The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-05-26
owe GO INTO TIE READING ROOM,

not only from the employees on the
canal, but from ths infantry and Ma
Tlne Corps stationed here on the zone.
Concerts mud MinatrcIs.
But there is show going on now
In the hall overhead. Let us go up.
We find the room filled, and on tho
| stage at tha back troupe of amateur
minstrels Is holding performance. The
men are canal employees with BACKED
faces They look like he old time min
strels of the United States, and do
aot wear satin suits as in the new
tangled shows OF to-day. Tho jokes
>ontain many hits on local matters.
and bring down the house.
These minstrel shows are gotten up
by the secretaries of the clubhouses.
1ho hunt out the best actors and bring
chem together. popular troupe will
go from town to town. until II visits
all the zone settlements
The band. which is playing tonight
belongs to the 10th Infantry. Next
weak the music may be furnished by
| the marines, or by the band of the
fsthmian Canal Commission The lat
ter is supported by the government,
| which spends something like 10000 a
year for music alone. The Canal Com
mission Band gives concerts all along
tho line of the zone.
Among other features OF the club
house entertainments are moving pic
ture shows. tho machinery and films
for which are sent down from the
states. These are free to the members
of the clubs, but outsiders must pay
20 cents for each admission. The pic
lures are carefully censored and tho
men often bring their wives and
daughters to sec them.
And then we have many lectures at
the clubhouses. We have frequent pub
lie debates and also hiGh-class must
, cal enterta inmcpts. Last year there
was an operate carnival made up Of
amateurs. which played the various
canal settlements. and the oratorio,
The Holy City," was given by a largo
chorus composed of canal employees.
Nearly every club has It's literary
Literary Society.
society or discussion club. In these
current topics are taken up, essays
arc read and lectures sometimes given.
For instance. the discussion club which
met here last Wednesday night had
thu topic. What Is Happiness?" and
that of Gatum discussed. What Is
Failure while another society used
tho College Man" a. its subject OF
discussion. I doubt not the political
situation will be we'll canvassed at
| these clubs. There are now one hun
dred and fifty men enrolled in the
dramatic clubs, sixty in the camera
clubs an dthere are two hundred who
serve on various club committees.
There are also Bible study clubs. which
meet together on Sundays and which
work independent of the churches.
Among the other institutions Of
these clubhouscs are the barber shops
and pressing clubs. Good BARRIERS arc
necessity In tho topics and the men
know that they can find canitary shops
at the clubhouses. Many OF them pay
so much month to have their clothes
pressed, the BARRIERS and pressers bring
Ing in something Of an income to the
Institutions.
A. Talk with the Superintendent of
Clubs.
During my stay here l have had a
chat with Mr.. a. B. Dickson, who is
the head OF the clubhouses under the
Isthmlan Canal Commission. He was
formerly tho financial secretary OF the
2Srd street Y. NJ. C. ~. In New York
City. Among the questions 1 asked
were whether many young men had
been ruined by their life In tho Canal
Zone. To this he replied:
do not think SO. The induce
ments to keep right are rs strong here
as in any part Of the United States.
Drunkenness and gambling are quite
as dsgraceful, and the men who engage
III tHeHn are TeStEueu just the sum
as at homo. Tho clubhouse las dona
much to elevate the moral standing
of the canal community 1t Is the
chief meeting place and tho men so
there to loaf rather than to the sa-
looms You must remember that our
canal employees arc far above the aver
age OF mankind as to their habits
and ambitions. Thsy are picked men
who are earning high wages. They
are now saving money and planning
as to what they Will do when they
leave. Thoy find that tho clubhouse
costs them practically nothing, and that
II takes tina place Of the more expen-
sive and wicked amusements found In
the saloons. Without these clubs they
would have nothing to do except stay
at homo or go to tho saloons. Their
work is strenuous and thsy need recre-
alton. This need has been supplied by