The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-07-31
LIFE IN THE CANAL ZONE
Continued from page ~

could have done it in so short time.
in Culebra cut, what is known as
Gold Hill is still giving them lots OF
trouble The rock lies in layers on
an angle of about As degrees, and is
continually sliding in at the bottom.
1t keeps a big force busy blasting 1t
out. 1t is known as the Cucharacha
Slide. A Spanish word which is
roach. | expect it will bother for
some time, until finally they win wear
the mountain away to such an extent
as to keep it from sliding"
when | first came down here IL
was common discussion if during
the dry season there would be water
enough to operate the locks. have
been here during two dry seasons and
as yet have seen no difference i'm the
height of the water during dry or wet
seasons.
The Gatum lake covers an i'm
mense territory and holds In reserve
enough water to operate locks at any
time of the year. When it rains the
food gates at Gatum dam have to be
raised to let surplus water away.
only wish you might see this, as the
water goes over the dam. A spray of
water goes into the air hundreds of
feet high. When the sun shines doz-
ems of rainbows all mingled together
can be seen.
ha II t-;c III t.
at Gatum dam which is one of the
stations that furnish the power to OPP
crate the locks, also for lights along
canal zone. Another one of those
plants on the other side of the canal
is at Milafores locks, both take the
power from the water of the canal,
so the cost of power is very small.
IAN army cook has about the same
duties as a housekeeper and more of
IL, for | have $50 soldiers to feed and
it keeps one quite busy. OF course
there is three cooks to company.
One man couldn't do it all alone all
the time. | average about $3S per
month here, including board and
clothing and medical attendance, so
considering everything, | don't know
as ! could do much better anywhere
in civilian life. There seems to be a
very good chance of this regiment re
er as 1t will have completed its term
of four years in the canal zone. 1t
has been rumored that we will go to
Fort Scrivens, Ca, But. don't take
much stock in rumors. New ones
afloat every day.
THE canal entrances here are
quite well fortified. More so, perhaps
than the people in the United States
are led to believe. But, then, on the |
whole it is not strong enough at the |
present time to Withstand very much
of a siege. We perhaps have about |
5000 soldiers here at the present |
time. That is only a small force to |
defend a position like this. The |
of the soldiers here are new !
men. The old timers don't like to |
stay here, so the regiments that are |
here now are made up of raw recruits |
and it is hard to realize just what |
they would do if it comes to fight |
with a modern enemy.
'Maleria fever has had grip on
me for few days or at least it seem
ed to be that. Whatever it was
killed it with quinine for have been
feeling better today. Took 80 gr dos
es which is ordinarily enough to kill
a horse. Malera fever is our worst
enemy down here. The mosquito
here is the worst | ever saw. Never
saw one before that can bite through
ones clothing Light muslin Shirts
light wool socks and even khaki
trousers does not stop them a bit
There are two kinds. One the com
non kind and another the, maleria
carrier is black with white feet.
Black crude oil sprayed into the