The Parker post., 1914-06-27

|
telling of the work being done
down in Panama. lauding Col
| A onel Goethals for the speed and
| excellence with which he has
accomplished the task set him and re-
viewing the story Of the big ditch.
That there should be another side to
life down ON the isthmus, that not only
the engineers wives and daughters
and sons, but the engineers them
selves should come to miss, more ana
more keenly with each passing week.
the luxuries and manners and customs
of their homelands seldom enters into
| the heads of even the most thought
| full
/ For a fortnight's visit, the 1sthmus
Of Panama is indeed delightful! 10
wake in the morning to hear the boys
calling freshly-caught iguanas Tor
sale for your luncheon bouillon; or TO
let the silvery f1ute-music of the scls-
sor-grinders come through the fine
meshed screen at your window to
have orchids on your breakfast table
and perhaps pluck your own bananas
or guavas, and then to stroll down
among the quaint Spanish-Amer1cans
Is, indeed, a treat But after only five
days of it, you've quite enough; given
years of it, and the pail is indeed a
great one.
A "TipIess" Hotel.
All the world, to man ON the
isthmus, must center for the term OF
his stay at Panama City, the capital
and metropolis of the republic. Your
first peep of this unique city unfolds
itself almost as you leave Uncle Sans
big hotel on the heights. Governor
Goethals has made this a 'tipless"
hotel.
Uncle Sam has laid out park here.
the gentle turf sloping down hill to
the city itself, and where American
soil meets Panamayan and the quar-
ters of the poor there is school for
Spanish children. 1t is obvious that
the business of the future in Panama
| will be with folk from the States; but,
while the school is Of boys alone and
throughout in Spanish.
Follow the little, white-clad lads
from the school yard into the neigh
boring native quarter and you find
streets with verandas overhanging, as
they do in old Madrid, and here wom-
en- wash the weeks laundry out under
the tres, while little sons play about,
nude as Adam. and daughters loiter.
wearing just calico slip. Children
are numerous and the animated
chocolate drops" fairly get into ones
way. In places the older women
hoist water from old-fashioned wells
out under the palm trees; carrying the
pail on the shoulder to the house
Not a courtyard so poor or lowiH
however, that does not support It's CO
coanut palm or two. Up this the dusky
native boys Shiny" to get the great.
green-hulled fruit on demand. With
the handy machete they split the rind
and bring out the nut Then. with a
pocketknife from some Yankee trader,
they plug one of the three eyes ct the
end of the nut Zone Of the three Is al
ways softer than the others) and
drink the lukewarm. refreshing milk.
After that they devour the fruit, and,
be one ever 80 hungry or thirsty. the
appetite is quenched This ease OF
satisfying the prime demands Of Life
accounts, of course, for the lack OF in
centtve to work, the laziness and Idle
| ness of the Panamayans.
Wander further away still from the
Escuela Publica, out Of sight OF the
big park and the Tivoh ON the heights,
and in among the palms and you win
meet little boys coming to school
chatting in Spanish. They wear slip
pers, but not stockings, and suits Of
light wear, with quaint straw hats and
ties Some of these children are very
black; others are brown; all have the
soft, gentle voices.
In the old quarter are the shops, In
teresting to tour, but pftfful to rely
on. Drug stores, or boticas-dark.
measly places-make one wonder
what percentage Of germs and CRIME
are added to each prescription. Odd
little fruit shops neighbor them
shops with a very diminutive tomato,
wrapped in bark and seeming like so