Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-01-23
CANAL DIGGERS WHO
WILL NEVER COME BACK

COME BACK
IN GOLFERS.
recalled. was that Of .., a jolly
well, and gave him a big blowout in
consequence. The Ancon cemetery hill
Is so steep that a wagon Is out of tho
question; SO some of us fellows acted
as pallbearers-I believe I was among
them. but I'm not sure. Well. after
shape and chucked him in, we went
back to Panama and Ia the most Ell.
Joyable dinner l recollect on he 18TH
mus. / shall always remember that
feast" he unused appreciativeiy.
How can you talk hke that about
be gay that night and have an en-
joyable' dinner!'' was the natural
question.
He seemed nonplusscd for a mo-
ment. Then he frightened. up.
Why, guess it was because he
fered. that we couldn't really think
of lugubrious things in connection
with him."
But where are they now, the bones
Of h thousands OF canal diggers.
French and American. Spanish and
Altlldl anu Onl1eSc anu uc6IOCSp
good fellows and bad fellows those
who nave died from disease or acci-
dent or violence or by their own hand?
The isthmus is narrow. less than So
miles across. Is it a great charnel
house? What sorts Of places are the
repositories Of these numberless bod
les? Do headstones mark the spots
where human forms repose? Does grass
W the low mounds. do trees afford
q pleasant shades? Do visitors some-
times wander past. and give a kindly
thought to the workers whose work
was so soon over?
Needlessly Lusubrious.
In a train Of enthusiastic and thrill
hunting tourists perhaps he common
"man-for-every- tie" tremolo) is the one
over the abandoned French cemeter-
les" to be seen from the a windows.
"Oh. look! There is another of them!
See the square headstones. deserted.
forgotten. a from n town! Poor
Frenchmen, how very, very pathetic!"
Thus the tourist. His emotion does
him credit and harms no one. but does
not quite fit the facts. If the %apopletic
old gentleman were aboard and over
hearing, he would probably turn his
long-suffering head far enough around
to hiss:
Pathetic! shucks! Those amt
headstones-they're house posts""
And he would again be right; these
numerous French cemeteries" so
t%ouchingly elaborated upon, are in
reality only the foundation posts left
standing after the removal of the
buildings which they supported. For
as the work has progressed from n
part of the canal to another. he viii
lagos have progressed with 1t. as swift
ly, If not a silently, as the Arabs tents
are folded, leaving but these white.
bleak post behind. That they draw
tears from the eyes of tourists Is really
Inc cemeteries where the Frenchmen do
lie buried. more remote and less pic
turesque, are seldom seen and very
likely wept over.
There are sixteen cemeteries in tho
canal one, a large at each end.
where practically all Americans not
taken home to 1.-THE states are buried.
and the rest ''along the line" (''The
line" is always the Panama railroad).
OF these. two have been submerged
under the rising waters OF the artifi-
cial lake which forms part Of the canal
area: and one other. at least. will
soon undergo a like fate. Ancon Gem.
the canal a large and flourishing place
ground too valuable to be given
up indefinitely to 80 quiet n unpro-
ductive a community, and the bodies
are presently to be exhumed; those IN
claimed will be cremated in the new
plant to be erected lear by, and those
having dissenting friends will be re-
buried in the cemetery at Carozal
four miles away.
At Aneon and at Empire.
The cemeteries ''along the line are
all more or less alike. All the graves
are indeed marked-not by h~eadstones.
but by small iron crosses generally
painted white, each cross extending
from one to two feet out Of the ground,
and bearing on its six-inch transverse
arm MOI q name but a number. At
Ancon. however. in many cases. behind
stands q rude white painted board, on
which arc printed q name and two
important dates.
The names on tho Ancon h~eadboards
indicate O large range In nationality
Y 9 small range in age; and the youth
OF these departed canal diggers Inn
presses even the casual visitor. The av-
erage g 10 somewhere between 20 and
80 years, and rarely goes above 20.
In the cemetery at Empire the NOM
otony Of b crosses - varied here and
there by q mound surrounded by q
rude wooden fence, y even, sometimes.
by 9 pretentf0us. gfngerbready little
wooden structure, looking not unlike
an o~ld-fashioned bible picture Of the
Ark OF the Covenant.
Expectancy IN Massachusstts.
From the Springfield Republican.
It is difficult for a good many folks to
accept at fac value h statement that
MT. Elliott and the men now In charge