Book sV\ \7^. Copyright 1^°. COFYRrCHT DEPOSrr FRONTISPIECE, Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from Tine Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/glimpsesofpanamaOOmcca Glimpses of Panama AJS^D OF THE CANAL MARY L. Mccarty ¥ KANSAS CITY, MO. Tiernan-Dart Printing Company 1913 COPYRIGHT 1913 MARY L. Mccarty /3 ^f/'^x(^ ©CLA347449 V Zo flDp Si0ter CKNOWLEDGMENT of courtesies extended is made to officials of the Panama Railroad and Steamship Line, and particularly to Mr. E. A. Drake, Vice President, Mr. J. A. Smith, General Super- intendent, Mr. C. C. Van Riper, Passen- ger Agent, Mr. A. K. Stone, Master of Transportation, and Captain Sukeforth, of the S. S. Ancon ; also to Mr. John Barret, ^^ashington, D.C., and Mr. I. L. Maduro, Jr., Panama. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Map of the Panama Canal Frontispiece Tivoli Hotel, Anoon, Canal Zone 19 Panamanian Transportation 22 Royal Palms, The Savannas, Panama. . . 40 Type of Native Hut 43 Rnins of Cathedral Tower, Old Panama. . 46 Sight-seeing Train . . . . 55 Pedro Miguel Locks 58 Aneon Hospital, with Royal Palms 71 Bachelor Officers' Quarters, Ancon Hospital 72 Famous Flat Arch 74 Narrow Street, Panama 76 National Theatre, Panama 78 Panama Government Building 80 Front Street, Colon 86 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS— Continued Page Sanitarium, Taboga Island 89 Columbus Monument, Cristobal 91 Beach at Cristobal 94 Gatun Upper Locks 100 Profile of the Panama Canal 106 Cocoanut Trees, Panama Ill Empire, Canal Zone 128 Y. M. C. A. Building 132 Looking North Through Culebra Cut . . 139 Inland Light House 141 Culebra Cut, Cross Section 144 Native Village 153 Governor's Residence, Ancon 164 Old Cathedra], Panama 174 Municipal Building, Panama 176 Glimpses of Panama I. Dim, ghostly mountain shapes on the sky, directly ahead, gave us our first glimpse of the Isthmian Land. The seven days' voyage down from New York, with its blue skies and smooth seas and lazy life on deck, had been pleasant enough, and we had even lamented that it was not to be longer; but now, on the instant, that feeling took wings and we were full of eagerness to reach the strange and wonderful things we had come so far to see. It was in the forenoon that we be- held that misty picture on the sky. 9 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA By afternoon those cloud-like forms had taken on a look of stern and rocky reality — being the highlands of Porto Bello — and were passed on our left as we approached the harbor of Colon, twenty miles further on. The town of Colon did not look im- pressive to our interested gaze, being low and small and with nowhere any appearance of solid bulk. In fact, we wondered if that was the town or only an introductory bit of it, and if the real thing was not around on the other side of a hill, somewhere. But it looked strange and foreign, and with this satisfactory thought we turned our attention to the big stone breakwater and the fine, new docks now under construction, and finally to the wharf, where waiting friends 10 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA and relatives were shouting and wav- ing handkerchiefs, and countless va- rieties of negroes were standing ready to unload the ship. Almost at once we distinguished Col. Goethals' tall figure, and recog- nized him from the pictures we had seen of him in papers and magazines. The young man at his side we knew must be his son, and as soon as the gang-plank was down they came on board to greet Mrs. Goethals, who had been our fellow-passenger and was waiting for them inside. We were delighted to have so early a glimpse of the Lord of the Canal Zone, whose looks we liked and whose acquaintance we hoped to make later on. Reaching the dock, we encountered 11 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA first the customs ordeal, through which we were expedited by the kind- ness of one of the Panama Railroad officials ; and then, being free so early in the game, instead of waiting for the special train which was standing on the dock, ready to carry the ship's passengers across the Isthmus when they should be released, we acted on the advice of the same kind official and drove over to the railroad station in time for the regular four-thirty-five train. This would give us more day- light for our trip and get us into the City of Panama at a reasonable dinner hour, considerably ahead of the spe- cial. We hoped to see something of the strange land and the Canal work be- fore it grew dark, and were gratified 12 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA almost imrhediately, for the train plunges at once into the wild, — so dif- ferent from our northern woods — and at Gatun, seven miles from Colon, we caught sight of a vast stretch of con- crete work which we knew was the locks; while along a road which wound from behind a hill we saw a stream of laborers approaching, evi- dently Canal workmen just through with their day's work. To us they did not seem like common toilers, for were they not working on the "big job," and just a little bit glorified thereby! In fact, they were uncom- mon looking on account of the variety of nationalities presented — Ameri- cans, Spaniards, Chinese, Japanese, Hindoos and all the shades and varie- ties of negroes that are seen in that 13 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA land. We soon grew used to this motley look of crowds on the Isthmus, but on this first occasion it caught our attention quite forcibly. Then we went around and across twenty-three miles of half-dead, al- ready partly inundated country which is to be the bed of Gatun Lake, the great artificial body of water pro- duced by the building of the dam at Gatun, into which ships will be lifted by the Gatun locks, and across which they will proceed to the cut through the mountains. In the dimming light, with its deep-water stretches, its swamps filled with dying trees, its floating islands and disappearing tree-tops and, above all, the strange character of the vegetation, of which we were becoming increasingly con- 14 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA scious, it had a melancholy, uncanny aspect which deepened as we ap- proached the shadows of the moun- tains. At Bas Obispo begins the great Culebra Cut, and from there on we began to have fascinating glimpses of the "big ditch" from time to timiC, every glimpse showing it deeper and deeper as we neared the continental divide at Culebra. By the time we had passed this point darkness had fallen and we leaned back, thinking the show was over; but suddenly we found ourselves approaching a huge trestle, brightly illumined by some light from below, and realized all at once that we were about to cross the Canal. In another instant we were slowly moving out into mid-air and 15 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA there, in a blaze of light from innum- erable big fires, burning at regular intervals up and down the Cut, as far as we could see, was all the work of excavation going on below us. The fires were not common bonfires, but symmetrical piles of ties built up in great cubes, producing a most beau- tiful effect, and in the light of their leaping flames men and machinery and work trains stood out with start- ling distinctness; w^hile at one end of the abyss, looming up in the red and murky distance, the great white mass of one of the locks gave a final and mysterious touch to a scene which suggested an opening into some lower world. We gazed fasci- natedly at the brilliant picture, and as it passed from view we sighed with 16 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA satisfaction and felt sure that what we had come to see was going to be well worth seeing. The Panama Railroad — on which we were traveling — is not a new road, but was built in the early fifties by a group of American railroad men, and acquired by the United States in 1904. Being in the way of the Canal, it has gradually been moved, a part at a time, and is now entirely relocated, running from Colon to Panama wholly on the east side of the Canal. A section of the old road is still used for convenience, but will be removed when the Canal is done, and it is this section which crosses the Cut and, incidentally, adds interest to the little journey across the Isthmus. Originally it was intended to carry 17 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA the railroad through the Cut on a bench ten feet above the water, but the slides made that impracticable. It is an excellent road, smooth and comfortable, with everything in the way of modern equipment, as we re- alized at intervals when we could get our minds off the scene outside. Our fellow-passengers were American and Spanish, with a sprinkling of well- dressed Chinese and Japanese. At one station we were delighted to see a lot of our own khaki-clad soldiers, and presently a group of officers in their dress uniforms of white linen with gold buttons and epaulets, ac- companied by several attractive young women, got into our car and quite brightened up the scene. The ladies looked very up-to-date and the 18 4~ H O o > GLIMPSES OF PANAMA party was evidently on pleasure bent. When we reached Panama, about seven o'clock, black darkness en- veloped the town and we realized nothing but a confusion of people and carriages. But, in a few minutes, having secured one of the vehicles and driven up a long, dark hill, we found ourselves blinking in the lobby of the Tivoli, the big Government ho- tel, which we meant to make our head- quarters during our stay on the Isth- mus. Here arrived also the army group, and we learned that they had come into Panama to attend the inau- guration ball of the new president of the Republic of Panama, which was to take place somewhere down in the city that evening. The room on the second floor in the 20 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA right wing to which we were pres- ently conducted was bare looking, according to northern standards, but had all the essentials, including a big private bathroom, and opened by door and window on a wide screened porch which looked across the green space in front of the hotel to the op- posite wing. Our only objection to it was its distance from everything, the right-angled passage-way leading to it being the most interminable thing we had ever encountered. There were no elevators nearer than the center of the building and even those were out of commission on account of alterations going on in the hotel. Our quarters were said to be part of the suite occupied by President Taft the last time he was there, and we 21 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA tried to remember whether the news- papers, at the time of his return to Washington, had anything to say of a noticeable reduction in his weight. We felt sure we should become living skeletons if we traversed that passage daily for a week or two; but seeing the Canal, we felt, was worth a good many pounds of flesh and we would yield them cheerfully. After a good dinner in the long din- ing-room — R. being quite delighted with the roast beef — we felt an eager desire to see something more at once; so, without having to wait for me to get hat or wrap, because we were in the tropics, we walked out to the top of the broad flight of steps at the hotel entrance, summoned one of the line of carriages which we had observed 23 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA waiting there and commanded that we be driven about the city. Both in Colon and Panama these light car- riages, drawn usually by one horse, are used by everybody and almost take the place of street cars, — of which, as yet, there is none, though there is a line building — carrying you anywhere within the city limits for ten cents apiece and on long trips for a dollar an hour for two people. This we found very pleasant and I should really have been thankful for the ab- sence of street cars except for the fact that at first, in my ignorance, I was worried about the horses. Such undersized, skinny little beasts I never saw before, and I was sure that they were half starved and ready to drop in their tracks from exhaustion. 24 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA As a member of the Humane Society in my home town, I felt I could not consistently ride behind one of those abused looking animals and began to dream of turning missionary in their behalf to those benighted people. But, bless you! I found on investiga- tion that those little Panamanian horses are as tough and strong as pos- sible and are only small and thin be- cause it is their nature so to be. Our big horses do not thrive down there, but those little things belong to the country and, after you understand the situation, are quite attractive in their combination of bone and energy. It was Saturday night, that first night in Panama, and the crowd in the streets was large and made up, apparently, of all the nations of the 25 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA earth, the most picturesque touch be- ing furnished by the turbaned Hin- doos, stately, solemn and aloof, who presented no appearance whatever of being out for a good time. Drinking and gambling were much in evidence, and lottery tickets were for sale every- where. The lotteries are protected by the government and many tickets are sold by old women, who sit in chairs on the sidewalks or in door- ways all day long and all night, too, so far as we observed, with strings of lottery tickets in their laps to tempt the passer-by. We bought one for a souvenir, but as it was all in Spanish and we have never had it translated, if we have drawn the $15,000 capital prize, that interesting fact is yet un- known to us. 26 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA At ten o'clock we returned to the hotel, feeling that we had already learned a good deal of the new coun- try since our landing at Colon that afternoon. So many new sights and impressions had filled the intervening hours that three o'clock seemed a long way back. We talked over what we had seen and what we expected to see, not only on the Isthmus but on the long ocean voyage up the Pacific coast to San Francisco, which was to be part of our homeward way; and de- cided for the hundredth time that nothing more restful and delightful than this plan could be devised. One thing only disturbed our joy of antici- pation and that was the fact that one or two persons on the "Ancon," going down, had warned us that the 27 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA west-coast boats were by no means first-class. Although this did not sound very alarming, we decided to seize every opportunity to inform our- selves on the subject and, especially, to try to meet some one who had actually made the trip. And thus ended our first day. 28 II. We were awakened early, our first morning in Panama, by the variegated noises of the nearby railroad. As we were eager to view our surroundings, we did not mind the disturbance that time, though afterwards it got to be a nuisance. Rather to our disappoint- ment, the outlook from our quarters embraced only a few houses and some green hills; so, as soon as possible, we stepped out on our porch and started to find the sun and the town and the ocean and anything else there might be to see. As the screened porches encircle the hotel at every 29 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA story, there was no bar to our prog- ress, and on turning a corner we be- held the objects of our search. There below us was a good bit of the town, and beyond the town was the ocean, and above the ocean was the sun, just risen. At that instant began a strug- gle with the cardinal points which ended only with our departure from the country. In the first place, in order to reach the western coast of the Isthmus we had come east — or southeast, anyhow — as any one can see by looking at the map. Then, as just mentioned, there was the re- splendent orb of day, "scarce from sea withdrawn," and that sea the Pa- cific Ocean, which logically should re- ceive said orb at the conclusion of its day's career. These things are the 30 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA result, of course, of the shape of the Isthmus and the eccentricities of the coast line, but the attendant confusion of mind is not so easily removed as the cause is explained. The town, too, is extremely irregu- lar. Our only hope of telling the di- rections was by this same sun, and it always seemed to be in the wrong place. Besides, we were there in the rainy season and could not always see the sun. Of course we did not have to know the cardinal points, but, on account of its difficulty, it became a sort of obsession with us-^we were crazy to know how things faced and which way the streets ran, and adopted as a sort of game the habit of asking each other suddenly which was north and where was south and 31 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA similar conundrums. To this minute we are not absolutely certain how the Tivoli Hotel stands, but cherish a timid impression that it has a north- east front. To go back to that first morning — when we went to breakfast I began with a banana, expecting, of course, there on its native heath, where I had already seen whole plantations of them, to find it so superior that I should feel as if I had never really eaten one before; but as it tasted ex- actly as if it had come from my gro- cery at home and I was not very fond of bananas, anyway, I ate no more of them, nor very much of any other tropical fruit. The grape-fruit are not so good as those we get in the North, nor are the oranges. The latter are 32 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA small and occasionally we enjoyed eating them, served Cuban fashion, impaled on a fork. One product of the country found favor with us and that was the alli- gator pears. It was so delightful to be able to eat them every day, unat- tended by the sense of impending bankruptcy which is the invariable accompaniment of their consumption in the North. Some contrary people at our table, however, said they did not enjoy them at all when they were cheap. In addition to the native fruits, all the fruit stores on the Isth- mus keep plenty of fine apples, which make a beautiful display and find favor with the tourists. It was during that first breakfast that we became acquainted with the 33 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA money of the country. R. had asked the waiter to get a bill changed for him and had received, in return, such an astonishing amount of silver that he was about to give back a handful or two, thinking it a mistake, but dis- covered in time that the coins were Panamanian, worth only half the same sized pieces in United States currency. As the two kinds of money are used indiscriminately, we had to be on the lookout after that for the difference. No sooner was the money problem solved than we ran up against the postage proposition. During our seven days on the ocean I had written, sealed and stamped several letters, which I mailed on landing. After breakfast that first morning, I learned 34 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA that I should have used Panamanian stamps and that the recipients of my first epistles would all have to pay for the privilege of hearing of our safe arrival. However, Browning says, "What joy is better than the news of friends?" and I hoped my correspond- ents would agree with him. The forenoon hours of that day — Sunday — we were obliged to devote to unpacking and arranging our be- longings. In the afternoon we in- tended to begin our acquaintance with the country round about by driving to the ruins of old Panama, six miles up the coast. But, as before men- tioned, the rainy season was on and towards noon the heavens fell. Real- ly, the water did not come down in drops but in a solid body, and, in our 35 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA inexperience, we supposed the day was over, so far as going out was con- cerned. But not at all. After a while the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun and, although clouds remained, no further downpour seemed immi- nent; so we concluded to venture forth. It seemed prudent, however, to carry umbrellas and light raincoats, and this was the beginning of our slavery to these indispensable articles ; for, being warned by those who knew, never, no matter how blue the sky or golden the sunlight, did we sally forth without them. Not that it rained every time we went out, but there was always the probability ; and if it didn't rain, the sun would be likely to shine and the umbrella would do for a para- sol. Of our ten days in the Canal 36 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA Zone, all but two were more or less rainy and even then it rained during the intervening night. The only heavy rain, though, was on that first Sunday, the one I am now telling about. Fully equipped and ready for every fate, therefore, we stepped boldly forth to the top of the hotel steps and summoned a carriage in the usual manner, which was generally a wave of the hand, though sometimes simply stepping forth was enough. I never minded waiting a minute or two, though, for the space in front of the hotel was so pretty, with its royal Poinciana trees and the bushes of flaming scarlet hibiscus bordering the drive-way, that it was a pleasure to stand and look. We had decided on a 37 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA carriage instead of an automobile be- cause we had been told that the drive to old Panama ran through a pretty country and we wanted to go slowly enough to see things on the way. Fate was kind to us that day in send- ing us driver "No. 18" in response to our summons; for thereby we were supplied with a most interesting and well-informed guide, who added much to our enjoyment of the expedition. He was a Jamaican negro who spoke very correct English and had traveled considerably, having at one time lived as far north as Boston. He knew every bird, flower, bush and tree, was perfectly familiar with all the details of the Canal work, could discuss like a statesman the past and present affairs of Panama, both city and republic. 38 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA could correct us on points of history and was, withal, the embodiment of good nature and politeness. Almost at once I noticed that his horse was rather emaciated and, having not yet acquired all the infor- mation about Panamanian horses that I have herein set down, I could not help asking him if it was good for a long drive. He smiled genially and replied that he had two horses which he used alternately and that this one was quite fresh. We soon struck the fine, hard road which the Government has recently built from Panama to the ruins of the old city with some of the money it got from the United States. It passes through a region called "The Savan- nas," where the wealthy Panamanians 39 ROYAL. PALMS, THE SAVANNAS, PANAMA. Courtesy of I.L. Madura, Jr., Panama. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA have their country homes. Some of the houses are attractive, though not at all sumptuous, and the open, rolling country is charming, with its luxuri- ant vegetation, so much of it new to us, the royal palms adding always a stately touch to the landscape. Our agreeable driver pointed out bananas, oranges, lemons, grape-fruit, cocoa- nuts, pineapples, orchids, and many other unfamiliar things as we drove along, stopping occasionally to give us a better view of something or to gather a strange flower for me from the roadside. The animal life we saw was familiar enough. In the fields around the big houses were horses and cattle, and around the poor places near the road were always chickens and ducks and geese and turkeys and 41 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA sometimes pigs. We did see, how- ever, some beautiful strange birds. Up on the hillsides were many of the native huts, with their thatched roofs, looking wild and primitive. Alec — that was our driver's name — told us that some of the people sleep ■close up under those roofs, climbing up by means of ladders, and that the custom, quite unnecessary now, has been handed down from the time when wild beasts broke into the houses at night and the people were obliged to put themselves out of their reach. Thus, surrounded by interesting sights and engaged in pleasant con- verse, we jogged along and looked with pitying eye at the occasional motor parties that overtook or passed 42 TYPE OF NATIVE HUT ALONG THE LINE OF THE PANAMA RAILROAD. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA US, at a speed that precluded all the pleasures we were enjoying. After a while we turned towards the shore — from which we had not been far at any time — and in a few minutes had reached our goal. There, before us, was all that remains of what was, up to the time of its destruction, the richest and most important city of the new world. Founded in 1518, it reached its highest estate in the days of the Peruvian mines, when a stream of wealth was flowing continu- ally across the Isthmus and the city had become a great commercial cen- ter. In 1671 it was taken, looted and burned by Henry Morgan, the bucca- neer, and his formidable band. We had read the history of Morgan's raid and now, on the very spot, gazing at 44 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA the hill overlooking the city, where he first appeared, and the old Spanish bridge across the ravine at its foot, which he must have crossed, we were quite thrilled as we talked it over, our well-informed guide supplying all details which we could not remember. The most picturesque bit among the ruins is a stately, vine-clad tower — • part of one of the churches — which stands quite close to the shore, look- ing out over the broad Pacific. Be- sides this, there remain the outer walls of other churches and public build- ings, many of them with ancient and lofty trees growing inside. History says that, at the time of the sacking of the city, much of its wealth, in the form of coin and jewels, was thrown into wells and buried in 45 !^' P^^PBJHfesSijBR "^t^-^JMaBBf -v" m. ^11 i ,«'^'.-J •,'"»'^; .- 1 f /,; m 1 '■0i' O >f ■ ' "-' KT- ? \ fli gj^^^ter *1^i* fJjA,'j.';'"-:-'*:s5-y:-. ^mm^. '^-.i '~': .iV 44 'iVi^-«-/- -' I^JiimiiSI ?;i% W-0r:-: :- :^? RUINS OP CATHEDRAL TOWER AT OLD PANAMA, DESTROYED BY MORGAN IN 1671. Courtesy of Pan American Union. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA cellars. It is supposed that some of it still remains in its hiding places, and since we were there we have read in the papers that the Panamanian gov- ernment is about to undertake a sys- tematic excavation of the old city, with a view to the recovery of this treasure. After gazing our fill at everything in the neighborhood of the tower, we struck into the woods to look at other ruins, some of which were so over- grown with vines and shrubbery as to be almost invisible at a little distance. There was no ivy, though, and I learned from our guide that it will not grow on the Isthmus. The woods were very, very wet, but Alec carried a board on his shoulder which he laid across every bad place that was roo 47 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA wide for me to jump. This was con- siderate in him and enabled me to get along; but the shoes I wore never did get dry till they were back in the United States. From the woods we took a short cut back to the shore and returned to the carriage by way of the shell- strewn beach. We walked along silent- 1}% the intense quiet, the atmosphere of other days, which surroimded us giving us a feeling of complete detach- ment from the every-day world. Night was approaching and already the thick, green woods from which we had emerged looked dark and brood- ing. The beautiful, great ocean through which silver-laden ships once plowed their way to the rich and pros- perous city whose crumbling rem- 48 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA nants lay round about us, showed scarcely a ripple. We were loath to leave the lovely scene, especially the lonely tower which has stood there like a sentinel such a long, long time. In the fading light it looked awesome and mysteri- ous and I wondered if the spirits of those long-dead people of old Panama never came back to the place in which so many of them took refuge on that dreadful day of the city's destruction. I was glad to think of the long rest our steed had had under a tree near the shore, and noticed with satisfac- tion the briskness with which he start- ed off homeward. The drive back was an agreeable rest and was enlivened by a discussion on Panamanian poli- tics with our versatile driver. Reach- 49 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA ing the outskirts of the city — which was founded two years after the de- struction of its predecessor — we passed through a heterogeneous crowd of men who showed traces of recent excitement, and were told that it was "the cock-fight crowd" and that cock-fighting was the national pas- time, the favorite Sunday amusement. This was the final piece of informa- tion gained from our encyclopedic Jamaican, then or ever, for, although we saw him several times afterward, driving other people about, never again was he at the head of the wait- ing line when we wanted a carriage. There was just one thing he did not seem to know and that was about the boats on the west coast. Perhaps, from some hidden motive of policy. 50 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA he preferred to be non-committal. At any rate, we learned nothing from him on that point. On Sunday night there is always a band concert on the Cathedral Plaza and we had intended going that even- ing, but as the weather was again threatening and we expected to be there another Sunday, we decided to remain safe and dry at the Tivoli, write some letters, talk over what we had seen that day and settle our plans for the week. On the next day, Monday, we were to begin to see the Canal work. The Panama Railroad at that time was running sight-seeing trains on Mon- days, Thursdays and Saturdays, visit- ing each division of the work twice during the week, once in the morning 51 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA and once in the afternoon. As we were in no hurry and hated to get up early, this seemed to us a very agree- able arrangement and we determined to confine ourselves to the afternoon trips. The one scheduled for Monday afternoon embraced the Pedro Miguel lock and the Miraflores locks and dam — the Pacific division of the Canal work. With this pleasure in prospect for the morrow our second day drew to its close. 52 III. When we went to breakfast on Monday morning at eight o'clock, we found the first floor no longer the quiet and orderly place it had hitherto seemed. The alterations going on in the hotel embraced the ball-room and the dining-room, both of which were being enlarged towards the front and, of course, when we descended the workmen were in full swing. We ate our morning meal to the sound of their hammers and saws, and gave thanks when we reflected that we should be far away at lunch-time and that they would always be gone at dinner-time. 53 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA Although we were to take only the afternoon trip over the Pacific divi- sion, we were obliged to leave Pana- ma at ten-twenty in the forenoon, in order to catch the sight-seeing train at Culebra, where it would stop after its morning trip to allow the passen- gers to see the lock models and have luncheon. So it really was going to take about all day, and after breakfast we had only time to look over the pa- pers, write some post cards and chat a little in the lobby before starting to the station. On alighting from the train at Cule- bra we found an ambulance drawn by mules ready to take us up to the Ad- ministration Building on top of the hill, and on reaching the entrance of the building we were directed to 54 TYPICAL EXCURSION SIGHT-SEEING TRAIN OF THE PANAMA RAILROAD. Courtesy of Pan American Union. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA the lecture-room by an agreeable and courteous young gentleman who had come up the hill with us. Being inter- ested in the subject of locks and de- sirous of understanding thoroughly the working of the Canal, we found the lecture and the models extremely profitable, and went down the hill afterwards considerably enlightened — as we hoped, also, was the man who, on the way up, had remarked that he wouldn't know a lock if he met it in the road. What we went down the hillforwasto get some lunch, and this we found at the Commission dining- room, where for fifty cents apiece we were served with a very excellent meal, the quality being uniformly good and the quantity about three times as much as we could eat. No- 56 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA where else in the Canal Zone did we find so good a Commission dining- room as this one at Culebra. Thus fortified, both mentally and physically, with lecture and luncheon, we blithely mounted the sight-seeing car — an open car with seats running across and with a floor which vv^as high at the back and sloped down to the level of the lecturer in front — im- patient to begin to see the "big job." However, "there is always some draw- back," and now, although up to this point the day had been perfect, an un- invited little shower suddenly ob- truded itself and even tried to get into the car, thus obliging the porter to lower the canvas curtains in order to keep us dry. Shutting out the rain meant shutting out the view, too, and 57 32 O -j- OQ GLIMPSES OF PANAMA this was afflicting; but it proved to be necessary for only occasional short periods, during which the lecturer told us about the things we were about to see and answered any ques- tions we wanted to ask in a ver}/^ pleas- ant and comprehensive manner. Presently we arrived at Pedro Miguel — in local parlance, Peter Me- gill — -where we were switched to the construction tracks and taken out close to the lock work. There we got out and at last found ourselves face to face with one of the concrete mon- sters. Here words fail me. "Stu- pendous" seems to be the favorite ad- jective with most people and I can't think of a better, but, really, a brand- new one should be coined. Those locks look like the work of giants and 59 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA as if they would stand forever, "Eter- nal as the hills," I said to myself, but just then a man of the party re- marked, "Well, I suppose some thou- sands of years hence archaeologists will be digging around here and will come across the remains of these locks and wonder what on earth they were, anyhow." One pair of gates were done and closed and as they are seven feet thick and equipped with a hand-rail along the top for the use of the public, we walked across them — an umbrella-ed procession — to the center wall where we could see both sides and get a bet- ter idea of the thousand feet of length and the two hundred and twenty feet of breadth of the double chamber. All the locks are double in order that ves- 60 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA sels can go in opposite directions at the same time; also, if one is out of commission, the other can be used. Pedro Miguel lock is single in that it will raise and lower ships only one step, of thirty feet. It is the link be- tween the Cut and Miraflores Lake, a small artificial body of water with an area of two square miles, formed by impounding the waters of three small rivers by means of the Miraflores locks and dam. As we stood on the walls we thought of all that had been told us of their construction, and imagined the water rushing in for the first time, through the huge tunnels, eighteen feet in diameter, passing lengthwise of the lock through the center and side walls, then through lateral tun- 61 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA nels which branch out from the first ones at right angles and run under the lock floors, then through openings in the lock floor into the lock chamber. And we pictured to ourselves a great ship coming in, attended by four elec- tric locomotives operating on the walls, two in front towing, one at each side, and two behind, one at each side, to stop her when she gets into proper position. By the time we had gone over all this in our minds we were summoned to climb back into the car and go on, across the bed of the future Miraflores Lake, to the Miraflores locks. These are two in flight and will raise and lower vessels fifty-five feet, in two steps, between the lake and the sea- level end of the Canal, which connects 62 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA with the Pacific Ocean eight miles away. The work here was jtist the same as at Pedro Miguel, only there was twice as much of it, and we were still more deepl}^ impressed with the immensity of the task which our coun- try is accomplishing. From here we went on to Balboa, where the Canal enters the ocean, and saw the great dredges at work in the channel and the long, stone break- water now under construction. The latter is four miles long, extending from the mainland to Naos, one of the group of three beautiful islands which the United States is fortifying to guard the entrance of the Canal. These islands are exceedingly rocky and picturesque, their steep sides ris- ing abruptly from the water to a great GLIMPSES OF PANAMA height, relieved here and there by trees and shrubs, whose varying greens contrast exquisitely w^ith the dark rock. The three islets seem to have been dropped by nature exactly into the right position to fulfil their office of protecting the Canal ter- minus. Drills and cranes and steam-shovels and dirt-trains and concrete mixers and track-lifters had been thrown in to make good the measure of our afternoon's entertainment, and by this time we began to feel the need of a rest for our minds ; so the return to Panama between five and six and the sight of the big Tivoli Hotel up on the hill were very agreeable. Resting and dressing and dining and gossiping with our fellow-tourists 64 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA formed a pleasant conclusion to the day; and at a much earlier hour than we were accustomed to keep at home we went to bed, feeling sure that the very excellent railroad at the foot of the hill would wake us up between five and six in the morning, and that the only way to get enough sleep was to begin early. Why that railroad did not have enough to do in transporting its crowded trains back and forth across the Isthmus, without turning missionary and trying to inculcate the "early to bed and early to rise" maxim into the passing traveler, was more than we could understand. Such energy hardly accorded with the cli- mate, either, but then it was an Amer- ican road, which fact was explanation 65 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA enough, and for that reason we for- gave it. We remembered, the very last thing, that we had not asked anybody about the west-coast boats. As there was no regular sight-seeing trip the next day, we resolved to drive over to Balboa in the morning to the steam- ship office, and make some inquiries of the agent. We were glad the reg- ular trips did not come on consecu- tive days. It was so much pleasanter to have time in between in which to do things by ourselves and assimilate what had gone before. Therefore we looked forward with satisfaction to the next two days. 66 IV. We could not have asked a more beautiful morning than the next one, and soon after breakfast we started on our expedition, with a driver, this time, afflictingly different from the genial and well-informed Alec of the Sunday before. He was a dusky indi- vidual of gloomy mien, who vouch- safed us neither look nor smile and spoke not a word except as it was dragged out of him. We felt truly grateful that the fates had granted us Alec for the visit to old Panama. Balboa, the objective point of our drive on this brilliant morning, is the 67 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA port of the city of Panama and about two miles away. It is also the Pacific terminus of the Canal and is made up of machine shops, steamship docks, railroad yards and warehouses. At the steamship office a very pleasant young gentleman assured us that a voyage up to San Francisco was one of the most delightful anyone could take, that the accommodations were perfectly comfortable, the food excel- lent and we should miss the chance of our lives if we did not go that way. Quite reassured by these pleasing statements, which accorded so well with our desires, we would have made our reservations at once for the next boat, but he said it was not in yet and we should have to wait until he tele- phoned its arrival to the hotel. So we 68 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA left, feeling that the matter was set- tled, and decided to spend the rest of the lovely morning driving. On the w^ay back towards Panama we talked about Balboa, the distinguished gen- tleman who "With eagle eyes Stared at the Pacific — and all his men Looked at each other with a wild sur- mise — Silent upon a peak in Darien." The above quotation is dreadfully overworked, but it seems impossible not to use it when speaking of Balboa. His name is a favorite one on the Isth- mus and is bestowed on many and various things, ranging from a city to a shoestring. It is certainly fitting that his memory should be honored, for he was a great man of gallant 69 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA deeds and generous qualities, and ill deserved his ignominious end. Getting back to Panama, we ex- plored Ancon, the American quarter of the city, which is charmingly situ- ated up on the hill, with pure air and enchanting views. Many visitors to the Zone have mentioned the fact that the Canal towns are Japanese in ef- fect. Ancon, amid its palm groves, is especially so. The beauty and pictur- esqueness of the scene, both near and far, spread out before us that morn- ing, was worth a long journey to see. Up high, too, near by, are the hospital buildings and we were glad to know that the men of the Canal force had such a fine place in which to be ill — if they had to be ill. I don't understand, by the way. 70 O Oh GLIMPSES OF PANAMA why the name "Ancon" should be so popular. It sounds well enough, to be sure, but as it is Spanish for "ana- conda," the unpleasant monster that inhabits the Panamanian jungle, the suggestion is not exactly comfortable. We were enveloped — the word writes itself — in the name during the whole trip. Our ship was named "Ancon," the Tivoli Hotel stands in the Amer- ican suburb of Ancon and close by is Ancon Hill. As we have no intention of ever penetrating the jungle, we hope our acquaintance with the na- tive beast will be confined to his name. After going on up Ancon Hill, as far as we could drive, to get still wider views and to see the quarries, we descended into Panama to look at 73 FAMOUS FLAT ARCH, RUINS OF SAN DOMINGO CHURCH, PANAMA CITY. Courtesy of Pan American ZTnion. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA some of the stock sights of the town. We visited one of the cathedrals — the one whose towers are trimmed with pearl shells that glitter in the sunlight from afar, especially after a shower — and the ruined church of San Domin- go, which contains the famous ''flat arch" that has stood for nearly three centuries, though nobod}^ can see why. This arch is so flat and so long that it looks as if a slight jar would send it tumbling, and the fact that it remains intact would tend to allay any fears one might have about earth- quakes in that region. Next, we went out on the sea-wall, a remnant of the old fortifications, from which there is a most beautiful view^, 3-i^d then, the forenoon being almost gone, drove back through the 75 AVE. B., A NARROW STREET, PANAMA. Courtesy of I.L.Mn(luro,Jr.,Panama. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA city to the hotel, detouring a little in order to see the National Theatre, the University and the President's man- sion. In Panama the people do not have detached residences like those in northern climes. They live above the shops and only in the country do they have individual places. In the best parts of the town the second stories — with sometimes a third — look very attractive, with their balconies and flowers and drooping vines and lace- draped windows, but always, under- neath, there is business of some kind, or else the first floor is shut up and presents a blank wall to the passerby. Over the roofs along the streets we could sometimes see trees projecting from behind, which indicated the ex- 77 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA istence of inner courts and gardens; but the street fronts present always an appearance of extreme reserve and afford no glimpse of family life, ex- cept occasionally on the balconies, when the vines are not too thick. Panama has thirty-five thousand people and, on the whole, is a city worth seeing. Under the American regime it has been supplied with pure water, sewers and pavements, and is now a model for all tropical cities, be- ing kept scrupulously clean and all sanitary regulations being strictly en- forced. On its jutting coral penin- sula, with towering Ancon Hill in the background, with its narrow streets and Spanish architecture, its cathe- drals and plazas, its palms and foliage plants, its motley population and 79 NEW NATIONAL PALACE, OR PANAMA GOVERNMENT BUILDING, PANAMA CITY. Courtesy of Pan American Union. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA stream of tourists, it presents an en- semble full of interest and charm. That afternoon there was a break in our sight-seeing. R. was mingling a little work with his pleasure and de- cided to use the rest of the day for business purposes. Accordingly he departed immediately after luncheon, to be gone till dinnertime. Now, I had been looking for an odd half day, too, and for once, therefore, was glad to get rid of the dear man. Ever since landing at Colon, my whole soul had been longing for a shampoo and a manicure and all the beautifying rites so dear to the modern woman; and every time I passed through the lobby of the Tivoli my gaze lingered longingly on the large card suspended there, announcing that guests desir- 81 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA ing such services could be accom- modated by leaving their request at the office. Here was my chance. When R. decided to leave me to my- self for the afternoon, I resolved to have a beautifying revel and on com- ing in from our drive that noon had made an appointment for two o'clock. Promptly on time the beautifying lady arrived and proved a very pleasant person. In response to my inquiries as to how she would ever get my hair dry in that humid atmosphere she opened her bag and showed me elec- trical appliances for everything, as- suring me with a smile that she would not leave me with a damp hair. And she didn't. She certainly understood her business and left my tresses clean, dry, light and warm. They might get GLIMPSES OF PANAMA stringy again in the moist air, as they had done on the ocean, but for once they were in perfect condition. She had been down there four years she told me, and was kept pretty busy by the tourists and the American ladies living on the Isthmus. Hap- pening to think of it during the con- versation, I asked her what she knew about the west-coast boats. She said she did not really know anything, but had picked up an impression that they were pretty bad. This was a jolt, after our morning enthusiasm, but I said to myself that an impression was not of much importance, and soon for- got all about it in the joy of being re- juvenated, an experience which, as every woman knows, is a most soul- satisfying one. When the contents of GLIMPSES OF PANAMA the bag had all been tried and its own- er had finished her ministrations and departed, I determined to follow up the good work by making a very spe- cial toilet for dinner. This filled up the time until R. arrived. In order to match my improved appearance he was obliged to devote an unusual amount of time to his own prepara- tions for the evening; but when we went down at seven o'clock the con- sciousness we carried within us of pre- senting a well-groomed appearance to the Tivoli world filled us with a great peace and compensated in advance for the hurried days to come when there would be no time for beauty rites or special toilets. While we were dining I told R. what the rejuvenating lady had said 84 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA about the west-coast steamers, but he said, and I agreed with him, that we were foolish to let that question, bother us any more. The sensible thing to do was to carry out our plan and not be upset by every little thing we heard. Wait until we saw some one who had actually made the west- coast trip — then would be the time to pay attention to what was said. So ended Tuesday, the first day of our stay that it didn't rain. We wanted to go the next day, over to Colon, on the Atlantic side, and said to each other, the last thing, that we should probably have a moist time of it, as two successive pleasant days were not likely to happen at that time of the year. Even as we spoke the clouds descended and we went to sleep to the sound of a steady downpour. .85 But we were wrong, for the rain stopped before morning and the fol- lowing day was as well behaved as one could desire. We were going to Colon to see the place and to give R. an opportunity to visit the general offices of the Panama Railroad which are located there. We left at ten- twenty and went straight across the Isthmus, arriving at Colon a little be- fore one. After lunching at the Wash- ington Hotel we separated, R. going to the railroad offices while I started out to see whatever there was worth looking at. The new hotel being 87 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA built by the Government, at a cost of half a million dollars, first attracted me. It is delightfully situated, close to the Atlantic shore, and will be a strong rival for the Tivoli. Its com- pletion v\^ill no doubt put an end to the practice of taking the next train for Panama which is said to be so prevalent now among tourists arriv- ing at Colon. Then I walked along the beach until I came to the hospital, with its beauti- ful grounds, through which I strolled, wondering whether, if I had to choose, I would rather be sick up on the hill, among the trees, at Ancon, or down here at Colon, with the ocean waves at my very feet and their music always in my ears. Certainly the sick have beautiful surroundings and are well 88 HOSPITAL AND SANITARIUM AT TOBOGA ISLAND, PACIB^IC SIDE. Courtesy of Pan American Union. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA taken care of at both places. Besides the two hospitals, the Government maintains a sanatorium on the island of Taboga in Panama Bay, ten miles from the mainland, which is said to be ideally beautiful in location and sur- roundings. To our great regret, we did not have time to go here. On my way back I struck up an ac- quaintance with a bare-footed boy, who was probably lying in wait for such as I, and when we parted he was the proud possessor of two bright new dimes out of my bag and I carried away in their stead an almond just fallen from the tree — the fruit with the nut inside — a small, green cocoa- nut and various other impedimenta, all of which caused my bag to bulge in a very inelegant manner. R., when 90 COLUMBUS MONUMENT AT CRISTOBAL. Courtesy of Pan American Union. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA I rejoined him, was also carrying spoils, the most important being a walking stick made from an old lig- num-vitae tie that had been in use on the Panama Railroad for forty years, said walking stick having been given him by Mr. J. A. Smith, the genial General Superintendent of the Pana- ma Railroad. The rest of the afternoon, until train time, we spent in driving around the town. We went through Cristo- bal, which is the American quarter, and saw the house where De Lesseps used to live, the statue of "Columbus and the Indian Maiden" and the build- ings of the Commissary Department, which include a bakery, laundry and cold storage plant of sufficient capac- ity to serve all the government em- 92 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA ployes and their families, about sixty thousand people in all. When finally our driver dropped us at the station in time for the four- thirty-five train to Panama, we w^on- dered if it could be only four days ago that v^^e had landed at Colon and taken this train for the first time. Then all semed so strange that now had grown so familiar. There was no work going on in the Cut that night when we crossed and, in fact, we never did see the picture of the work by firelight except the one time. A gentleman whom we met that evening told us of some friends of his who had once come from San Fran- cisco to Panama by water. He said they had announced their firm deter- 93 Mm^^ BEACH AT CRISTOBAL. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA mination to walk every step of the way the next time, rather than repeat the first experience. We hastily in- quired what boat they had come on and were relieved when he did not name the one we expected to take. He added some details which after- wards, in private, we talked over somewhat dejectedly. What made the matter important was that the voyage would take twenty-six days, perhaps longer, and that R. had brought me to the tropics on a quest for health, as well as to see the Canal. He, himself, not being in the habit of giving up a plan once made and started, would have gone on unhesi- tatingly; but on my account he did not want to run any risks. A month at sea with poor food and stuffy state- 95 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA rooms and coal-oil lamps and possi- ble heat and storms might undo all the good gained thus far. For the first time, we said that perhaps it would be better to go back to New York; but the desire to make the west-coast trip was so strong in both of us that giving it up was not yet to be considered seriously. We really want- ed to do, though, whatever would re- sult in greatest benefit to us both. 'Twas a problem. To go on — to go back — which was the solution? The friendly rain, which just then reap- peared, gave us no help except to lull us to pleasant slumber. 96 VI. A visit to the locks and dam at Gatun was the program for the next day, and at ten-twenty we took the train and went almost across the Isth- mus again, Gatun being only seven miles from the Atlantic coast. The good looking railroad station at this point is meant to be permanent and is therefore built of stone. The wait- ing room is outside — just a big plat- form with seats and a roof, like an in- side waiting room without the side walls. It seemed strange to be in a country where no provision for cold weather is ever needed, and where 97 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA chimneys and stoves and fireplaces and heating apparatus generally are totally absent. People who go there from the North, where they are used to the changes of our seasons, tire of the eternal warmth after a while; but for a short stay the climate is not unpleasant, even in the rainy season. During our sojourn there it was always warm enough to wear the thinnest clothing, yet the heat was never oppressive. The even- ings and nights were invariably com- fortable. It is the humidity that is ex- treme, not the temperature. Best of all, we never saw or felt a mosquito anywhere on the Isthmus. As to the wet and dr}^ seasons, some of the resi- dents told me they much preferred the former, because nothing wore on them 98 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA like the ceaseless, day-after-day glare of the sun. When the climate gets on the nerves of the American women down there, so that they begin to yearn for brac- ing winds and driving snow storms and frosted window panes, they have to go up to the States to get straight- ened out; otherwise, if they can't leave, they sometimes go to pieces un- der the strain. On our arrival at Gatun we had hunted up the Commission dining- room for lunch and then returned to the station to wait for the sight-seeing car. Although there was a gentle rain falling, we did not mind it much and looked forward with special interest to this expedition, which would show us the biggest piece of concrete work 99 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA on earth and the mountain built by man to hold in a raging river. Our anticipations were exceeded. The Gatun locks are a double flight of three, the total length of the flight, with approach walls, being thirty-five hundred feet, and the entire width about three hundred feet at the top. The side walls are eighty-one feet high and fifty feet thick at the floor level, tapering narrower towards the top. The middle wall is of the same height and sixty feet thick all the way up. The gates are from forty-seven to eight3^-one feet high, according to lo- cation, and seven feet thick. When the Canal is done, five million cubic yards of concrete will have been used and of this amount ninety-three per cent was already in place. 101 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA The impression of massiveness, of immensity, or endnringness, that one receives from looking at all the con- crete work is here at its height. We stood at the upper end and gazed down the two-thirds of a mile in length, through which great ships will be lifted eighty-five feet, in three steps from the ocean level to Gatun Lake — and felt oppressed with the magnitude of it all. The time required will be half an hour to a lock; therefore, of the ten or twelve hours transit through the completed Canal, three hours will be spent in the locks. The protective devices — the elec- tric locomotives, the chains, the dou- ble gates and the emergency dam — were explained to us and formed one 102 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA of the most interesting features of the work. It seems impossible that any serious accident should ever happen to ships or locks. During all this time, while we were walking the walls and trying to hear one another speak above the frightful din made by the workmen riveting the gates, the rain fell drizzlingly, but we were so interested that we were hardly aware of it, for no one takes cold or feels shivery from getting wet in that country, and as soon as we re- gained the car we were all right. The next thing to see was the dam, and as it is covered with tracks we went around and around it at differ- ent levels, until we got a clear idea of its size and situation. It is not a piece of masonry, but a huge earth 103 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA structure, placed so as to complete the natural basin formed by the range of mountains surrounding the low-lying valley of the Chagres River. In this way the waters of the river are shut in and Gatun Lake formed, with its area of one hundred and sixty-four square miles. The dam is a mile and a half long, half a mile thick at the base and one hundred feet wide at the top. Its crest is one hundred and five feet above sea level and twenty feet above the surface of the water of the lake. The dam is quite as impressive as the locks after one realizes its size and understands its office and construc- tion; but, at first, it is so much a part of the landscape and looks so exactly as if it had "just growed" there that one feels a sense of disappointment. 104 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA Afterwards the very facts that caused the disappointment are recognized as a great part of the tremendous achievement. And eight3^-five feet up in the air, held there b}" the vast strength of this dam and the locks, will be the Canal — a fresh water link between the two great oceans ! Then there is the spillway. The waters of Gatun Lake are furnished, as stated, by the Chagres River, which, on account of the excessive an- nual rainfall of about twelve feet, is subject to enormous floods. In order to provide against the effect of these floods there has been constructed what is known as the spillway, which is an artificial channel of concrete, three hundred feet wide, built into the 105 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA dam at about the center, through which the surplus waters of the lake flow. The discharge through the spill- way is regulated by means of gates in such a way that the waters of Gatun Lake are maintained at an elevation of about eighty-five feet above sea- level. The spillway will be capable of discharging 154,000 cubic feet of water per second, which equals three- fifths of the volume of water which passes over the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara. This immense volume of water, having a fall of about seventy-five feet, will furnish power sufficient to operate the locks and all other appli- ances belonging to the Canal, to light the Canal throughout its whole length and to operate the railroad from Co- lon to Panama. 106 Profile of the PANAMA CANAL Atlatsttic ocean GLIMPSES OF PANAMA In this connection, it is a curious fact that although the Isthmus is only about fifty miles wide, the average annual rainfall on the Atlantic side is about twelve feet, while on the Pacific side it is only about six feet. This was explained to me at great length by R., who claims- to know something about such things, and in the course of his remarks I gathered that the remark- able difference is due to the effect of ocean and atmospheric currents and to the temperature of these currents in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans re- spectively. He advises me, however, not to un- dertake a technical explanation of this phenomenon lest I should sprain my ankle — whatever that may mean. On our wav back across the Isth- 107 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA mus that afternoon I meditated aloud to R. on the subject of clothes. No- body seems to know exactly what to take down there, the first time, but after my five days' experience and ob- servation I felt able to give pointers on the subject. In the first place, the Canal Zone being only nine degrees from the equator, nothing but sum- mer clothing is needed. White clothes look and feel the coolest of all, but as white skirts look worse than anything else when wet and muddy, it seemed to me that the best provision to make for the rainy season would be a couple of light-weight wool skirts of a neu- tral gray or tan shade, and a lot of thin white waists. One skirt might be made to do, but the trouble is that in that saturated atmosphere a gar- 108 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA ment that gets wet one day is not dry by the next; so two, to be used in al- ternation, would be better. With the addition of a serviceable hat, a light raincoat and an umbrella, one could go about sight-seeing indefinitely. A pretty gown for dinner would com- plete the list of essentials, for no wraps are needed — unless, perhaps, a scarf — and no other hats, for in driv- ing about in the evening it is pleasant to go bare-headed. Of course there are plenty of people who carry a lot of clothes around with them and like to wear something dif- ferent every evening, but for the or- dinary tourist who stops at a hotel and is there only to see the Canal work, what I have mentioned would be sufficient. In the dry season, from 109 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA December to April, thin white clothes can be worn everywhere and all the time. The men — not to leave them out entirely — wear either white linen or light-weight wool suits, such as they would wear in the States in the summer time. Some examples of inappropriate dressing are amusing to remember. That very day a good lookins: young woman of about thirty had boarded the car, attired in a style which sug- gested that she was laboring under the delusion that we were about to attend an elaborate garden party. Her dress was of some thin white mate- rial, put together with lace, with elbow sleeves and collarless neck; she wore white shoes, but no hat or gloves ; her hair was fussily arranged with nu- 110 rn H H C^ H H n a X5 ^ cd 10 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA down in the midst of it, we absorbed statistics and reveled in practical de- tails. There were then seventy-five miles of track in the Cut — of which a mile or so was changed every day to suit the advancing work — and at Pe- dro Miguel we left the Panama Rail- road for these construction tracks, go- ing very slowly and stopping fre- quently, in order to see the different gangs of workmen at their varied tasks and to listen to the explanation of each part of the work. When the excavation is finished 90,000,000 cubic yards of rock and earth will have been taken out, leaving a cut nine miles long and three hundred feet wide at the bottom. As it follows, in part, a winding river valley, there are bends in it, and at these points it is widened 140 INLAND LIGHTHOUSE ON LINE OF CANAL. Courtesy of Pan American Union. GLIMPSES OP PANAMA to five hundred feet in order that the largest vessels may make the turns with perfect ease. At each angle, too, there w^ill be a lighthouse. In the neighborhood of Culebra, where the continental divide was severed, the depth of the cut averages three hun- dred and seventy-five feet and the width at the top eighteen hundred feet. Reduced to an average, it is a cut nine miles long, three hundred feet wide at the bottom and one hundred and twenty feet deep throughout its entire length. The material taken out is first drill- ed and then blasted before it is hand- led by the steam shovels, and five hun- dred thousand pounds of dynamite are used each month in this work. The shooting is done at five o'clock in the 142 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA afternoon, when the day's work is over, and the roar thereof is like unto the crack of doom. We were told much about the slides, of which there is quite a number, in- volving an area of one hundred and sixty acres. The largest is the Cu- caracha slide, which started during the French time, now covers an area of forty-seven acres and runs back eighteen hundred feet. These slides are hard to manage and greatly in- crease the work, forty-five per cent of the remaining excavation being due to them; but as they call for no other treatment than unremitting excava- tion at the top they will finally be brought under control. The moving of the dirt trains, too, was explained and proved an extreme- 143 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA ly interesting subject. Getting rid of the excavated material was one of the big problems and its solution took time and brains. One hundred and fifty loaded trains pass out of the Cut daily — about one every three minutes —running on a regular schedule and nothing being allov^ed to interfere with their movements. The material they carry is used in building the dam at Gatun and the breakwaters at Co- lon and Panama. Among the comparative figures that are hurled at one from all direc- tions while looking at the Canal work, there are some that fit in here. It is es- timated that all of the excavated ma- terial which will have been taken out when the Canal is completed, includ- ing the 30,000,000 cubic yards of util- 145 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA ized French excavation, amounting in all to 242,000,000 cubic yards, if load- ed on one train of flat cars, like those used on the work, would make a train ninety-six thousand miles long, reach- ing practically four times around the earth. Incidentally, in going over the work, one picks up a good deal of in- formation about the French attempt to build the Canal and, also, along with it, a great sympathy for the French engineers who worked so hard and accomplished so much in the face of death and disease and their own pitful ignorance of the conditions they were up against. It was not they who were to blame for their country's fail- ure. Rusty, half- buried French ma- chinery can be seen at many places 146 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA along the Canal, and there is a ceme- tery where lie buried hundreds of Frenchmen who perished in those un- sanitary days. As Albert Edwards, in his interesting book on Panama, says, "There is an immense pathos in the idea of these men working so sincere- ly, in the midst of this fever-ridden jungle, for a gang of wild-cat promot- ers in Paris." The French excavation amounted to 80,000,000 cubic yards, of which, as stated, 30,000,000 have been used by the Americans. The French also made maps and accumulated data, in- cluding the flow of the Chagres river through fifteen years, which have been of inestimable value to our engineers. The latter are said to have a thorough respect for their French predecessors. 147 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA As we noticed the mud in which the workmen stood and how their clothes clung to them with perspiration, we got a new realization of the endurance required in sticking to this mighty task, year after year. Two-thirds of the time they work in almost daily rain and mud; the other third, under the ceaseless glare of the sun. Never a cool day or a bracing wind or a dry atmosphere to put new life into them — just rain and glare and heat and hu- midity ! And yet they are said to be a contented lot, these thirty-five thou- sand men who are doing this wonder- ful thing. There is a certain fascina- tion about the "big job," of course, and nowhere on earth is there a body of employes so well cared for as this one. Besides receiving higher wages 148 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA for the same kind of work, they are obliged to spend less for their living than would be the case anywhere else on the globe. Their lodgings are free and their food is furnished them at very low rates. A West Indian negro, for instance, who, on his native island, might earn a quarter a day for a part of the year, here receives a dollar a day, free lodgings and a day's food for thirty cents. Among the white Americans, a married man is given a furnished house, electric lights, kitch- en fuel and moving expenses free, and his food, ice and clothing at reduced prices. Medical and hospital service cost nothing. Nowhere else could he live so well and save so much. In ad- dition to all this, he is given a month off every year with pay and special 149 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA traveling rates. We became ac- quainted with one young couple who had been there six years and they told us that they expected to go back to the States after a while with enough money saved up to render them almost independent. The only trouble with the married men seems to be in keeping their wives contented. Household labor is light and service is cheap, therefore the women are not so busy as the men and have time to get homesick. But the Government tackled that prob- lem, too, and imported an organizer of clubs to help the women find em- ployment for the spare time which otherwise they might use in thinking about the climate and the far-away "God's country." As a result, there 150 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA are art classes, literary clubs, musical societies, playground associations and anti-cigarette leagues scattered among the towns along the Canal, and these various activities render much pleasanter and more profitable the lives of the American women there. I read some club programs in the ''Canal Record" and was much im- pressed by their interest and variety. They included "A McDowell After- noon," "Wedgewood and Royal Doulton," "A Review of New Books," "Well-known Women Writers," "Modern Pictures of Children," "Ste- venson's Verse and Song," "System in the Home," "Modern Kitchens," "Domestic Animals" and "Garden- ing." an assortment of topics which 151 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA would seem to indicate that our exiled sisters in the Canal Zone are not fall- ing behind the modern procession. Uncle Sam certainly has a good deal on his hands in the ten-mile strip across the Isthmus. Besides building the Canal, he is running a railroad, a steamship line and a big hotel for tourists and feeding, housing, amus- ing and keeping contented about six- ty thousand people. But all this is necessary in order to maintain a stable working force. To go back to the Cut: thus look- ing and listening, moving on when the track was clear, but stopping about every other minute to accom- modate one of the ubiquitous dirt trains, we slowly traversed the length of the Cut towards the Atlantic coast. 152 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA At Gamboa is a dike which protects the Cut from the rising waters of Gatun Lake, adjacent. When the necessary dry excavation is finished this dike will be removed, the water let into the Cut, and the remainder of the excavation done with dredges. Near the end the banks were low and we could see the surrounding country. It was an interesting thought that some day, not far away, we should be able to slip smoothly along on a great ship, which would walk upstairs at one end and down the other, of this beautiful promenade through the green jungle and lofty hills of Panama. At Matachin we turned back and returned to Culebra, where the train stopped a while to allow the passen- 154 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA gers to go up to the Administration Building and look at the lock models. As we had already seen them, we said goodby to Mr. Baxter, our lecturer, to whose clear explanations and un- failing courtesy we owed much of the pleasure of the sight-seeing trips, and took a walk instead. This was well worth while, for Culebra is a pretty spot, the highest point on the Canal, with a wide outlook. While walking we discussed the experiences of the week just closing and our impressions of the Canal work, which we had now seen in all its divisions. As a final summing-up we adopted the words of a fellow-tourist and agreed with each other that the Panama Canal would make the seven wonders of the world look like thirty cents. 155 11 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA During the short ride back to Pana- ma, R. and I were separated and I ob- served him, some seats ahead of me, in earnest conversation with an un- known and harmless-looking man who had been one of the party through the Cut. An interest, appar- ently not of an agreeable nature, ap- peared on R.'s face and seemed to be the cause of the disturbed glances he threw in my direction. "Who can the agitating individual be?" I asked of myself uneasily, "and what dire in- formation can he be imparting?" I was soon to know. As the train pulled into Panama station and I reached R.'s side, he seized my arm and announced in hurried accents, "Our boat is in — got in this morning — that man was on it — says it's 156 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA fierce." For an instant I gazed at him wildly, and then, "We'll go back on the 'Ancon,'" I announced with de- cision, clutching at the thought as at an ark of safety. Other perfectly good ships were leaving Colon for the north right along, but just then only the known and the tried appealed to me; so, taking the lead for once, I led my somewhat startled spouse across the waiting room to the ticket office. The agent was busy. While waiting impatiently, we remarked to a pleasant looking bystander who ap- peared to be taking an interest in us that we had intended to go back to the States by the west coast but had heard such unfavorable reports of the "X." the boat we should have to take, that we had given up the plan. "Good 157 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA thing!" he responded sympathetic- ally, "that's the boat that had its deck blown up not long ago." "Deck blown up!" I repeated shudderingly, "and what did they do about it?^' "Oh, just nailed it down and went on again!" he replied airily. At this in- formation that "problem" of ours — or its ghost — which even yet — if you'll believe it — was showing itself dimly around corners here and there, turned and fled, to be seen no more. Poor food we might endure — and bad lights — and insufficient ventilation — and heat — and storms — but to be blown into the air, probably in chunks, and fall into the deep as food for the fishes, that fate I, at least, de- clined with all the firmness that was in me. "What can I do for you?" said 158 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA the agent at this instant. "Get Colon and see if there is anything left on the 'Ancon/ " commanded R. in few- est words — and the decision in his tone cheered my very soul. "Noth- ing left but one private suite," an- swered the agent, after the inevitable wait, "We'll take it," said I, fiercely, and R. meekly repeated, "We'll take it." Not only would we not go by the Pacific, with its dreadful possibili- ties, but we would go by the Atlantic in all the luxury possible. Gold and precious stones seemed — to me, at least — not too great a price to pay for the privilege of being transported in a state of comfort and security, to our home in the northland. And now, at last, peace descended upon our perturbed spirits. We re- 159 GLK^IPSES OF PANAMA membered that we were tired -and hungry, that there was a dance on at the Tivoli that night, at which we ex- pected to be present, and that on all accounts, therefore, it behooved us to hasten. So we sped up the now fa- miliar hill to the hotel, and rested a few minutes while we talked things over. We said how nice it was to be by ourselves once more, without that horrid old "problem" in the way all the time; that although we were los- ing the long sea-journey for which we yearned and the visit that we had counted On with our friends in Cali- fornia, yet it was going to be exceed- ingly pleasant to go back to New York on the "Ancon," where we felt at home and were sure of being com- fortable; and that, after all, the west- 160 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA coast trip was a pleasure only post- poned, not lost, for after the opening of the Canal we could take a big, fine ship at New York and go all the way round to San Francisco without any of the risks which now we were shun- ning. The only uncomfortable thought we had left was that of a most agreeable young couple, the L.'s, who had come down with us and were now on their way up the west coast. Would their deck blow up? Or, perchance, would they voluntarily fling themselves to the fishes? But it is always possible to find fortitude for the misfortunes of others; so presently, refreshed and quite cheer- ful, we got out our festival garments and proceeded to array ourselves for the evening. After making ourselves 161 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA as beautiful as possible, we went down to dinner and then sat and strolled around, in the usual after- dinner fashion, waiting for the party to begin. These Saturday night dances at the Tivoli are quite a pleasant institution. The tourists like to meet the resident Americans and the latter enjoy meet- ing new people among the tourists. The young people have, in addition, the pleasure of the dancing. The Tiv- oli, besides, with its big spaces and wide porches is an ideal place for such a festivity. We learned that on this particular Saturday night a large crowd was not expected on account of a dance at Co- lon, which would take some of the army and Canal people; but by nine 162 GLIJMPSES OF PANAMA o'clock the lobby was pretty well filled and when the dancing began the ball-room floor did not seem any too large. It was certainly a good look- ing and attractive gathering. The women in their pretty gowns and the army men in their white and gold uni- forms gave brightness to the picture, in which a touch of shadow was fur- nished by a few men in conventional evening dress. Most of the men, though, civilian as well as military, wore white linen. The evening was delightfully cool and dancing did not seem inappropriate, even with the equator only nine degrees away. Almost immediately we were intro- duced to Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher, who, by virtue of Mr. Thatcher's ofiice as Civil Governor of the Canal Zone, 163 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA were regarded as host and hostess of the occasion. We had heard much in Panama of the agreeable personalities of these two people and, especially, of the tact and charm of Mrs. Thatcher and her popularity among the Pana- manians. Before the evening was over my own eyes and ears had as- sured me of the truth of all we had been told. When the dancing began she turned to me, who happened to be standing by her, and with her charm- ing smile asked me to come out on the porch where we could sit down and watch the scene through the long windows. During our progress to the door, she exchanged many greet- ings with those we passed and, al- ways, her cordial looks and words and manner seemed to give the ut- 165 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA most pleasure. We had heard that she had acquired the Spanish lan- guage in ten months and I afterwards asked Governor Thatcher if this was true. "Yes, it is true," he replied, "but," he added with a smile, "she worked hard." Remembering my own struggles with the German tongue during the last three or four years, I could well believe it. Later on we met Col. Green, who commands the troops in the Canal Zone, a most agreeable, soldierly man, and his wife, who, in spite of having recently become a grand- mother — which no one would think possible if she did not tell it — still dances like a girl. In the course of our talk we learned, to our great pleasure, that they were to be our fel- 166 GLBIPSES OF PANAMA low-voyagers on the "Ancon" to New- York, where they were going on a holiday trip. In my snatches of talk with the resident ladies during the evening I picked up some information about the ups and downs of life in the Zone, and especially of the trials to which house- keepers are subject on account of the humid atmosphere. Everything — food, clothes, books, furniture — gets mouldy, and all sorts of devices are used to fight the dampness. Lights are kept burning in closets and cup- boards and an electric lamp must even be introduced inside of a piano in order to keep it in usable condition. Aside from this, house- keeping seems an easy matter, but the exception is so ever-present and 167 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA far-reaching that only eternal vigi- lance keeps it at bay, and the cold weather trials of northern housekeep- ers must be more than matched. We felt very proud of the delight- ful Americans whom we had met dur- ing the week and who are at the head of things in the Zone. Our chief re- gret was that we could not meet Col. Gorgas, the famous Chief Sanitary Officer — the man who cleaned up Ha- vana and has now changed the Isth- mus from a pest-hole into as healthy a spot as there is anywhere. As he was away all the time we were there we did not even see the great man whose sanitary achievements are just as wonderful as the work the engi- neers are doing, and without whose achievements in making the Canal 168 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA Zone habitable for northern white men the engineers could not have ac- complished their task. In this connection, I am reminded of an old lady who came down with us from New York. With her husband she had been a missionary on the Isth- mus for twenty-eight years, and after she discovered that I liked to listen to her she used to sit by me on deck for a while every day and tell me thrilling tales of her experiences — how the people used to die from malaria and smallpox and yellow fever and chol- era — how the dead bodies used to be picked up in the streets of Colon and Panama and carted off to be buried in heaps — and how she and her hus- band used to take people into their home and nurse them through all 169 GLIIiIPSES OF PANAMA these dreadful diseases. Some special cases that she related were very pa- thetic and it happened that one young man who died in her house belonged to a family we knew something about. I shall never forget that old lady, who had just buried her husband in the States and was coming back to finish her days in the land where she had labored so long. Her tales of the old days prepared me to appreciate the marvelous results accomplished by Col. Gorgas. The Saturday night dance at the Tivoli had proved exceedingly pleas- ant and we retired from the festive scene hoping that some time we might repeat the happy experience. For, by this time, we had fully made up our minds that we wanted to come 170 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA to Panama again some day, to see the beautiful country and to meet the pleasant people, as well as to go through the Canal — and up the west coast. Our agreeable thoughts, combined with the lateness of the hour, enabled us to fall asleep without the aid of the sound of the rain, which on this special evening had most accommoda- tingly stayed away. 171 12 IX. As the "Ancon" sailed at three o'clock on Monday afternoon and, in order to catch it, we should have to take the ten-twenty train to Colon on Monday morning, we were obliged to do the most of our packing on Sun- day. I found we had picked up quite a lot of "junk," as R. called it, and almost feared we should have to leave some of it behind; but finally every- thing was squeezed in somewhere, and, finding we had plenty of time, we even went down into the city in the afternoon and bought a few more things. Everything is open on Sun- 172 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA day, just the same as any other day, and it is rather a favorite shopping day with tourists. After dinner everybody went to the band concert on the Cathedral Plaza, which is a regular Sunday night af- fair. It proved an interesting experi- ence. The music was really good and, besides, it was our one oppor- tunity to see the Panamanians out in full force. The Plaza, with its luxuriant tropi- cal plants, was extremely picturesque, and the crowd sitting on the seats or moving about in a slow procession was no less so. All shades of com- plexion were there, from white to black, but the Panamanians, no mat- ter how dark their skin, have regular features and some of them are ex- 173 OLD CATHBDRAiL,, PLAZA INDBPBNDENCIA, PANAMA CITY. Courtesy of Pan A merican Union. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA tremely handsome. Strange, in- deed, to our Northern eyes was the spectacle of two Panamanian gentle- men, evidently friends, strolling along together, clad immaculately in white linen, with straw hats, canes and cigarettes, one of them merely Spanish in appearance, the other one black as a lump of coal ; and stranger still, if the couple happened to be two girls in pretty summery finery. There is no color line there, in society or business, city or country. In fact, one of the first presidents of the Re- public of Panama was a negro. Realizing that this was our last evening on the Isthmus, we were re- luctant to bring it to a close, and stayed until the very end of the mu- sic. As we drove smoothly back to 175 NEW PANAMA CITY MUNICIPAL BUILDING, PLAZA INDEPENDENCIA. Courtesy of Pan American Union. GLIMPSES OF PANAMA the hotel, the charm of our brief stay swept over us like a wave and we said to each other that we would rather have come to Panama than anywhere else in the world. And this feeling is still with us. 177 X. Our last morning was a busy one, of course. Besides the paying of bills and farewell tips, the looking after luggage and all the matters that usu- ally attend the departure from a ho- tel, there was a number of pleasant people to say goodby to, to exchange cards with and to "hope to meet again." Especially did we regret to part with one charming lady, who had lived and traveled all over the world, and was now on her way to Peru, South America. She was one who we hoped would not prove mere- ly "a ship passing in the night." 178 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA But finally, we were ready. From the top of the steps in front of the hotel entrance we summoned for the last time one of the waiting carriages, and in silence made our farewell trip down the long hill to the station. When the train started we looked out at Ancon and the Tivoli and Ancon Hill as long as they were in sight, and then leaned back and fell to studying our fellow-passengers. They were numerous and interesting this morn- ing and many of them were going up on the *'Ancon" with us. The car was full of talk, and bits of it that we overheard gave clues to many life stories. One strong-faced, quiet man in front of us told his seat companion that he was going up to the States to get his mother; the two gay young 179 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA fellows in front of him were off on their four weeks' leave of absence; the pale, gray-haired woman across the aisle, who was being looked after by a nice young man friend, was go- ing for her health; and the pretty lady who cried all the way across was evidently leaving some one very dear. At Las Cascades there was a crowd of soldiers at the station, and we knew instantly that they were there to see Col. Green off; so we began to watch for his appearance and were delighted to see his good-looking, jovial face and burly figure coming into our car, with Mrs. Green and sev- eral young officers. In his gray ci- vilian clothes the Colonel did not pre- sent so splendid an appearance as at the Tivoli dance in his white and gold 180 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA uniform, but he was good to look at, just the same, and so was Mrs. Green, who, in a white linen suit, did not present so great a transformation. At Colon we got some lunch at the Commission dining room, took a lit- tle last walk and at two o'clock pre- sented ourselves at the dock. At the sight of the familiar "Ancon," ready and waiting, we were filled with a great content. We had seven days at sea before us, we should travel in the greatest comfort, with a delight- ful captain and pleasant company, on a ship where we felt at home and whose deck we felt quite sure would not blow up. So we joyously mount- ed the gang plank, happy in our thoughts both of the past and the future, and when an hour later we 181 GLIMPSES OF PANAMA sailed away, our farewell greeting was, "Goodby, dear Isthmian Land! We like you very much and hope to come again." 182 HAY 26 1913 i^''- 3. i»»