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

RuIed-A Land OF Many facee an"
Many Communications Law and Or
der Are Kcpt-The Jails ana the
(uIcbra ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ou'
the White SIayeS-SOmething About
tbc Courts. the Public Works and
the SchooIs-A Cha With Governor
Thatcher.
Copyright, 1912. by Frank G.. Car
penter.)
Ancon, Canal Zone. Panama.
have just had a long talk with
Gov. NJ. H. Thatcher, the man who.
under the President and chairmaI of
the commission, is the ruler o. the
little principally which Uncle Sam
runs on the Isthmus of Panama. His
territory is the anal Zone, a little
strip Of land ten miles wild and about
fifty miles long, extending from one
side Of the 1sthmus Of Panama to the
other. This strip is winding and 1t
runs back five miles on each side Of
our great ana 1t contains alto
gethcr just about half as much land
as Rhode Island, and its population
is not far from that Of Nevada, which
is more than fifty times as large.
Just now this strip is the liVelieSt
of all Of Uncle Sans dominions. 1t
has Il more cosmopolitan population,
and it is doing more work than any
other. 1t is a beehive Of activity from
one end to the other, and millions Of
dollars are being shoveled into it in
the many forms of construction which
will make the completed canal.
The strip is one of cities and
towns it is one of railroads and ship
i'lng. 1t is a social center Of about
10, 900 high class Americans, and the
great workshop where something like
$4,000 negroes and mulattoes from
this part Of the world are earning the
highest wages they AVE ever made in
their lives. It. is a country Of post
Offices. ~telegraphs and schools. 1t has
its criminal classes, and also it's
churches. preachers and Sunday
school teachers 1t has it's public
works and its fire departments, it's
courts and it's prisons, and, in short,
almost all the machinery of any Of
our States or territories.
\ Chat With the Governor.
| met the Governor in his beautiful
residence on the slope Of Ancon Hill
right under our great administration
building. and facing the big educa-
tlonal institute which the Panama
government has just constructed. The
building was erected under the direc-
ton Of Senator Joe Blackburn, who
was Governor Thatcher's predecessor,
and it is one Of the pleasant homes OF
the lSthmuS. Wide VerandaS, yelled
IN wire gauZe to keep the mos
qultoes. run around it's two stories
and the walls of these are hung with
the most beautiful orchids gathered
from the woods Of the zone. Cover.
nor Thatcher says that according tC
science there are altogether II, 900
varieties Of orchids and Of these i
seems to me Mrs. Thatcher must hav.
the most beautiful. l cannot begin t
describe them or their exquisite flow
arc ~, b,~S $500
tloon:, and others have blossom
which take on the form Of miniature
BIRDS, animals ans some ever lookin;
like humans One variety that sh
has is the Ispiritu Santo. It is calle,
the W Of the Holy Spirit, an
rlShtly so, for its petals are Of tn
= shape OF a white, beautiful dove wit
outstretched wings looking from tn
pure, lily-white flower.
1t was seated among these orchid
that we talked. The conversatio
turned to the character of the ION,
ana the Governor pointed to the OF
Chids AS he said.
You may a some idea of
from these overs. We are dow
here in the tropics and we have
tropical Innate. Our average ten
perature ranges from seventy to min,
" degrees, and as a rule it is not f.
from eighty degrees the year roun,
lou are now here in the dry SeaSo]
but in the wet we have a rainfa
winch is about 145 inches at Colo1
and about se~venty-fve inches here
ianama. II all the water that fall
AZ Colon in one year should drop Q
the level and not flow away it wou]
make a lake more than twelve fe,
IN depth. During the dry seaso
winch lasts from January to Arr
mere IS almost no rain, and you ne,
no umbrella. unless you wish il +
protection from the sun"
AS a result of this heavy raj
1all. continued the Governor ever
thlng Grows luxuriantly, and son
parts OF the country are covered wi
jungle. Others are grassy. like r
savannas outside Of Ancon. The hi
are all wooded, and we have pal
trees. bamboos, bananas and tropic
plants Of every description. Indee
ms whole territory is like a botar
cal garden"