The Washington herald., 1913-07-21

With the completion of the Panama
Canal will come also the completion ct
! one OF the greatest humanitarian projects
ever accomplished under governmen,
| auspices or by the Young Mems Chris.
tian Association-the work of caring fol
| the leisure moments of the 5000 and NOR.
American men engaged In digging the
big ditch" Entirely without precedent
| 80 far as any connection with q similar
| government enterprise was concerned
| this organization with all the civiliziae
facilities OF its educational, social. ath,
istic. and religious equipment, set Up IT.
| influence In the Canal Zone I'm such o
way rs to prove beyond doubt the tire.
mendous force exerted in keeping exilci
government employees content at theiI
work under abnormal conditions
The history OF the Panama Canal will
present a series Of apparently insur-
mountable difficulties and problems; dis
ease-spreading, MOSQUITOES and insani.
tary swamps and living quarters. the Sea
level type of canal and the slides of
Culebra cut: but II will be woefulIy in
complete and inadequate IL 1t does not
also record the even greater probleIn
resulting from climatic and physical con-
ditions in the heart of the tropics, prob.
ions Of the moral and bodily welfare of
that army of 5000 American men, the
soluticn CT which seemed hopeless even
in comparison with the solution OF the
great puzzles Of engineering and SANTA
ton. Soon after Jcrn F. Stevens bcca,ns
ehief engineer the question OF leisure
hcurs OF government employees, how tc
utilize them properly. became q serious
cne
Despite heroic efforts to improve con-
uiuohs as rapidly as possible. thousands
OF men returned to the States bv the
hrst steamer after arriving on the 18TH
nus. Because OF this exodus the gov
ernment was put to a great expense
upon which II received no return, for
these men were paid for their time from
the GATE Of sailing from New York. In
orief. the human element was the bal
ance Of power between success and
failure.
Leader and Problem.
The chief engineer turned to President
Roosevelt. and the President, with char
acteristic directness. turned to the In.
ternational Committee of Young Mems
Christian Associations. The appeal was
answered by the selection of A. Bruce
oamear. railway secretary OF the inter-
national committee. to confer with the
President and under special commission
from him to investigate the recreatiye.
moral ana SOCIAL conditions on the Canal
Zone and to recommend plans for their
Mr.. Minear admits that the state of
mind. body, and morals of our army of
men was anything but reassuring as he
frst found 1t. Climatic conditions were
trying. the labor was hard
and long. and the coming OF blackest
night during the supper hour with not a
ray OF twilight to relieve for even a
moment the desperate inconsistencies and
oneliness of the men made the situation
1ne OF extreme gravity from every as
Dect. But the fact that the association
had never failed to adapt itself suffi-
,iently to serve the needs Of men under
my sort OF conditions strengthened the
taith of the secretary. A plan Of club
work, which embodied all the activities
If associations in the States. was mapped
,ut. This did not, of course. include
housing or feeding the men, for those
tens were provided by sOvernment-oper-
lted hotels.
Four clubhouses were later erected at
4 cost of $500 each and three additional
buildings were constructed after the
work had been demonstrated to be efYec-
live. When this equipment was ready