The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-05-07

which is sometimes like the sweet
potato. and grows as long as ones
arm, and the yucca, a tuber when
grows as large as ones head, ana
tastes much like an Irish potato. Up
land rice has been grown here 10
some extent, and both the cocoahut
and caCo trees thrive.
Does not most of the land belong
to the natives"
No replied Governor Thacker,
only a small portion is owned by
them. The greater part OF 1t IS the
property of the United States Gov
ernment. its ownership including the
land Of the nan Railroad COM
pany. Some Of the land is taken up
by the canal, but other portions are
wild and unused. About $500 acres
of this government land are now un-
der lease. and about $4,000 a year
has Deer collected in rents; but the
rents will be less from now on, as
Gatun lake and other canal en-
croachments reduce the area to be
leased. The rent for government
lands for cultivation is a little over
q dollar an acre
Who do the farming?" [ asked
There is practically no farming to
speak Of. The higher prices for labor
on the canal prevent any extensive
work on plantations or ranches. The
natives have little patches surround
ing their shacks, each family raising
a few bananas. and other
tropical fruits. sometimes a little
sugar cane and usually some yuccas,
vans and other tropical vegetables.
The natives live for the most part on
what they produce in this way, and
carry the surplus over the trails or
haul it by boat to market. A part
Of the work of civil administration
is to keep these trails open. We are
now clearing the trails preparatory
to the taking of a gone census.
"Macadamized roads are also being
built through the zone," the Cover
nor went on. we now have a good
automobile road running along the.
line Of the canal from Panama to
Gorgona. about twenty miles. This
DAD ann be extended beyond
Gorgona. since Gatun lake, as it will
be ultimately formed. will extend TO
GOrgOna and cover nearly all the
area between Gorgona and Gatun.
On the Atlant side there is a mac
adamized road from Gatun to Colon.
a distance Of about seven and one
half miles"
TELL me something Of the people
who are Q living on the zone"
"Most Of them are laborers en-
gagged in the canal work. Nearly
every race and locality Of the globe
is represented. There are China
men. East Indians. natives Of South
and Central America. and tens OF
thousands Of negroes from the is-
lands of the Caribbean sea. Most OF
the silver employees are from Jamaica,
Barbados. Trinidad, St Kits, Mar
Unique. and others of the West In
dian islands. These people are Eng
disappearing, for the most part, al.
; though those from Martinique speak
French, and we have some Spanish.
. speaking negroes from Colombia ant
Venezuela. We have S~paniards from
the northern part Of the Iberiar
peninsula, and also Italians, Greeks
alities."
G How many whites have you?"
About $4,000. OF these, 5000 ar
$ Americans engaged on the canal
n This includes the engineers, high
grade mechanics and clerical EN-
ployes. Another 5000 of the white
are the wives and children of tn
American employees. and in additio,
we have about 5000 white Europea-
q laborers.'
: How many negroes have you?"
Nearly $4,000, l should say
!, 0 Law and Order Are Kept.
:, But is not such a varied popula
ton hard to control? I should hin
it would be very much like that c
a mining camp in the Wilds of OF
west or of a construction gang whic
n is building a railroad through a ne
d country. If that population were
It the United States everything woul
be wide open. There Won be fal
/, games, poker games and roulet; tt
ID zone would be peppered with saloon
or and it would be very unsafe to S
about after dark. How is it here
There is no comparison betwee
y our conditions and those which ye
ne have described" said the Govern
tn I'VE a no public gambling in tn
ne part OF Uncle Sam territory. I dou'
lis whether you can find as good ord
IN in any city of the United States
right here in these settlements Ale
d. the canal. You must remember tn
Ii the most of our workmen are sing
men. They have their quarters fr