The Washington herald., 1915-05-23
BIBLICAL INDUCTION
DELAYED CANAL WORK
Spiritual Advisers of Philip Of Spain Warned Him Against
Sunderng Continent Role Played by Railroad
Men in Great Project.

cat y IOJS\ts
factors that urged him to leave against
one inducing him to remain.
ORered s75,OoO a Year.
He had been offered a salary Of
$4,000 per year-three times that
which he received as chief engineer OF
the canal-by the Westinghouse Com
pany: the members of his family were
| in fear OF his contracting yellow fever
and insisted that he should leave the
Isthmus on that account alone: he had
convinced himself that he was entitled
. to control in canal matters, and con-
sidering himself indispensable to the
! success of the project. believed that he
might secure Mr. Shonts' place by using
the Westinghouse offer as lever. while
| In any event he was fully prepared To
quit with the assurance of consenial
employment at a big salary in the
| United States
Concerning Mr.. Wallace himself the
| author says:
His work was of value that cannot
be figured in dollars and cents. for on
what he did. and on records begun by
| him. the final cost of the canal largely
was based. His surveys were q beacon
light to the subsequent Isthmian Com
missions and rendered material assist
ance in bringing about the adoption of
| the type of canal as now completed. al
though Mr.. Wallace was an advocate
of the so-called sea-level canal"
1t was a gigantic task which the
| regime, Of the railroad men undertook
and accomplished. says the author. Be-
| fore the Canal Zone could be made a
place Mt to live and work In. three
| hitherto insoluble problems had to be
solved-that of the thorough sanitation
Of the Isthmus: that of suitable habita-
lions for all classes of employees from
heads Of departments to negro laborers:
and that of food supply that would az
ford to all the workers opportunity to
obtain fresh meat and vegetables at rea-
sonable cost
The elimination Of yellow fever was a
big task. The people of Panama. them
selves immune to yellow fever. submitted
patiently and uncomplainingly to the an
noyance> and Inconvenience Of these sani-
tation operations, but the fact that there
were outbreaks of bubonic plague in
several villages-which were promptly
stamped out in the initial stages-had
something to do with their accepting the
situation calmly.
Homes for Employees.
The erection of living quarters for the
employees and the supplying of them with
good food and pure water was accom-
plished during the same period that the
sanitation of the Canal Zone was con-
Quoted. Employees of every grade white
and black. were given. free of rent. with
free light and fuel. comfortable furnish
ed houses. While many hundreds OF
these houses. Of various classes and
capacities. were taken over from the
French, all of them had to be rebuilt
and made sanitary. and in addition new
dwelling houses and living quarters.
hotels. restaurants. clubhouses. school,
houses. courthouses, postoffices, jails,
commissary buildings. fire engine houses.
shops and railway buildings had to be
provided.
Jackson Smith. head Of the Department
of Labor and Quarters, was. for . con-
siderable period during the regime OF
the railroad men, the most unpopular
man on the Isthmus among the white
workers, says the author. This efrcum.
housing problem. whereby he became
known as Square Foot Smith. . sobri-
quet that stuck to him during the i've
years he was at Panama.
When Mr.. Smith took charge of hia
department the assignment Of quarters
to the canal employees was based upon
influence or favoritism. which resulted In
friction and jealousies. He decided to
reallot the houseroom completely. basiaE
the amount of room given each man
upon a ratio of one square foot Of floor
space to each dollar Of his annual salary.
Aware that this plan would arouse oppo-
sition, he submitted 1t to the chief engi-
neer and to the governor of the Canal
Zone. both of whom approved II.
The labor problem at the time Of tho
beginning of the project was one fraught
with great difficulties and perplexities,
according to the author. 1t was upon
the Jamaican negro and others like him
that it seemed at first as il the United
States would have to depend absolutely
for the excavation of an amount of dirt
and rock at Panama that 1t had been
estimated would be sufficient to cover
the whole of Manhattan Island to a
depth Of twelve feet.
Lasy Jamaica Negroes.
And this was a sad prospect. indeed.
for the laziness and incapacity Of the
West Indian negroes Is almost proven
bal. Soon after taking up his residence
in the Canal Zone Gov. Masoon had
posthole dug in front Of his house in
Ancon. The hole was four feet deep and
two feet square. and the soil was not
difficult Of removal. 1t took four Jamai-
ca negroes two days to dig that posthoie.
A foreman of painters in 1906 had
job he wanted done In a hurry. 1t was
a house that he wanted painted. He did
the job himself in day and three
quarters. Later he put seven Jamaica
negroes on the house next door. exactly
the same size. and they were at 1t four
days.
1t was on record at Cristobal about the
same time. according to the author, that
two negro bricklayers with helper. en-
ployed on straight" work, laid an aver
age Of ninety-six bricks per day while
building . wall It took six negroes to
carry an ordinary railroad tie. and TWEEN
ty-five of them to move an empty freight
car on level track
The capacity of these black men OF
the West Indies for erandiloquent
English was in inverse ratio to their
ability as manual laborers. and they
were very proud Of their status IS
Britons.
Don't you dare to expurge Ian
guage of a blasphemous basis to me:
I'm q British object" protested one
jamaican laborer to a foreman who
had taken him to task.
81 expediated my departure because
was subjugated to unessential do
mestic Inconvenience" and old Jamai-
can cook declared. in explanation OF
why she had left her mistress
A smart Barbados darby. who went
~