davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

the building. The window washer works
from 80 am. until i o'clock in the
afternoon, and, beginning at the top of
the building, circles down until he
reaches the bottom and then starts again
on the fourth floor. The work of the
charwomen. however, is not limited to
the cleaning of the halls and stairways
for there are 80 Office rooms that come
under their supervision. In fact, meas
urements have shown that there are ap-
proXimately 121, $40 square feet of floor
space in these rooms. This means that
the carpets covering them must be swept
and the floors busted. The furniture must
be kept i'm good condition and the waste
baskets emptied.
Several incidents connected with the
cleaning of the office rooms have illus
trated the honesty of the charwomen.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

length of 100000. 1t would equal such
ditch coo miles long, and 10,O01,O0O would
equal one 5000 miles long. twice as
long as from New York to San Francisco.
But this canal deals not in millions and
tens of millions only. Its figures run
into the hundreds of millions. The total
amount of our excavation. when COM
pleted, will have been 1875 GOO cubic
yards. or. say, 10000, 900 for easy fig
uring That would equal ditch yard
wide and a yard deep and 100000 miles
long 1t would equal a ditch so big
that the latest hog ever killed at Chi
cago could walk through it with it's back
level with the top, and the ditch would
be long enough to reach four times
around the earth at the equator, and still
leave 2O.OJO miles to spare 1t would
teen tunnels through the center of the
earth from one side to the other, and
each tunnel would be big enough for
that fat hog to crawl through. More,
it would equal a great column three
feet square reaching from here on the
earth just half way to the moon. If
the tunnel through the earth was in
would not hold the total excavation. and
that tunnel would be large enough to
drive through the biggest wagon load of
hay ever hauled by four horses.
The above estimates will give you some
idea of the work Uncle Sam has done
and is doing in lifting earth here at
Panama.
The canal, as every one now knows is
to be a lock canal. The ships will be
dragged up and let down by the Chagres
river, which is being harnessed by the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

women. Some forty of them under
forewoman begin work at o'clock in the
evening, and on their hands and knees
scrub the marble corridors and stairways.
The clock strikes before they have COM
pleted their work. Only onefourth of the
corridor space is scrubbed each night, for
the total on the four floors of the build
ing is about one mile and quarter. The
balance of the corridor space is sprinkled
with sawdust and swept
Some idea Of the area scrubbed and
swept by the charwomen each evening
might be gathered from the measure
ments on file at the Office of the super
intedent of the building. Each corridor
is 1,513 feet long and II feet wide, thus
making 1876 square feet of corridor
space that must be scrubbed every night.
Just three times this number. or the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

twenty men, working from Z until 3
cleanly appearance of the old museum.
The glass cases inclosing the various ex-
hibits are a source of constant care, for
many fingers and faces are pressed
against them each day. Six men employed
through the day are almost continuously
cleaning and polishing these numerous
glass boxes.
X
Should one happen in the Senate office
building just at midnight he might see
twelve beings whose existence could
scarcely be doubted make their appear
anee as If summoned by the magis stroke
or II. And so they are, for these men.
armed with scrub brushes and pals OF
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24
WhY Clink Glasses?

<<vYTHAT have you got against that
w man at the corner table?' asked
the bartender of the regular customer.
THAT was a positive insult you handed
him a minute ago. You never offered to
clink glasses with him.
whats the use?" said the customer
He Is deaf and deaf men seldom clink
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

similar corridors on the other three
stories of the building, must be sprinkled
and swept. But not the least difficult
portions of the building to keep clean
are the stairWayS and vestibules In
these two items of housekeeping there
are 12467 square feet of marble to be
scrubbed and KEEP. clean from day to day.
In addition to the charwomen there are
about twenty-four laborers who spend a
great part of their time in cleaning the
basement the court and the exterior of
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

with long handled brooms. At $50 o'clock
in the morning the principal cleaning of
the building is begun, and until $50 the
charwomen are at work with their mops.
For this labor they receive the usual sal
airy of $50 a month.
The scrubbing machine is also used to
some extent in the National Museum
though the cleaning is carried on from
4 80 in the evening until about Z o'clock
Some fifty charwomen are employed in
cleaning the new building, while about
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

water, are ready to make war until s
o'clock the next morning upon the dirt
that has collected in the building during
the previous day About one mile of cor
ridor space must be scrubbed and cleaned
and 800 rooms swept and busted. For this
eight hours work the men receive 81
each.
Unlike the system employed in clean
ing the Senate office building, the House
of Representatives office building is
cleaned for the greater part by char
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

room where the muster roll of the char
women is called. Here they wait until
they have answered to their names. and
then, removing their wraps in a locker
room, they gather together the cleaning
materials. pals and brushes. and prepare
TO wage war against the dirt and dust
that has accumulated during the day.
Each woman is assigned some particu-
lar portion of a corridor or a stairway,
and by about , o'clock the work begins
and lasts until about S. In return for
their services the charwomen receive the
usual government pay for such work, SD
Il month. There are about thirty labor
ers employed in addition to the charwom-
en- and upon them falls the care of much
of the exterior of the building. They
must keep the entrances and the sur
rounding pavement clean; in winter their
work is increased by fall of snow and
the formation of ice.
Another public building that attracts
hundreds of visitors each day-aDd hence
an unusual amount of dust and dirt from
the streets the Library of Congress.
Nothing must mar the Splendor of its
Statuary and its decorated walls, and thus
depreciate its value to sightseers. Its
numerous offices also must toe kept in good
condition. About forty-five charwomen
are employed to keep the corridors and
the marble and iron stairs clean. At $50
in the morning they begin work. and UNI
Ill the first of the clerks and Office peo-
pie arrive they are busy with their pals
and scrub brushes
and water. and with this the charwomen
scrub the marble floors and steps, crawl
ing from one spot to another on their
knees. The cleaning of the statuary both
on the interior and the exterior of the
building is left to the men employed for
this work. There are some fourteen OF
these men, whose salaries are $3.50 year
From to / O'Clock they are busy either
in washing windows and general cleaning
or in busting the bronze figures and the
famouSly decorated walls.
One method of scrubbng not employed
in many of the public buildings is used
in cleaning the marble corridors or the
District building. Two machines are used
to lessen the work of the charwomen.
scrubbing machine filled with some soap
solution is first used on the floor, and
followed by another machine that par
TALLY dries the floor. After this procedure
the charwomen. with their mops. dry the
floor thoroughly. Corners and creSices
and the marble ratings on the stairways
are wiped down by hand.
Practically all of the cleaning in the
District building devolves upon the char
women, FOR only four additional laborers
are employed These men clean the win
dowS and the exterior of the building
The messengers, however. dust the walls
and floors of the various office rooms
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

TO the average good housekeeper
dirt is always an enemy but
50 formidable one is it to
II the 'housekeepers'' of the va
rious public buildings here in
Wash nGtoD that they must needs spend
most OF their time IN preventing even
the temporary presence OF this evil. Many
thousands of people find their way into
the government buildings daily bringing
with them an accumulation of dust and
mud that soon makes itself visible on the
marble and stone corridors and the car
pets in the various offices. Many OF these
people are visitors and sightseers and
possess rather a critical eye as to the
cleanliness of the building and its general
appearance. y few scraps of paper seat
tered careIessly through IA hallway often
gives an impression of disorder. thus
making it necessary that some one be
constantly on the lookout to maintain
neatness.
Great lengths of these stone or marble
corridors must be scrubbed and mopped
UP daily, and for this work a number of
CharwOmen and laborerS are employed.
In some buildings machines are used for
scrubbing, but il is necessary that most
of the cleaning be done by men or
women. Time is another problem that en-
ters into the cleaning of the public build
ing. for the cleaners must accomplish
their tasks before after Office hours
and in no way interfere with the bust
ness that is being carried on in the build
ing In some instances, as for example
III the Senate office building, this means
that men must begin work with their
mops and pals at d time when most of
the city inhabitants are on their way
10 the land of nod Again, the early gray
hours OF dawn find women. old and
young, on their way to some public build
ing To clean il and put il in good order
before the later-rising clerks have made
their appearance.
Hundreds Of pounds Of cleaning powder
and soap are used in the process of clean
ing the vast extent OF corridor space and
the stdirways in the government build
ings- A. rough estimate made at the
Treasury building stated that some 800
pounds of cleaning powder are used each
month by the charwomen and the la bor-
ers in cleaning that building. Over hun
dred men and women are busy there each
day. for housekeeping in the Treasury
must be conducted on rather a large
scale.
Every evening at twenty minutes past
4. when the average business day is al
most over, some ninety-five women find
their way into the Treasury and to the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

HAVE come TO
Panama to write
some plain. simple
letters about the
canal. j want to
show you how
things here look TO
the man on the
street, or how they
would look to you
if you came down
10 the isthmus. L
am not an en-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

gineer, and / shall turn the figures INTO
concrete examples. The amounts here
are so vast that they cannot be realized
in figures And, besides. figures mean
nothing but dizziness TO any one but the
Irofessed mathematician and scientist.
You remember the story of the scientist
who sneered at the poet who wrote:
Every moment dies man.
Every moment is bOrn.
The scientist said: why, that man IS
absolutely wrong. Every one who has
looked into the latest statistics of the
human race knows that it is in every
one and one-third minutes that a man is
born, and that ii is in the same time
that one dies. I am not sure as to the
fractions in this statement.
Well, in treating of the canal L shall
deal only in round numbers a cubic
yard OF earth is roughly ton, and
yard of earth and rock is a big two
horse wagon load. / shall reduce the
amounts of rock and dirt we have taken
out to bitches. a yard wide and a yard
deep: and the linear length of the bitches
10 miles, using J.GOD feet to the mile for
easy figuring. The actual mile is $50
feet, but the figures of the canal are so
vast that little thing like that does not
matter.
For example. 10000 cubic yards of ex-
cavaton woUlA equal a ditch yard wide.
yard deep. and 100000 yards. or .OoO
feet. long. Now dividing by JNDO feet 10
tie mile. our ditch would be sixty miles
Ions. or better, a ditch three feet wide
ana three feet deep to any locality just
sixty miles from yoUr home. A million
CUBIC yards would be ten times the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

scrubbed every day. On the first floor
there are 1900 square feet and the sec
ond floor 21.632 square feet. The third
floor. consisting of 1884 square Feet Is
swept and scrubbed four times week
The fourth floor consists of the same
number of square feet as the third. ana
the fifth floor, consisting of 1855 square
feet completes the total area OF hoor
space that is scrubbed and cleaned by
the charwomen. The memorandum also
states that, allowing for the absence or
two or three of the charwomen each DAY,
the actual average amount of scrubbing
done daily by each woman is 2,1S9 square
feet.
In addition to the charwomen. one la
borer is assigned to each wing; he works
eight hours a day, keeping clean the
steps and porticoes polishing the brasses
and vanished woodwork and freeing the
corridors during the day from scraps OF
paper and dirt. Two, men are detailed to
keep clean the subbasement corridors
and entrances. The various offices ana
storerooms of the departments are clean
ed by laborers or messengers OF the de-
partment occupying them under super
vision of the chief clerk.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

] shall not say anything here about
the locks nor the mighty Gatun dam
which holds back the Chagres. The rail-
road took us to the top OF the level and
then dropped us into the dam and car
ried us over its basin. Already twelve
feet of water have been let in and by
the time this letter is published the lake
will be very much higher. The railroad
now skirts the edge OF the filled portion
at the twelve-foot level and eventually
there will be fifty or sixty feet of water
above that of the present track. Six
months from now the only way to ira
verse that track would be in tube tunnel
like that of the Pennsylvania railroad
under the river on the way to New York
We wound our way for some miles
through the BASIN passing little villages
of rude Shacks where negroes and mu-
lattoes are still living, Notwithstanding
they have been warned by the govern
ment to move. They can see the water
come in, but they will hang on until it
comes to their doorways, which time VIII
be soon.
Leaving the Gatun basin, you come to
a region where a great part OF the land
is made up of the spoil that has been
taken out of the Culebra cut Neverthe-
less you cannot realize IL, for the klno
mother of the tropics has already spread
a coat of vegetation over the rocks and
hidden the scars. 1t Is only when You
enter the Culebra cut and cross IT that
you realize what has been done. You
see thousands of men working as the
railway carries you flying by, and an
endless river of earth is moving out on
the cars to be spread over the hollows-
In one place i was shown a dump which
contained fifteen million cubic yards or
such SPOIL Using our method of calcu-
lation above given, that spoil would equal
ditch a yard wide and a yard deep
nine thousand miles long. 1t would nil
a tunnel running through the globe and
10Th 40 al q a
above size from New York to Chicago.
The railroad from the Culebra cut 10
Panama now crosses the cut in one place.
Further along il runs on the canal bed,
where a year from now there will be
over forty feet of water, and shortly
thereafter leaves the canal, and comes
into Panama at the edge of Ancon. This
is the Old railroad The new line mas
been located and the grading for it is
going rapidly on
FRANK g. CARPENTER
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

glasses Why should they? They couldn't
hear it. People only clink glasses to sat
isfy the fifth sense. At any rate that
was why the originators of the practice
did ii, and succeeding generations have
perpetuated the custom. In the ordinary
process of quafing a glass of liquor We
are inevitably bound to see the stun.
touch it, smell it, and taste it. That
leaves the ear alone unsatisfied. So We
clink for its qualification"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24
MAIN STREET Colon.
The STEAr1ER LAMBS YOU
- AT COLONE -

hanging to the limbs and nesting at the
roots of the branches. There are great
clumps of bamboo with leaves as feath-
cry as those which line the under wing
Of an angel and great beds OF tasselated
papyrus, the same plant as that used in
old Egypt TO make the boat-like cradle
in which little Moses rocked when he was
discovered by Pharoah's daughter. Even
beyond the Gatun dam the country is
still green. You are told you are on the
line of the canal, and the very dirt over
which you are passing will form its bed.
In other places the woods are a jungle.
and the hunter will point out the marks
of a wild hog, a deer. or a tapir. This
country is full of wild game. One OF
my fellow-travelers of today. an Ameri-
can judge of the Canal Zone. tells me his
chief sport is hunting. He shoots many
deer, and he recently killed a tapir
which weighed LOO pounds. He says
the tapir meat tastes like Chicago beef.
and that the venison of Panama is
good that OF the Adirondacks or the
Rockies.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

Every evening at twenty minutes past
4. when the average business day is al
most over, some ninety-fiv women find
their way into the Treasury and to the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

20 the average good housekeeper
dirt is always an enemy. but
so formidable "A one is il to
the 'housekeepers" of the va
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

DEN Pictures Which Illus
L trate-What the Excava-
ton Means-A Three-Foot
Ditch From the Earth to the
Moon or Fifteen Big Hog
Tunnels From One Side of
the Globe to the Other-The
Height of the Canal as Com
pared With Champ Clark
Facts About the Great Ditch
in Nutshell-A Jamaica Of
fetal Who Fears for the Gulf
Stream-Snapshots on the
Zone-Riding Under Gatun
Lake and Over the Culebra
Cut.
Copyright, 1912. by Frank 6. Carpenter.)
Special Correspondence of The Star.
ANCON, Canal Zone, Panama
The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-22
THE TOMATO As A FIELD
CROP IN the SOUTH

commercial tomato growing in the
Southern States is almost exclusively
confined to the production of toma-
toes at season when they canOt be
CLOWN al the north except in green
houses On this account the COM
mercial production OF this crop is re-
stricted TO areas whore there is very
little ii any freezing during the win
ter months. Florida and Texas lead
in the production of this crop.
Time of Planting.
At the extreme southern limit OF
the commercial cultivation OF this
crop in Florida the plants are grown
SO as TO be ready for setting out in
the open about Dec. J. The date of
seed sowing advances as the cult
walton OF the crop progress north
ward so that in northern Florida the
seeds are sown early in January and
the young plants placed in the field
in March. Where frost conditions
do not form barriers against the pro-
,;uctiOn of seeding plants in the
Omen, the seed beds for the young
plants are prepared in some sheltered
situation where partial shade can be
given and where the seed bed can be
frequently watcred. The YOUNG
plants, is soon as thcy have attained
The proper size that is, from & 10 4"
inches in height are translered 10
the field in practically the same man
ner as are the hotbcl-@rown plant-
produced for -oaoral field culture
IL the ncfih, and og'"pt Tor spcei-
aly early rop tAes arr not trans
planted or pltlod,
The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-22
Yield of Fruits.

The yield Of fruit in the south, un-
der the conditions mentioned is much
less than it is in the regions havina
the longer growing periods charact
eristic of higher attitudes. Yields
vary from - to 80 bushels 10 the
acre. but the high price obtained or
the fruits which are thus produced
ton comes from the products of
northern greenhouses renders the
crop. when well handled. very -
munCratiNc.
The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-22
RICHARD EDN0NDS FINDS
WIDE AWAKE SOUTH

In an article printed In the Manu-
facturorS' Record. Editor Richard
Edmonds has the folowi;-s to say OF
the outlook for prosperity in the
south:
A two months swing around the
circle in the south makes one feel
The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-22

Tae St. Lueie Tribune of Fl. PIER
i seven years old, and has started
upon its eighth year with fine pros-
poets for growth and profit. The Tr;-
lunp is one of Florida's best news
papers.
The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-22
Soil for the Crop.

The soil which is preferred for the
production of this crop is one which
contains comparatively high per-
ccntagc of sand. In this region san
dy loan or 4 sandy soil is preferred
TO bottom land for the cultivation of
tomatoes. An area with gent IL
slope to the south is considered more
desirable than that with other cX-
posture. If a wind break can be Sc
cured along the north and west
sides of the area very carly rors an
frequently be preserved througl n
windstorm when III" temperatures
while no, low crousa - frec2c thc
plants. Will. when ar.ompan,Ad by
i high wind. chill ad d ~troy tlau
The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-22
Harvesting and Marketing.

W hcn tomatoes at,. r&tt} sikrly
grown for shipment 10 an north.
convenience, care, ana iuJgmCt
should enter into the preparation of
the product fer the mlrkrf. l. is al
Ways advisable and us;a3ly Hrr,s-
sary ~ sort and grade the traits o..
they come from the field tetere plan
inS them in the shippne boxes. ii
this work can be done in a >hel
located on the railway Over which
the fruits are 10 be transported. ;,
much the better. but if il is rcces-
sary TO haul the tomatoes some dis
tance for shipment then lie packing
shed should be located 4 The most
convenient and accessible point Tor
both harvesting and shippi. =. The
same precautions in handling the
fruits should be observed III -he
south as Al the north.