that photograph there at the
right. On the opposite side of the hall
| is an upright piano. which we may
hear later on.
Passing through the lobby we turn
TO the right and go into the reading
room. This is filled with men in easy
chairs reading and chatting. They
are in their shirt sleeves, and look
very comfortable. AT one end OF this
room are two men playing chess. and
at the opposite side several are writ
| ing.
| The scenes ara for all the world like
those OF big city in the United States.
The tables are covered with maya
! zines. Seventy of the best period
, icals and journals ara taken. and one:
can find everything here from science
| to fiction. AS to the writing tables,
| 1000 letters arc sent out from this
room every month and from the seven
clubhouses 5000 or 10000 are mail,d
| home in that time.
But let us go to the other side OF
the hall and enter the billiard ROOM
Every one of these clubhouses has bill
lizard tables and cues. The game keeps
the men out of the poolrooms of the
saloon. which were n Chilly filled with
employees before the clubhouses were
started.
The members pay 80 cents an hour
for the use OF the club tables. They
are good players too. and they have
billiard tournaments Saturday nights.
when the men come In crowds to look
on. If you would know just how pop
ular this form of amusement Is / would
say that 1000 pool games ware played
here at Culebra last month, and that
a similar proportion was played at
the other clubhouses. The canal COM
mission and the Y. NJ. c. a. believe
that pool and billiards are good exer-
else, and they encourage them. In the
meantime the patronage OF tho pool
rooms of the saloons has fallen to
nothing. There are about a dozen such
in Culebra. and l could not find more
than a couple of employees in any of
than.
Baseball and Bowling.
Among other popular amusements
here are baseball and bowling. Every
clubhouse has Its bowling room. and
there are bowling clubs which contest
with one another. There arc bowling
tournaments, in which expert tenpin
| men of the different canal settlements
come together and complete. and there
are duckpin tournaments as well. There
are also weekly meetings at tho various
towns. where tho best duckpin men
and the best tenpin men compete. and
1t is impossible to appreciate the riv-
airy as to such matters.
| Every settlement has ite baseball
clubs and there is also an isthmian
basketball league. The baseball clubs
OF Culebra and Empire play each other
| several times evary season. and II is
| the same with the other towns along
the line. Every place has it's own team
| and Its regular days OF practice, and
there are athletic msets, which are at
| tended by the expert gymnasts from
all parts of the isthmus. At these
meets the program includes the hum
dred-yard dash, the mlls run. the relay
races. tho ishotput and the pole vault.
| Tho prizes are medals Of gold, silver
and bronze. and the competitors are