The Washington herald., 1912-02-25

One of the biggest problems to be at
tackled when the Panama Canal II opened
to the trafic Of the world win be that Of
furnishing ships Of all nations with food
and other necessarie-
Every vessel that goes through the
ditch win want supplies Of many kinds,
which must be kept conveniently In stock
Fresh meats. groceries, vegetables.
canned goods. and particularly ice will
, be In demand. likewise. clean linen. A
very important branch Of the great gov
ernment manufacturing plant on the 18TH
mus viii be (as Il Is today a huge laun-
dry. in which the collars. shirts, shirt
waists. and petticoats OF all nations will
be washed.
The average time required by a ship
to pass across the Isthmus will be about
forty-eight hours. At once on arrival at
Panama (going easD. or at Colon (going
wesD, there will be a scramble TO get
ashore. Passengers, and everybody else
who can escape duty. VIII want to
stretch their legs on dry land and to
take a look around Incidentally, they
win wish to buy lot OF things. and to
send their linen to the laundry AT Cristo-
bal-to be delivered on board before their
departure.
many ptOple Will MINK II WCTIn "nlle
TO stay over a few days. They will
need hotel accommodations, which (ac-
cording TO present pians) will be furnish
ed by Uncle Sam. For some years past
the United States government has main
tained on the Isthmus, at Ancon. one Of
the finest and most luxurious hotels In
the world There will be others-car-
avsnsaries of the up-to-date summer
hotel type. chiefly for transient guests,
a. n.
ming pools, and all the latest improve
ments., They viii be practically enclosed
in wire screens, to keep out mosquitoes
though such pestiferous insects are by
no means so plentiful In the Canal Zone
as they were formerly.
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II Is only forty-eight miles across the
Isthmus by the Panama Railroad. Thus
steamer passengers. disembarking for
amusement and sightseeing, will easily
be able TO rejoin their ships after spend
ing a couple Of days in frolic. and to
continue their trips without interruption.
Meanwhile the ship. incidentally TO its
passage through the ditch, will be able
to take on coal, food supplies. ice. &C.
For this purpose machinery OF the latest
and most improved pattern will be in
stalled by the government-an important
feature OF IL being the mechanical
stevedore." which. by the help of an
endless belt and an electric engine. car
ries merchandise aboard in packages
with an alacrity that Is nothing short
OF astonishing. Ports. resembling door
ways. being thrown open on the side
her several decks, the goods are trans
ferred from the dock directly into her
storage compartments
President Tafts idea Is that all OF this
supply business can be managed and
controlled much better by the government
than by outside parties To accomplish
the end in view. II will be necessary
merely to expand to some extent the
plant already established at Cristobal.
and a manufacturing outfit OF remark
able completeness-the latter including
the laundry already mentioned. a huge
bakery. an ice factory, a cold storage
equipment, and arrangements for roast
ing coffee, making Ice cream. corning
beef. and converting tub butter into at
tractive prints.
were allowed TO enter this field Il might
happen that one or more big corporations
would boost prices, thus Increasing the
cost OF using the canal Or certain traffic
lines might be favored at the expense OF
others. But, as a matter OF fact the
available space at the terminal OF the
canal Is too limited to afford room for
all who might want TO occupy II for such
purposes, and the granting of
would be equivalent TO the
OF exclusive privileges. tan
tamount to monopolies OF local trade.
With the government In charge. there can
be no monopoly. and no discrimination
OF any kind. while prices will be kept at
4 very reasonable figure.
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The Isthmian laundry to-day Is by far
the largest and most completely equipped
in the world. 1t Is run altogether by
electricity. even the irons being heated by
the current. OF the scale on which Il
Is conducted one may judge from the fact
that during the last year II handed S.ssl.-
s3 pieces. The work is collected all over
the Canal Zone and is shipped to CrIsto-
bal daily. A clothes pressing and clean
ing department is operated IN connec-
ton with the laundry.
The bakery turns out more than 5.ooo,-
900 lqaves a year. at cents a LOAF. This,
II win be noticed, is a cent cheaper than
the price Of the same article IN the
States. But. in truth. nearly al food
supplies are cheaper in the Zone than
with disparity because they are pur-
chased in enormous quantities, and also
partly for the reason that II Is not sought
to make much profit by their sale. Dur
ing the last twelvemonth the Isthmian
,akery made 1851 pounds of cake, and |
for Thanksgiving and Christmas Il pro-
duced a special kind OF five-pound fruit
cakes for 81.
The cold storage plant at Cristobal is |
one Of the largest In the world, and
supplies the entire Zone with meats |
yame. fresh Vegetables. and all sorts of /
,ther perishable food materials. with
'ome enlargement. perhaps Il win fur
iish whatever Is required In this line
~ ships that pass through the canal.
Every day q train OF twenty-one cars
caves Cristobal to distrfbuts merchas-
iise to stores at various points across
ne strip. eleven OF these being refrig-
'rator cars. for meats. Ice. &C. A very
complete delivery system Ia maintained.
.ierks calling daily at every house for
,rderG In addition. mail order de-
Is operated In connection with
he plant at Cristohal.
Connected with this plant r. the Ice
actory. which has capacity Of 100 tons
day. the Ice being sold at 20 cents per
10 pounds. During the last year the
AZ Cristobai manufactured
io.2oe gallons of ice cream. which was
furnished TO families by the plnt or
Iusrt and 90 hotels and sforca by the
ub. Only fresh cream and milk fetched
\ cold storage from the Staten were
Ised 10 make n. with fresh crushed
ruits for havorinE. yet the price charged
or u was only g cents a quart
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., Is easily seen how eutfss 20 skcei-