The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-06-30

nave what is an equivalent of about
| Sl5 per month.
What Canal Employees Get for Nothing.
Il do not understand just what you
mean by these allowances. Colonel
! Devol"
u mean the things that the NAL
employe gets for nothing, which, If
he We're in the United States he would
have to pay for. We give every man
free quarters and free fuel. light, water
and medical attendance. The married
man receives more than the single
man, and he costs more. He lives in
n house which costs us at least $3.50
| to build and furnish, and he saves at
! least $50 in the rent OF that house. He
gets about $3.50 worth OF free medical
attendance. 81 in free transportation
over the railroad. more than S. in freA
light and more than So worth of fuel.
We take care of his grounds and carry
away his garbage. We do not cha rye
him for janitor service. and altogether
$40 is a low estimate OF what he has
in addition to his salary. In the same
way the bachelor receives sli or Sl5
in addition TO his pay"
Uncle Sans Homes for Employees.
You have charge of the homes OF
the employees"
Yes; that is, under the auartermas-
ter's department. Our HOUSES as you
know are all modern and up date
They are screened from mosquitoes and
furnished with modern plumbing and
bath rooms. and each house has its
Kitchen. parior. bed rooms and living
room. Men who get less than 5000
per month live in FOUR family houses
Those who have between that and
$500 have bungalows and cottages. and
those who have from $500 to 500 a
month have two-story houses
The barrack buildings Of the silver
employees each accommodate seventy
t"o men. Their arra ngemenus are
modelled after those of the United
states transports. and they are each
under charge of a janitor. who keeps
them clean. The floors are scrubbed
twice a week and the hunks are taken
out and boiled in an iron tank to kill
the bugs and other ,ermin."
Have YOU heen able to use many
of the old French bnildngs?" l asked
Yes, there were 100 OF them. and
we took them al a valuation of $4,000
VoJ They ranged IN size from two
story cottages up to the big De Lesseps
home at Girls tobal. \ great many of
these buildings are IN use to-day. They
gave us homes at the start. which was
Il very important considera ton to our
work"
Our Wen Earn Their Wages.
The conversation here turned to the
pay Of the men. and Colonel Deyol
showed me the books by which he
keeps track OF the labor Of these 35 900
employees. The system is complete
one. including timebooks for odd DAYS
and cliEle days. so that the men in the
oiilce can check off the time and SIN
have the time books IN use.
Everything is done by system. and
II is Impossible for a man TO &c, more
than he earns. The paying is Through
pay checks by means of paw cars
which go from station to station and
hand out the money, 1t takes twelve
days TO pay all the men on the canal.
pay car starts out about the first
or the month, and Il is not until ,he
l2th that all the men have been paid
The amour: OF silver used avery month
Is more than ont and a half million
collars, or. !! were loaded upon two
morse wagons. as mach as eighty horses
could haul . countrf road.
The Gnm-shoc Wen.
asked Colonel Devol II any steal
inE or graft had been discovered In
connection with snch payments He,
replied:
NO This Is the cleanest job that
Uncle sam has ever undertaken We
nave had scandals in the Philippines.
/ IN Cuba and more or less in the ad-
ministration of almost every one of
our home cities, l know OF none here