The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-03-14
HOW BIC DAM WAS
BUILT IN JUNCLES
-Four American Engineers on
Project.
USE 300 NATIVE lABORERS


IOmbians Ape Clothes and Actions of .
Newcomers Odd Labor Troubles .
| Arise-Many AIlisators Found.
| Broadway, New York, looks good to /
four engineers who recently returned /
from the Colombian jungle, where +
they spent two years among a thou
sand laborers of all nations building a
big concrete dam and power house in
connection with a project to develop
the mining wealth OF the region. s.
Fl. Clifford told the story Of their ex-
periences:
Labor troubles? You don't know
what they are until you tackle a job.
as we did. OF building a dam across
San Juan creek. 80 miles from the
Atlantic coast.
There were fifty Americans on the
: job, and we put up dam So feet high.
300 feet across the crest and contain
: ing $4,000 cubic feet OF concrete
similar job would have taken one year
. in the States, but it took two down
/. there.
! ITO begin with. we had about 300
! natives. but it was impossible to do
anything with them. They never had
seen a piece Of machinery before. and
j every time we swung a derrick around
! they'd take fright and run half a mile.
j and 1t would take 'em half an hour TO
recover sufficiently to return to work.
i I'VE finally educated them by bring
ing down laborers from the canal zone.
i who had been trained in American
| methods. These men we put I'm re-
/ sponsibe positions. and as the natives
!. were good imitators they soon caught
on to the American way, and things
began to hum.
Natives Great Initators.
d The natives carried their passion
for imitation further, often with hu-
IS morous results. For example. at first
Il they wore very few clothes. After we
< had imported the men from the canal
d all of them reasonably we'll clad and
8 wearing shoes, every native on the job
l. took to watching them closely. They
soon found out that the invaders were
Il getting more money, and they figured
IF out a connection between wages and
clothes.
every native to own a pair OF shoes.
and all OF them promptly bought trad
ed for or stole a pair. Ostentatiously
they would wear the shoes out to work
so that their American bosses could
see them, but when they arrived on the
Job they would take them of. They
couldn't s~lSd the pinch OF civiliZa
ton
| Those natives were finished perform
| ers in the drinking line. They would
| drink anything they could get their
| hands on and would spend almost ev-
| cry cent OF their pay envelope to get
1 the stun. Their favorite beverage was
II 'aguadiente.' which Is mostly alcohol
II favored with anse.
II And this particular brand OF booze
/ had a very interesting effect on them
II though an inconvenient one for a la
II borers' camp. As soon as they had
II had three drinks they would start out
II at once in search of those whom they
II disliked They all carried machetes oil
II revolvers. and never knew a pay day
ii to pass but what three or four OF then
III were killed.
III Big Aiigators.
ii "One of the sights that fmpresses ar
/ American in penetrating into the in
terror Of Colombia Is the populous col
ony of alligators on the banks Of tn,
| Magdalena river. They literally cove
IL the sandbars. | counted 200 on ont
/ bar alone. Here and there along thu
| river the natives have built little hal
j moon shaped stockades into the water
made by driving stakes into the sand
where THAR women can come down Z
no fetch water and battle safely.
Its so commonplace for people to b.
ed eaten up by alligators that no on
ne thinks anything about it
ht There in the heart OF Colombia. 81
ed miles from the Atlantic, is an immens
I'm area that Is a wonderfully rich minin
yht proposition. But 1t is not a poor man
ion country; 1t will take q lot Of capita
de- Development must be on an immens
ew scale 1t is low grade placer mining
but the vast area of gold bearing dir
will make it a paying proposition. Flo
800 years the district has been mine
i by the Spaniards by hand.
"The dam and power house which W
G" built was in connection with the frs
l. large modern dredge in Colombia fo
i've gold dredging purposes.
ade Colombia needs to reform some {
IN her laws. She wants to open her coul
I'M try to foreigners more. The freigl
Ter rates on the steamers up the Magd'
lena river are exorbitant. and, In add
tn ton. the Colombians levy tax of 81
la bon for dredging the rlver-which
out lever d-edged. Every piece of oil
ore stuff-dAAicks. cable ways donkey el
the gines and electrical equipment-wt
sta. broupht from, the limited States"
the
tide 1. sho,,
Tho Italian mpnt has a