PANAMA PICTURES MIC ELEVANTE PANAMA PICTURES NATURE AND LIFE in the Land of the Great Canal BY MICHAEL DELEVANTE NEW YORK ALDEN BROTHERS Publisher. 1 Copyright 1907 BY MICHAEL DELEVANTE. PTON ACCESSION *cio~mJBRAY R Y THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO MY WIFE, ALETHIA, IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HER VALUABLE CO-OPERATION. O'.AH I' I,'. '1 VO K tH'i, INTRODUCTION. For the truth of everything that has been written in this volume, the author vouches. ACROSS THE PANAMA ISTHMUS is an up-to-date Sketch of the Isthmus, of Isth- mian life and manners, of the Canal, and the present improved conditions, so much in contrast with those depicted in the Story of AN UNHEEDED WARNING. Should ACROSS THE PANAMA ISTHMUS succeed in the mis- sion on which I send it out, I shall then have been most amply rewarded in the vin- dication of the Isthmus of Panama. A TALE OF THE OLD WASHINGTON HOUSE should not fail to entertain all those who are interested in Isthmian life of the Past; in the sayings and doings of men in the early period written of; and in the history of one of the oldest Panama Kail Road land-marks that graced the Atlantic Terminus. Possibly, there are still a few of the Old Boys living yet, whose names, in vi INTRODUCTION. disguise, are associated with the incidents portrayed, and whom the Story will reach, eventually, in its wanderings about the World. Should such be the happy circum- stance, it is to be hoped that it will take their memories back to the good times and the happy days they spent in the dear Old Washington House, of which I, too, have some very pleasant recollections. AN UNHEEDED WARNING is a Story dealing with the mad influx of people from abroad, almost immediately after the sign- ing of the Canal Treaty between the Repub- lic of Panama and the United States Gov- ernment, and the unfortunate results which the early rush led up to. The story is a true one, with, of course, the usual little embel- lishments, here and there, which go towards the adornment of a Tale. Michael Delevante. Colon, Republic of Panama, January 1, 1907. ACROSS THE PANAMA ISTHMUS 13 A TALE OF THE OLD WASHINGTON HOUSE. 8? AN UNHEEDED WARNING . .143 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Statue of Columbus Front Cover. The Great Culebra Cut Frontispiece Panama Bay see page 15 13 "Palm Avenue," Cristobal see page 27^ 14 Pier 4, Harbor of Colon 15 Pier n, Harbor of Cristobal see page 28 16 Interior View of Pier n 17 Pier 14, Harbor of Cristobal see page 28 18 Interior view of Pier 14 19 The Beach, Colon see page 23 22 The two famous De Lesseps' Palaces at Cristobal see page 27 ' 23 The I. C. C. Hospitals, Colon ; view from the shore 24 The I. C. C. Hospitals, view from the sea 25 Front Street, Colon, in 1885 26 Front Street, Colon, in 1907 27 Mr. W. G. Tubby, Chief of the Division of Material and Supplies see page 27 28 Entrance to Cristobal Harbor see page 28 29 Mr. John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer of the I. C. C. 30 Mr. W. G. Bierd, General Manager of the Panama Rail Road Company see page 30 31 The new machine-shops at Cristobal see page 29. . 32 Exterior view of the I. C. C. Warehouse at Mount Hope see page 31 33 Interior view of the I. C. C. Warehouse 34 Native Village of Gatun see page 33 35 Site of the great Dam at Gatun see page 35 36 Loading Bananas at Gatun see page 35 37 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Christ Church, Colon see page 36 38 Bolivar Street, Colon, after the fire of March, 1885 40 A Gruesome picture of the fire of March, 1885 41 Gorgona Station 42 Bas Obispo in 1884 52 Bas Obispo in 1907 53 Across the Bas Obispo River see page 52 54 "Camp Elliott" Headquarters of the American Marines see page 53 55 Empire in 1883 56 Empire in 1907 57 Culebra in 1884 see page 61 60 The Great Culebra Cut 64 The Great Culebra Cut a charge of 6,000 Ibs. of dynamite and 25 tons of Black Powder going up. 65 President Roosevelt and Party going through the Culebra Cut 66 The Residence of Mr. Jno. F. Stevens, Chief Engi- neer, at Culebra see page 66 67 A bit of the Culebra Deviation see page 67 68 The Rio Grande Lake see page 67 70 Bridge spanning the Rio Grande see page 67 71 The Cathedral Square, Panama see page 71 ...... 72 The Bovedas, Panama see page 71 73 The I. C. C. Hospitals, at Ancon, Panama 74 The I. C. C. Tivoli Hotel at Panama see page 70 75 Steel Pier at La Boca, on the Pacific side, built by the French see page 74 ?6 Pier at La Boca, built by the I. C. C ' 77 The Old Washington House 87 The Old Washington House see page 87 139 ACROSS THE PANAMA ISTHMUS Across the Panama-Isthmus. On one fine morning, in the Veranito month of October, 1906, the watchman, whose beat was around the Washington House and the neighboring cottages on the Beach, came to my room-door, in accordance with instructions given to him the night be- fore, and, rapping upon it impatiently, sang out to me, in that half-dreamy tone of voice which smacks of a stolen wink or two : "It's half past four, Senor!" As further evidence that the fellow had really been sleeping at his post of duty, I heard him yawn, deep-mouthed and long, as I answered back to him : "All right, Sercno I've heard you muchisimas gracias!" But to make it doubly sure, it seems, that both of us were awake, he rapped again and repeated more coherently : "It's half past four, Senor!" This time there was a deeper ring of im- patience in his voice, and, pervading it, a tone of evident fear that his reputation as it r \\AJd A a watchman was at serious stake, and yes, perhaps, he thought, his job too. In order, however, in relieve his anxiety, and to eonvinee him that I was up and about tin* room, hnsyini: myself over the morning's journey. I \\as compelled to go out in him. just as I was in my "hrief gar- ments" ami thank him mire airain for hav- ing -lie. eeded ill railing Hie on time! Then I returned to m\ romu, and Marled tn -'-I m\self ready fr the train which leaves ('ohm at iV,",!) A. M.. and l.\ \\hirli 1 had arran-'-d t take a run arn.vv i he I'an aina Kihinus. After I had ->! dresse of -olTtM, wliirli had IM en dra\\n for me from the ni-ht he fore; and thru. I went out to the hush and <|uiet of the si reel-, \\emlin- m\ \\ a\ to t he rail mad sta- tion. \\ hieh \\as n.it far otT. It \\a- a \\nndei-h.\.-l\ morning;! There was a strong, fiv-h hree/.e Mowing from the smith, which eonvulsed the stately cot-oa- nut (roes that stivued t heir ^ohh-n Mossoins on the |iavMnent<. AMVV /,/; \\i> /.///:. 15 I'.elike the Watchman, the Sun was just then half awakened from his slumbers; but I could see, glimmering in the distam -e. (he \\ondrou>l\ -\\uven heralds of his roming; for tin* fair Siintn Ifitit Hills, across the Ira|KMl with t-loinls of anuMlivst and gold, that cast their drtam -liurd shad- ows ii|N>n tin- \\atiTH, aud kisscHl th< silver nt into ilawniug. It was exactly 5.30 A. M. when I reach,-,! tlte railnmd station. There were still a few elmi.is of the ni^ht lefon* lingering in, and o\rr*halo\\ ini;. tin* east; hut the elv- tric liu'ht-. \\lii.h \\.-rr still iMirning hri.u r ht- 1\. vii,-, , .,.,!,., 1 in rohliiiig the .Morning of her pending darknen. AH I landi-d on the jilatforni, I was just in time to hear the last ring upon the gong air.iinM tin- \\all. anl the ron.lurior sing out : -All alNNird!'* in a voice that might have heen h.-anl around the entire neighborhood. Tht-n ih- .-n-ine bell sunn- to and fro and Mounded the u^ual warning; after which the \\hisdr touted shrillv; and just as the train 16 PANAMA PICTURES. began to move slowly out of the station, the brass-buttoned gentleman jumped upon the baggage-car with a graceful swing of his ac- customed legs. These preparatory manoeuvres, which the dauntless engineer had just gone through, reminded me, at once, of the facetious and gesticulative manner in which, in years gone by, a friend of mine was wont to comment upon them after he had seen the daily trains move out from the station. On each occasion he would coine to me, and, with the positive delight of a child il- luming his always-ruddy countenance, would say, in his usual laconic and discon- nected style, as he shook the first finger of his right hand at me : "E ngi neer ' s j ob soft j ob see ? "Toot Toot!" and, then, he would turn an imaginary lever around, as he sang out, to the finish : "PANAMA!" This was the peculiar and original way which my friend had, always, of classifying \.(T( RE AXD LIFE. 17 an engineer's job on the Isthmus at a time, too, when bullets were buzzing like bees along the line of the railroad, and when an engineer, full many and many a time, as most of us know, was compelled to bring his Iron Horse to a sudden halt, or get the con- tents of two Mauser-rifles emptied, forth- with, into his anatomy! But then, perhaps, my friend did not ap- preciate, to the fullest extent, the danger that an engineer incurred running over the road in those trying and troublous days, when, oftentimes, he had, in order to main- tain the service, to run the gauntlet through the thick firing line! No, sir ! when it came to a just compari- son of jobs, my friend's, in the balance, was, certainly, the lighter of the two, since his was only to sit down all day long, in a com- fortable chair in the office of the G. S. and hammer away at his Remington until he got tired, when he'd bluff, for minutes and min- utes, upon the right-hand shift-key of his typewriter to make believe that he was working hard. 18 PANAMA PICTURES. But, perhaps, the man behind the Rem- ington thought that he, too, was a hero in his own way, even if he did face a harmless typewriter and a shorthand book only. MATURE AND LIFE. 19 PART II. When Ruskin said that travelling by rail was like being sent from place to place like so many packages, it is evident that, before making the comparison, he had not "dipped into the future, far as human eyes could see;" nor, to paraphrase Tennyson, did he see then, the vision of Panama, or the glories that, sooner or later, were destined to be hers, by reason of her unique geograph- ical position among the Nations of the World, and that would, eventually, make a railroad ride over a beautiful tropical stretch of forty-seven miles of country, a thing never to be forgotten ! Be this as it may, however, a trip across the Isthmus of Panama has always been a most delightful and interesting experience for me; but on the present occasion, with which this article deals, I must say that I was more deeply impressed than ever before, on account of the marked improvements 20 PANAMA PICTURES. which I had noticed all along the line of the railroad, and which, summed up to a grand total, amounted, so to speak, to a veritable resurrection of things, long dead, from the graveyard of 1888, when the French retired, to the living present period of 1906! The rejuvenation which the varipus sta- tions had undergone since the advent of the Americans, was patent everywhere in short, the transformation was simply won- derful; for it seemed scarcely credible that so much good work could have been accom- plished in such a comparatively short space of time, in a tropical country, too, where things, as a rule, enjoy the unenviable repu- tation abroad of moving slowly on, and manana-like to a close. But, forgetting our critics for the time, and remembering this, only : "The Truth does not hurt it thrills," let me, for the benefit of those who are real lovers of the Truth, and who are friends of Panama, pro- ceed with this truthful sketch of the Isth- mus, and of the railroad ride I had across it a few mornings ago. NATURE AND LIFE. 21 Comfortably seated in one of the new, pa- latial passenger-cars, which had lately been put into service, I watched the beautiful fields stretch out in all their pensive quiet- ness the peaceful flow of the lakes and rivers, as our train dashed madly by puff- ing panting snorting eager, it seemed, for the end of its journey. The scene was simply enchanting: the whole view of the surrounding country lay before me like a beautiful panorama; for the Jungle-wood, all around and about it, was wild-flower dotted, while the air was cool and balmy, and redolent of those strange, soft odors, which are natural to the tropics! On the trees of the green, dense forests, the rains, which had fallen the night before, had left their heavenly benedictions in large, white crystal drops, which scin- tillated beneath the rays of the early morn- ing sun, until it seemed as though you were being hurried through fields upon fields of myriad and myriad of diamonds ! And yet, despite of all these beauties sur- rounding us ; despite of all that has been ac- 22 PANAMA PICTURES. coniplished, and that still is doing on the great world-work of uniting two oceans, we are "coolly" told by our "friends" abroad, that we live beyond the pale of civilization that we are making no progress on the Canal whatever spending money, only, and "sawing wood," as the paradoxical say- ing goes. But this, no doubt, is the light in which we are seen by those who have had their pro- verbial axes to grind, but whose repeated approaches have been repulsed by the hon- est Grindstones, that have refused to revolve around their independent axles irrespon- sive to the touch of wooing blades, whose disappointments have ever been vented through the frenzied passions of venal pens ! And yet, if the sun paints true, as it must always, for God is Truth, perhaps the photo- graphs which accompany this little sketch of mine, when compared with the pictures of the Past, will serve as ample testimony to the glorious achievements of the present day. NATURE AND LIFE. 23 PART IV. The Isthmus of Panama, which lies east and west on the map, is crossed by a long chain of low-lying mountains, whose ex- treme altitudes do not exceed a thousand feet at any point along the line of the rail- road. Colon, the Atlantic terminus, once known as Aspinwall, and so named by the first American comers in memory of the father of the Panama Railroad, is a small, flourish- ing town, about one mile long, and situated on the Island of Manzanillo. To passengers on the in-coming steamers, the harbor presents a most picturesque ap- pearance, especially so from that part of it generally known as the "Beach," which is crescent-shaped and enveloped in a veritable labyrinth of cocoanut-trees, between whose multiceptered branches nestles the group of buildings occupied, principally, by the offi- 24 PANAMA PICTURES. cials and employes of the "Parent Com- pany." Notably among these, is the Gen- eral Manager's residence, with its lofty cu- pola overlooking the broad and beautiful Caribbean. To the eastern end of the town are situa- ted the magnificent hospitals, which were built by the Commission for the care of their sick employes. From the same source, also, the indigent patients of Colon, enjoy the benefits of free medicines and the best of medical attention. The equipment and personnel of these hospitals, leave nothing to be desired, being fit to rank with any of those of the larger cities in the United States. In the equip- ment, one finds the most improved and mod- ern appliances in the personnel, the highest standard of talent and ability in doctors and nurses. But this is not, by any means, the one and only boon which the Americans have con- ferred upon Colon since their advent on the Isthmus. They have given us paved Streets, an ample Water Supply, with hydrants at NATURE AND LIFE. 25 almost every corner, a Cold Storage Plant, which is replenished weekly with meats, fruit, and vegetables from the best markets in the United States; a Steam Laundry and Bakery; an efficient Fire Brigade, capable of coping with any conflagration ; Free Pub- lic Schools in the Zone; a "Wireless Tele- graph" Station; a complete system of Drainage; and, last, though not least, im- proved Sanitary arrangements a blessing hitherto unknown in the history of the Isth- mus. When all these things are reviewed in the minds of impartial critics, acquainted with the conditions of the town, as I remember them in the years gone by, they should, certainly, leave the impression that our evolution, from a series of mud-flats and salt marshes, has been most wonderful. At home, we see ourselves rising, rapidly, "on stepping stones from our dead selves to higher things," and fast approaching a stage when Colon, metaphorically speaking, will find herself dressed out in the full regalia of a modern city. 26 PANAMA PICTURES. The present population of Colon is va- riously estimated ; but I would not think of putting it doAvn for anything less than ten thousand souls, which figure, of course, will keep on increasing as work progresses on the Canal. Our seasons of the year are two: "The Dry-' and "The Rainy" seasons; the one be- gins in the month of December, and the other in the early part of April. Yet some "kind friend," Avho tried to be facetious, once said that our two seasons were: "The Wet and the Kainy Seasons!" Colon, of course, is always at her best during the "Dry Season ;" for the sun is brightest then, and the northeast trade-winds are blowing a half o' gale ! And it is at this period of the year, too, that the sea puts on her robe of deepest sapphire, and the white spumescent surf comes rolling in upon the shore with a mad, glad thunder, whose music is all of its own! Colon is divided into three distinct sec- tions: first, there is the commercial part of the town, of which Front Street is the chief XATURE AXD LIFE. 27 thoroughfare; second, there is the "Beach," which has already been described, and, third, there is Cristobal, where the offices of the Isthmian Canal Commission and the residences of its employes are pleasantly situated. This settlement, which Avas once a "Swampy Eden," minus a Mark Tapley and a young Clmzzlewit, is noAv a beautiful little spot, laid out with picturesque wooden cottages, which are shaded by long rows of cocoanut trees. The principal thorough- fare in this direction, is "Palm Avenue," at the end of which are the two famous "De Lesseps' Palaces," which are now being used as offices : one by the Engineering and Con- structing Department, and the other by Mr. W. G. Tubby, the indefatigable Chief of the Division of Material and Supplies, through Avliose hands must pass the multiplicity of articles from a pick to a steam-slibvel necessary for the construction of the great Isthmian Water-way ! Immediately opposite to these two pal- aces, Avhich have lately undergone extensive repairs and alterations, stands the imposing 28 PANAMA PICTURES. bronze statue of Christopher Columbus like a sentinel guarding the Atlantic entrance of the Canal. Cristobal boasts of its own independent harbor, which, from being situated at the entrance of the Canal, and consequently in the Zone, is essentially American. It has two large docks Nos. 11 and 14 which are now in operation, and which have af- forded considerable relief to the docks in the Port of Colon, proper, which latter have been unable to cope with the increased de- mands of the shipping lately. The docks are provided with a Cantilever-Crane for the handling of ordinary cargoes, and a Brown-Hoist Coal Plant for the discharge of colliers. For the past year or so, Cristobal has been making rapid strides in the way of ex- pansion towards the district known as "Fox River/' which she is so steadily absorbing that she now shows signs of finally converg- ing into Mount Hope, a village some two miles distant from Colon, and where an ex- Mr. W. G. Tubby, Chief of the Division of Material and Supplies. NATURE AND LIFE. 29 temive Rail Road Yard has lately been con- structed. This happy condition of things has been the result of the constant and increasing de- mand for land-space required for extra Ca- nal and Rail Road facilities, made neces- sary in consequence of the vast progress in the work of the one, and the notable exten- sions and betterments, which the other is daily undergoing. And just here I must not forget to mention the new Train Yard which has been built at Pox River, the magnitude of which can be rapidly conceived when my readers are told that it takes in some twelve miles of steel track, and not less than eighty five switches ! Then, there are the new and commodious Machine Shops, Round Houses, Turn-Tables, Coal-Chute, all of which are now in satisfactory operation. In addition to these improvements, there is the old Frencli Dry-Dock, at present in the course of reconstruction, and which, when com- pleted, will be capable of accommodating steamers of about three thousand tons reg- ister all of which has been the work of a 30 PANAMA PICTURES. new and strenuous regime, and the outcome of the true Americanism which has been dis- played by Mr. Jno. F. Stevens, Chief Engi- neer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, and Mr. W. G. Bierd, General Manager of the Panama Rail Road Company the two leading spirits, on the Isthmus, of Canal and Rail Road operations. Mr. Jno. F. Stevens, Chief Engineer of the I. C. C, Mr. W. G. Bierd, General Manager of the Panama Rail Road Company. NATURE AND LIFE. 31 PART V. Between Cristobal and Panama, there are, altogether, some twenty-five stations, the most important ones among them being : Mount Hope, Gatun, Bohio, Frijoles, Gor- gona, Matachin, Bas Obispo, Empire, and Culebra, all of which are mentioned in the order of distances from Colon. MOUNT HOPE. Mount Hope is where the Canal Commis- sion has an immense Warehouse, measuring 488 feet long by 149 feet wide, which is a model of its kind, for the neat and tidy ar- rangement of the thousand and one differ- ent articles which are stored within its walls. It has a Fire Brigade of its own, which is composed of the Clerical Staff, whose alertness is oftentimes unexpectedly surprised by the sound of a false alarm of fire, when every man rushes to his post im- 32 PANAMA PICTURES. mediately; some with hose and others with axes, in order to show how ready Avould be the response in the event of a real emer- gency. When President Roosevelt paid a visit of inspection to this warehouse, he passed his approval of it in the following manner : "Well, I see, you've got a nice, big place here," he said, smiling broadly, as he walked away and boarded his palace car, "La France !" A short distance from this warehouse, is situated the Cemetery for the burial of the dead of Colon and of the neighboring dis- tricts. Then, a little way beyond the Pas- senger Depot, over the Hills, there is the Reservoir which supplies the Atlantic Ter- minus with water, and which, lately, has bee.n the target for severe and unmerited criticism from abroad. The population of Mount Hope, formerly called Monkey Hill, is a mixed one, but it is principally composed of Jamaica negroes, with a small sprinkling of the Chinese ele- ment. In this little settlement of triple- NATURE AND LIFE. 33 unique importance, some slight effort has been made, it seems, in the way of agricul- ture; for yams, plantains, cocoas, lemons, oranges and bananas are cultivated by the dwellers there and sent in to the nearest market for sale at exorbitant prices ! Be- sides these, there is the luscious guava, which grows wild, and abundantly, in the quiet little Cemetery on the brow of the Hill, where the countless dead, of ages past, sleep their last, long sleep 'midst the songs of strange wild birds, and the lullabies of beau- tiful tropical palm-trees GATUN. Gatun is situated on the famous Chagres River, which is one of the difficult problems in the building of the Canal. This river, Avhich has its mad fits and passions, at times to the extent of inundating the Kail Road tracks and interrupting the traffic across the Isthmus occasionally, is some- thing like one hundred miles long, one hun- dred and fifty feet wide, with a depth, in {.nine places, of twenty feet of water. It be- 31 PANAMA PICTURES. gins at Cerro de Pacora, or Tapia, Moun- tains, courses through Gatun, San Pablo, and Matachin, a distance of some thirty miles from Colon, and ends at historic San Lorenzo, on the Atlantic seaboard. The traffic on this river, which is very considera- ble, is conducted, chiefly, by means of Cayu- cos, or native dugouts, that carry the va- rious products from the different settle- ments along the route, to Colon, either for local consumption or for shipment abroad. Perhaps it is not generally known that Gatun, which is now the scene of great Canal activity, was the first Station of Rail Road operations. This was in November, 1851, when a thousand immigrants were transported there on their way to California and Oregon. It is one of those stations that are still tenacious of their native color and individuality; but the Americans are rapidly rubbing these off the slate of Time with the preparatory work they are doing in connection with the building of the Dam which is to control the mighty waters of the Chagres River, on the other side of which, NATURE AND LIFE. 35 looking from the Kail Road Station, is the old Native Settlement of Gatun, with its primitive thatched-cabins and its ancient wooden church, the shadow of whose tall, antiquated steeple with its sainted cross, re- flects, like a holy benediction, on the surface of the sometimes-peaceful waters of the river. This village is soon to be demol- ished, because it occupies a portion of the site of the great Dam, which is now in the course of construction. The dwellers of this place are a kind and hospitable people to foreigners that go among them, and to whom, on first acquaintance, they will pledge eternal friendships in a drink of Chicha, a native beverage, made of corn, rice, and barley, which is intoxicating only after long fermentation. Gatun is the most important banana district on the the line of the Bail Road. The fruit is loaded into box cars and conveyed to Colon for shipment to the United States. The banana business has been such a profitable one to the local exporters that, from time to time, it has in- vited the competition of foreign speculators, 36 PANAMA PICTURES. who were temporarily lured into the mar- ket, until they had lost sufficient money in it to induce them, finally, to leave the field to those who had given the first impetus to the trade. The banana may be said to be the chief product exported from the Isth- mus. BOHIO. From a Canal standpoint, there is little to be said about this Station at the present writing. From a Kail Koad sense, its his- tory dates as far back as the early days of construction, when its, seemingly, exhaust- less quarry furnished the necessary rock for the ballasting of the forty-seven miles of road-bed which stretches between Colon and Panama. It was from this same quarry, too,, that the stones were hewn for the con- struction of that beautiful edifice, on the Beach, known as "Christ Church/' which was most shamefully desecrated in the Pres- tan Year of 1885, when it was converted into a temporary prison for the incarcera- tion of the offenders of that ever-memorable NATURE AND LIFE. 37 period! Among the prisoners within the walls of this sacred building at the time, was an old Englishman, who had been a banker for years in Colon, and with whom the poorer classes of the town were accus- tomed to lodge their hard-earned wages, weekly, and which, on March 30th, 1885, when Colon was almost totally destroyed by fire, assumed the vast proportion of some- thing in the neighborhood of fifty thousand dollars, which the wily Englishman placed in an open boat, ready to abscond with it in a schooner that waited for him a little distance out in the Bay. But the fellow was foiled in the act that would have impover- ished so many ; for he was made to disgorge the contents of his treasure-laden Caynco, upon the threat of marching him to the gal- lows to be hung forthwith. The present status of Bohio, as a Rail Road Station, must be measured by the ex- tent of its importance as a Commercial cen- tre, which I know, from experience, to be equal to that of any of the larger Stations along the line of the Rail Road. 38 PANAMA PICTURES. From a personal and social point of view, ho\vever, I have, ever since I paid my first visit to Bohio, looked upon the place as my favorite picnic-ground, associated with pleasant memories of the hospitality of Don Porfirio Melendez, the present popular Gov- ernor of Colon, whose residence is situated there. I shall never forget the first day I spent in this house by special invitation. It was on a Sunday, and the place was crowded with visitors. As I walked in, accompanied by those who had come in on the same train with me, the Governor stepped up to me, took my hand in his, and, shaking it heart- ily, said in a tone of voice which rang out with a welcome for all : "Ola! mi amiyo You are just in time! Marcos is very sick come inside, and see him before he dies!" But while he told me this with a smile upon his countenance, which I could not very well reconcile with the deep meaning of his speech, I noticed a "Christ Church," Colon. NATURE AND LIFE. 39 puzzled, solemn look upon the faces of those who had just come in with me. I, too, was disturbed; for I saw before me the end of a picnic, not yet begun, and the picture of a funeral, for which none of us had bargained at all. Despite of our embarrassment, how- ever, Don Porfirio still smiled on, as he led the way towards the back of the house, beck- oning to us to follow him. "Come this way," he said, "Caballeros, I want to show you poor Marcos" ; and we all followed him, mechanically, until, to our great surprise, we found ourselves in the dining-room, where there was a large table, spread with an immaculate white cloth, upon which there stood a formidable look- ing Punch-bowl, with enough of the "Rosy" swirling in it as to drown the entire gather- ing. Our genial host stood at the head of the table, looking down triumphantly on the bowl ; finally, he pointed to it, and, with the same persistent smile upon his countenance, said to the guests present : "Caballeros! there is poor Marcos he is dead; come on, now, we have to bury 40 PANAMA PICTURES. him !" at which a hearty laughter arose, and went the full round of the festive table the glasses, too, till Marcos was, finally, buried, and resurrected, perhaps, by not a few that composed the happy gathering of that day ! From that time, and until the present date, I have always remembered the mean- ing attached to "Marcos'- whenever I have been to spend a day in the Governor's hospi- table house, situated on the highest point in the district, and from which you look down on the far-stretching hills and valleys that surround the beautiful country of Bohio. FRIJOLES. At one time, this Station, save for supply- ing the passing locomotive with water, was, practically, ignored as a "Stopping Point" for passengers. But since the advent of the Americans, it has grown into importance, and donned the improved habiliments of the times. Only a few mornings ago, when our train stopped there, I could scarcely recog- nize the place for the great changes which NATURE AND LIFE. 41 had come over it. A new Freight and Pas- senger Depot had been built to meet the in- creased demands of the traffic there; and a group of pretty little cottages, erected by the Canal Commission for the accommoda- tion of 'its employes, formed a picturesque background to this rejuvenated Station. To-day, the only building which serves as a landmark of the Frijoles of the past, is an old two-story, whitewashed house, which stands up proudly near the Rail Road track, and which, in the year 1881, was used as a laundry, where the "Boys" of Colon sent their clothing to be washed. Frijoles may be said to be the principal "Water Station" along the line of the Rail Road. As your train passes over the tres- tlework viaduct there, your attention is drawn, at once, to the swirling sound of water near by; and the first impulse that you feel, at the moment, is to put your head through the window of the car, and gaze around enquiringly, to locate the spot from which the babbling sound arose. Then, beneath you, into a deep ravine, on 42 PANAMA PICTURES. the summit of which your train is passing, you see a clear-white, crystal stream, rush- ing madly down the incline of a moss-grown cemented terrace, until, with spumescent bubbles, it is caught into the boiling mael- strom of the deeper pool below, and carried away on the bosom of the stronger current. Here, the native women, with their skirts raised high up to their knees, and their scant upper, garments opened wide enough to make them anatomically expressive, wash their clothes, daily, then beat them on big, white rocks with a swish! swish! swish! that echoes throughout the jungle. GORGONA. There has always been much to say, and much to write, about this delightful spot along the line of the Rail Koad; but now there is still more, on account of the better conditions which have prevailed since the Americans went that way and, so to speak, lifted the place from out the Pompeii of the Past, to that of its present status, enjoyinj NATURE AND LIFE. 43 the improvements and conveniences of a modern city, hitherto unknown in the his- tory of this district. Gorgona is the favorite summer resort of the Panamanians, who go there, every year, to spend the Dry Season, in order to escape the dust of the Metropolis and the trying heat of the Verano months. Topographically, Gorgona stands upon the summit of two slight elevations, inter- sected by the Rail Road lines, which divide the Station into two distinct and separate sections the one on the left, going towards Panama, being the original Native Settle- ment, where there is a road branching off to a steep, narrow pathway, upon each side of which the residences of the employes of the Isthmian Canal Commission are situated. Beyond this, after descending a tall flight of wooden stairs, you come to a trail, along the Rail Road tracks, which leads you to the immense Warehouses of the Material and Supply Department, and the I. C. C. Ma- chine Shops, Round Houses and Foundry, the equipment of all of which will vie with 44 PANAMA PICTURES. anything of their kind in the United States of America. The Section to the right, going south, is exclusively "Canal." Here the cluster of houses, rising, gradually, on the hill, with the Music Stand, at the slope, forming a frontispiece to the whole, presents a charm- ing picture to the eye as you look across that way. These houses, which were built by the Commission, consist mainly of hotels, school-rooms, bachelors' and married quarv ters, clubs, reading-rooms and hospitals, all of them screened with wire-netting in order to keep out the dreaded mosquitoes, which are now almost exterminated. There is also the Commissariat of the Panama Rail Road Company which supplies its employes, and those of the Commission, with provi- sions, groceries, and other necessaries of life at cost prices, and a little over to cover the expense of freight and handling. At Gorgona, there is water installed in every house of the Commission; and an am- ple supply is obtainable along the streets from the hydrants which have been placed NATURE AND LIFE. 45 at almost every corner, and from which the inhabitants, in general, help themselves bountifully. To-day, Gorgona pulses with the life and activity born of the upper district of Canal operations between Bas Obispo. and Cule- bra; for not less than one hundred and twenty-five "Work Trains" pass there daily, with their loads of rock and dirt, which are taken to Mamei and Tabernilla, two of the Stations lower down, to fill in marsh-lands, and to widen the ways for the double-track- ing of the Panama Rail Road, the work of which is now in a fairly advanced condition. As the various trains dashed by me, I be- thought myself of the object-lesson they af- forded to one who was not a builder of the World, and I realized, at once, in this enor- mous traffic of common dirt and rock, the full text and meaning of the glorious work which the Americans were doing on the Isthmus. Socially, Gorgona is not, by any means, behind the times in the programme of amusements characteristic of the other Sta- 46 PANAMA PICTURES. tions along the line of the Zone to-day : It has its bachelor parties, which are given in return for the entertainments tendered by the married folks of that pleasant district; its Masonic sociables; its Saturday evening dances, and its gossipy teas, the latter in- tended for the sole benefit and delectation of the fair sex, because of the opportunities they offer for talking among themselves, and to a gilt-edged finish, the private business of their neighbors. I have used the term "gossipy" advisedly ; for teas, as a rule, are bound to be so when they are exclusively composed of ladies, caparisoned in tall-feathered hats, sitting around a table, leisurely sipping their tea the while they criticise the dresses which Mrs. So and So had worn at the club-dance the evening before, until all hands would exclaim, by way of a unanimous verdict : "Oh! didn't they look just horrible!" Then, they would switch off, perhaps, to a lengthy discussion upon the subject of an imaginary purchase of some five hundred dollars worth of embroidered kkirts and \ (TURE AND LIFE. 47 blouses, which Mrs. So, the} 7 "heard," had made of an itinerant East Indian trader, who was passing through Colon; at which piece of hear-say information the barometer of the "tea" would rise to its highest pitch of curiosity and excitement, culminating in everybody asking, with a jealous ring in each voice : "Oh, how can Mrs. 'So' afford to do such extravagant things on the small salary which her husband is getting?" a question that would vex and tax the speculative in- genuity of any feminine gathering ! If I were asked to give my opinion of tea- parties, in general, I would not, for a mo- ment, hesitate in saying, that they struck me as being the Parliaments for women to dis- cuss the affairs of other people in, and to ex- patiate upon them, even to the extent of marring the domestic happiness of others. But these remarks, which are altogether impersonal, are neither here nor there to the social amenities of Gorgona, that tend, no doubt, to bridge the time between Labor and 48 PANAMA PICTURES. Vacation for the Boys whose sweethearts are over the boundless waters. MATACHIN. Matachin still retains the same old sem- blance as it did in the days of the French regime; the only perceptible difference be- ing the presence of "Old Glory," flying above the Zone Police Station, to indicate the memorable transition from November the 3rd, 1903, to the present time of writing. Matachin is not a very euphonious nomen- clature, but the blood-thrilling incident, from which it took its origin, somewhere about the year 1852, the period of Rail Road Construction, would make a weird and grue- some page in the history of the Panama Isthmus, whenever the time shall come for it to be written. The story, according to the telling of the best-informed "Old Timers," runs this way : It appears that a number of Chinamen, who were employed as track laborers in that section of the country, committed suicide, NATURE AND LIFE. 49 daily, by hanging themselves until the en- tire Chinese colony was, finally, extermi- nated. It is said that it was a most grotesque sight to see, each morning, seven or eight of these Celestials hanging, by their necks, to the trees of the forest or, perhaps, to some post or other in the neighborhood; their lifeless forms stiffened out to a tension; their tongues protruding from their mouths their eyes wide open and looking at you with a fixed, glassy stare through which the silver rays of the early morning sun re- flected hideously! The reason given for this self-executed carnage is, that the Chinamen, being far away from the Fatherland, had become homesick; and so, under the mad delirium of nostalgia, resorted to death as the best way out of their miseries trusting, as they did, no doubt, to their unshaken belief in the beautiful doctrine of Confucius, which had promised them, as they had read it in their childhood days, to be taken up to heaven by means of their plaited queues. Literally translated, from the Spanish to 50 PANAMA PICTURES. English, the word "Matachin" signifies "Kill Chinaman" hence the name by which the natives christened it in the days of the early history of the Road; the name by which it will ever be known. Matachin has not yet felt the vigorous touch of Canal activity which characterizes some of the other Stations along the line of the Zone to-day ; but the time is now rapidly approaching when she will take her place in the march of the World's great work, which is hers by right of situation, because of her being the genesis of the heaviest excavations which are yet to be done from that point to Pedro Miguel, a distance of some twelve miles. In former years, Matachin was the meet- ing Station for all trains of the Panama Rail Road Company, to the passenger trains of which the natives of the village would go out with their baskets loaded down with bananas, oranges, milk and boyo (the last named article being a preparation of corn and rice, wrapped in leaf), which they would offer for sale to the hungry passen- y ATI RE AND LIFE. 51 gers who, in those days were subject to a tiresome five-hour time-table for a short run of forty-seven miles between the two ter- mini. But, in the mad expectancy of the Na- tives in the near-future Canal operations in this district, those familiar scenes are rele- gated to the Past now ; for, to-day, you look through the window of the car and listen, in vain, for the cries of "Gineos!" "Naran- jas!" "Leche!" "Boyo!" which you were wont to hear in former years, as the train hauled up to the Station. Even the Flower- Girl, in Po//cra-Costume, is missing also to say nothing of the absence of dear "Mother" Brown, who used to sharpen the appetites of the Old Rail Road Boys with her delightful cocktails, her Jamaica and Scotch and Rye, for the bountiful meals which she would serve them with whenever they had occasion to stop over at Matachin. Yes! all these little incidents and living landmarks, which go to make up history, have disappeared from the scenes, entirely; 52 PANAMA PICTURES. but an abiding memory is tenacious of them all. BAS OBISPO. The importance of Bas Obispo, on ac- count of the "Cut," which the French called "La Corosita," after the name of a prickly palm-tree, which grew abundantly upon a mountain in that district, is not, by any means, to be underestimated, since it involves a large share of the work in con- nection with the glorious and gigantic task of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans It is, so to speak, the Junior-Culebra ; and who knows but what it will give as much trouble as its senior-brother, situated some five miles and a half away, reckoning from north to south? Here, the houses, for the most part, are those which were left by the French Com- pany, but which have since been repaired and painted by the Isthmian Canal Com- mission, and put into such good shape as to render them all as comfortable as the new buildings lately erected at the other Sta- NATURE AND LIFE. 53 tions along the line of the Zone. In their "Coats" of slate-color paint, and immacu- late-white "Cuttings," which glisten be- neath the rays of the early morning sun, these remnants of past French days laugh at Old Father Time, and cheat him out of the traces of the years which, on his on- ward journey, his relentless hand had stamped upon them! From the standpoint of an American Canal, Bas Obispo marks the first page in the history of the advent of the present ad- ministration on the Isthmus; for it was here that "Camp Elliott," the Head Quar- ters of the American Marines, situated on a high promontory, from which you look down upon a vast and beautiful country of low-lying hills and far-stretching valleys, clothed in perennial verdure, was first established for the purpose of accommoda- ting some four hundred and fifty men that had arrived in Colon by the transport "Dixie," on that ever memorable night of November the 5th, 1903. Here, the "Boys" m khaki pitched their tents and mounted 54 PANAMA PICTURES. their guns cheerfully, in readiness for the emergency of war, which was rumored all around as being imminent with the out- witted Colombians, and their vaunted allies, the San Bias Indians, whose com- bined strength was computed at something like forty-five thousand men in all. But as the days wore on, and no sign of the enemy appearing, there was less occasion to be wary, and so the "Boys" had lots of time on hand, which they dedicated to the innocent amusement of composing doggerel-rhymes, that were, finally, set to music and sung by them in every house they visited. In chronicling the incident of the "Dixie," with which a new era for Panama began, I recall to mind another, and yet more serious, one in connection with the political happenings of that troublous and agitated period, which is bound to make an interesting chapter in the history of the Eepublic of Panama. I refer to the four hundred and seventy- five Colombian Officers and Soldiers, who liad threatened the Town of Colon that day, NATURE AND LIFE. 55 November the 5th, 1903, against a handful of men from the United States Gun Boat "Nashville," whose number was afterwards augmented by some forty raw recruits, col- lected here and there in a hurry men who had never held a gun in their lives before men whose maiden-hands trembled ner- vously as they shouldered their first rifle! Happily, however, the necessity to open up hostilities never arose that day, which had been to each and all of us one of the type of a veritable Waterloo; excepting, of course, "The voluptuous swell of music;" "The dance and the joy unconfined;" but not the "Hurrying to and fro;" nor the "Mounting in hot haste" of the people into coaches; for everywhere you turned, there were men, women, and affrighted children the women half dressed, and their hair di- sheveled dashing madly, down the streets in search of places of refuge, which some found on board the steamers in the harbor at the time, while others, less fortunate, were compelled to hide themselves behind large bales of cotton that were piled up in 56 PANAMA PICTURES. the Freight house of the Panama Rail Road Company, and which served as a barricade against a possible attack from the enemy outside. But, despite of a}l these necessary precautions, not a single shot was fired; for eight thousand dollars American g;old, and enough champagne to drown the feel- ings of an inglorious defeat, had done the deed, and carried away the laurels of that anxious day, on the night of which, syn- chronously with the arrival of the "Dixie," the Royal Mail steamer "Orinoco," bound for Cartagena with the Army on board that had menaced, Colon, moved out of her pier, the while ten thousand sighs of relief went up from the hearts of those who had begun to return to their respective homes, after three days and nights of discomfort and anxiety; deprivations and sickness; then Presto ! The Republic of Panama. EMPIRE. If there is any Station along the line of the Zone, that has caught the full spirit of NATURE AND LIFE. 57 Canal operations; that lias felt the thrill of the gigantic work which is going on all around it, that Station is, surely, Empire, otherwise called "Camacho," which being only one mile and a half distant from the Culebra Divide, is rendered a very impor- tant Section of the great Interoceanic Water-way. As the train hauls up to the Passenger Depot, this fact is evidenced immediately by the busy hum of things about the place by the clink-clank-clink of the chains of the monster steam-shovels, the echoes of count- less hammers resounding through the air, the tooting of whistles in all directions, and by the distant boom of heavy charges of dynamite, all of which are unmistakable in- dications that life is a strenuous one in this particular part of the country. Here, there are extensive Warehouses and well- equipped Machine- Shops, in addition to which there is at present in the course of construction, an Electric Light Plant, which is calculated to light up Culebra Station as well. 58 PANAMA PICTURES. The old Native Empire Settlement, sit- uated a little distance down the tracks, looking towards the north, which for four decades had been the stopping-point of the trains running between both termini, is relegated to the dead Past now, the new Empire, having taken its place as the Freight and Passenger Station in that Dis- trict, which comprises "Camacho," Cunette, White House, and the Native and American Empires. The American Empire, which is one of the largest towns along the line of the Rail Road, is a most beautiful spot, nestling be- tween a group of low-lying hills, upon whose gradual-heights the residences of the employes of the Isthmian Canal Commis- sion are situated. In addition to these, there are the Hospital, Hotel, Public Free School and Commissariat buildings which, being of the more pretentious type of struc- tures, rise up dwarfing the smaller houses that go to make up a picturesque cluster of the whole in spotless white and slate-color NATURE AND LIFE. 59 paints, that now distinguish the properties of the Isthmian Canal Commission. As, a place of residence, Empire, even to the most fastidious tastes, should leave noth- ing at all to be desired. Situated, as it.is^ upon a high elevation, and having aiv ample supply of good drinking water and com- plete modern sanitary arrangements, there is no reason why it should not be as healthy a spot as can be fowd in any other part of Christendom. And this is so ; , true of Em- pire that the Accounting and Disbursing Departments of the Isthmian Canal Com- mission, whose offices were formerly located in Panama, were lately transferred there,, along with their respective staffs, number- ing about one hundred men, most of them being Americans. With regard to domestic life for the mar- ried folks at Empire, this has been rendered comparatively easy and inexpensive since the inauguration of the Refrigerating-Car Service, by which system the employes of the Commission and the Panama Rail Road Company at every Station along tjie line, 60 PANAMA PICTURES. enjoy the incalculable boon of being furn- ished, daily, with fresh meats, fruits and vegetables of all descriptions, eggs, cow's milk and ice, all of which, excepting the lat- ter article, manufactured in Colon, are brought over to the Isthmus from the best markets of the United States of America. And yet, despite of these immense advan- tages, hitherto unknown in this part of the world, there are lots who are not satisfied, and kick about prices which, however, when compared with those charged by the local merchants for inferior articles of consump- tion, whose assortment is not, by any means, varied, the balance in the scale of comparison will, invariably, result in favor of the imported commodities. But then, I suppose there must be "kickers" in every sphere and clime, the Isthmus not ex- cluded; for it boasts of many who can well be termed Born-kickers free, easy and ex- temporaneous Kickers, who will kick, even though there is nothing absolutely to kick about, until their last day upon this side of Eternity. NATURE AND LIFE. 61 CULEBRA. Culebra! Who has not heard of Culebra? Since the month of January, 1880, when the French began operations, Culebra has been on the tongues of men, the world over, as a thing unachievable as an engineering im- possibility ! The French, however, who had prepared their plans well, and had studied them out carefully, paid no attention, whatever, to this expression of opinion, which they knew, as an. absolute fact, had emanated from those who were friends of Nicaragua, and, consequently, sworn and open enemies of the favored Panama route, but pro- ceeded, at once, with the tremendous task of demolishing the Culebra Mountain, in the performance of which they proved to the world, at large, the feasibility of their scheme, and did good work until 1888, when, as many of us have good reasons to remember, operations were, suddenly, sus- pended. Then came an idle lapse of some fifteen 62 PANAMA PICTURES. long years of weary, patient waiting fif- teen years of great suspense and anxiety hoping, each day, that something would turn up to save the increasing gravity of the situation which, from a financial and com- mercial standpoint, had just begun to threaten the whole Isthmus with ruin, when the Americans came to the rescue, and thus averted the crisis that seemed inevitable. Let us admit that there have been serious engineering difficulties to contend with at Culebra; but, on the other hand, let us ad- mit, also, that there have been men at the helm of affairs, in this district, endowed with the necessary skill and ability to cope with those difficulties which, to-day, are, happily, surmounted through the indomita- ble will of those who have identified them- selves with the great Culebra problem. That the judgment, therefore, pro- nounced by the enemies of Panama, with regard to the impracticability of Culebra, was, altogether, without foundation, the work done by the French, in their day, and the progress made by the Americans, since NATURE AND LIFE. 63 1903 up to the present time of writing, in themselves, alone, are ample proof and testi- mony. But the simple telling of it, on my part, could never convey to the mind of the read- er, the full extent of what has, really, been accomplished at this important Section of the Canal. The magnitude of it all must first be seen before it can be intelligently appreciated, even by those who saw Cule- bra in her virgin integrity, in her pristine glory, compared to what she is, to-day, a wreck of her former magnificence! The Americans have done good work at Culebra; and what of course, has con- tributed largely to this has been the use of up-to-date machinery, such as the steam- shovel, for instance, which is the backbone and sinew of the work of building the Canal across the Panama Isthmus. Culebra, be- sides being the objective point to-day, is the keynote of the whole gigantic undertaking, and the dream of Mr. John F. Stevens, the Chief Engineer, who is interested, heart and soul, in the final demolition of the Cule- 64 PANAMA PICTURES. bra Mountain down to a point below the level of the sea ! Culebra, of course, is the busiest Section of all. In the "Cut," blasting goes on almost continually; and some heavy "charges' 7 have been set off lately. The heaviest of these was the one which con- tained six thousand pounds of dynamite and twenty-five tons of black powder, which scattered fifty thousand cubic yards of rock and dirt in one great heap ! The day I paid a visit to this Section of the Works, everything that wore wheels appeared to me to have been in motion, each one vieing with the other in the race for the goal of the World's great work : There were "dump-trains" moving, one after the other, in rapid succession, along the banks of the "Cut"; engines puffed away and snorted busily; and, last, though not the least, a fleet of steam-shovels in operation, all of them telling, in their own see-saw vernacu- lar, of the glorious thing they were doing for the benefit of the nations of the World ! The graceful motion of their sharp-teethed NATURE AND LIFE. 65 dippers, as they swung, to and fro, around their tireless chains, stopping mid-way to plunge deep down into the bosom of Mother Earth for their prey of rock and dirt, which they picked up greedily and finally dis- gorged into old French "dumps" or W. W. Scraper Cars, with a loud burst of white- sieam-laughter that curled up into the air and resounded through the "Cut" trium- phantly, impressed me with the idea that these monster things, but mere parts of ma- chinery assembled together as a unit, were almost as sentient as human beings them- selves. On the occasion of President Roosevelt's late visit to the Isthmus, and which, by the way, has immortalized Panama and the Panama Canal, he related to a large and representative audience, at a reception given in his honor at Cristobal, on the night of November the 17th, that, in the course of his examination of the Works, he had stopped at Culebra, where he had seen over one of the steam-shovels in operation, a ban- ner which bore the legend: 66 PANAMA PICTURES. "WE WILL HELP YOU TO CUT IT !" Then, as his special train moved further on the way, he said, a fellow hailed out to him: "WE'RE GOING TO PUT IT THROUGH !" Both of which, the President explained to us, had pleased him immensely, because, he remarked, he admired the spirit that actuated the sentiment of the two. Culebra is the highest point, and the largest Station, along the line of the Rail Road. The American settlement of this important district is reached by a continu- ous winding pathway, that leads up to the Administration and other buildings, situ- ated upon the summit of the hill, from which point you get a most wonderful bird's eye view of the surrounding country and the "Cut," both of which teem with the life and activity commensurate with the im- mensity of the Cause. Culebra being the headquarters of the Chief Engineer, and also his seat of resi- dence, is rendered, officially and socially, 3 3- o a "=2 NATURE AND LIFE. 67 the most important Station on the Zone the pillar of the one part being well sup- ported by the gentleman of the hour; while the amenities of the other are ably executed by his amiable Lady who, by her charming manners, has succeeded in making herself the most popular figure among the best so- cial circles on the Isthmus. At Culebra, the Panama Bail Road branches off to a comparatively new line, called "The Deviation," built by the French, and inaugurated on the 3rd day of March, 1901, and which opened up the loveliest bit of country and scenery to be found in any part of South or Central America. "The Deviation" is five miles long; and about one mile and a half from where it be- gins, there is an Iron Bridge, one hundred and twenty-five feet long, spanning the "Rio Grande," which was dammed into a lake in order to divert the course of the waters of the rivers from the Canal Works at Cule- bra. The lake is beautiful ! In its silent, glassy depths are mirrored, inverted, the stately 68 PANAMA PICTURES. mountain-peaks, green with the growth of ages past; and tail and graceful-bending bamboos fringe the edges of its uncomplain- ing waters. NATURE AND LIFE. 69 PART VI. The present City of Panama, which was founded in the year 1519, is situated about five miles and a half west of the original city, known, to-day, as "Old Panama," which was captured by Buccaneer Morgan and his handful of daring adventurers on the 28th of January, 1671, and immediately afterwards reduced to ashes, because it was discovered by Morgan that he had been clev- erly outwitted by the Panamanians who, anticipating the attack on the city, had placed on board of a vessel lying in the har- bor, all the gold and silver ornaments of the convents and the churches, the King's silver and jewels, as well as all the other valua- bles belonging to private individuals. For, at the time written of, Old Panama was the distributing centre of the rich countries of the South, such as Chili and Peru, for the immense cargoes of treasure, which were 70 PANAMA PICTURES. constantly arriving for the King of Spain, who was Charles the Second, and which were transported on mule-back to Porto Bello, a small harbor on the Atlantic sea- board, where the Spanish fleet awaited the precious merchandise for conveyance to its final destination. Panama is not a city of any architectural pretensions, but it boasts of a few fine buildings, which might, possibly, pass mus- ter before the scrutiny of experienced eyes that have seen better in other countries. Foremost among these buildings are: the Bishop's Palace, the Grand Central Hotel, and the General Offices of the Isthmian Canal Commission, to all of which there will soon be added the new Theatre that is now in the course of construction. In addition to these, there is the new and mag- nificent I. C. C. "Tivoli Hotel," situated upon a high promontory at the entrance of Panama, and which has the distinguished honor of having accommodated President Eoosevelt and his party during their short stay on the Isthmus. NATURE AND LIFE. 71 As in all other Spanish-American coun- tries, the majority of the houses in Panama are massive stone structures built in the days of Spanish domination; but the build- ings which are now going up, betray marked signs of the more modern school of architecture. The principal public thoroughfares and places of interest, are two Parks : one in the Plaza Santana, and the other in the Cathe- dral Square. Then, there is the Bovedas, or Sea-wall, a powerful fortification which overlooks the beautiful Pacific Ocean and the distant Islands in the harbor. At each of these three resorts, the National Band, consisting of some thirty pieces, delights the ears of the lovers of music with a con- cert weekly. Since the advent of the Americans on the Isthmus, Panama has undergone some re- markable improvements. The streets, that were once of cobblestones, difficult and un- comfortable to walk upon, are now, almost all of them, paved with bricks imported from the United States for the purpose, 72 PANAMA PICTURES. The Aguadores, that formerly went about the city on their two-wheeled barrel-carts, selling water to the inhabitants, by the bucket, the only means of supply in those days, have now been superseded by the in- stallation of an up-to-date system of Water- Works, which, so far, has been one of the greatest boons conferred on the city, for the reason that it has afforded the means of proper sewerage and good sanitary ar- rangements, that have contributed so largely to improve the health conditions of Panama. At Ancon, on the outskirts of the city, and within the boundaries of the Zone, the magnificent hospitals of the Commis- sion are situated 'midst the luxuriant growth of palms and cocoanut-trees, which are fanned by the soft, refreshing breezes of the Pacific. The population of Panama is variously estimated, but, in the absence of an official census, I do not think I will be far wrong in setting the figures down to 35,000 souls, al- NATURE AND LIFE. 73 most every one speaking the English lan- guage fairly. The Panamanians are a kind and intelli- gent lot of people hospitable to strangers always; and no one is better able to testify to these facts than I am, having resided on the Isthmus, and been associated with the sons of Panama, for a checkered period that covers some thirty-three years and over. In Panama, as they are in almost every other small city of the world, the pleasures of social life are somewhat "slow" and lim- ited. Occasionally, however, there is a break in the dull round and monotony of things, either by a dance at the "Interna- tional," or by some musical entertainment at the "Commercial," the two most promi- nent clubs in the City. Then, on Sundays, or on any other day of leisure in the week, there is the pleasure, for those who are fond of outdoor sports, of mounting a good, swift steed and riding far out to the sunny forest, and to the beautiful Savannas of Panama. 74 PANAMA PICTURES. PART VII. About two miles distant from Panama, is the seaport on the American Zone, known as La Boca, which is situated at the mouth of the Rio Grande, the Pacific entrance of the Canal. Besides being a busy Canal centre, La- Boca is an important Shipping-district, and an enormous Kail Road Yard and Termi- nus, where all freights, coming from and destined to the ports of the Pacific, pass through on their way to their final destina- tions. La Boca is provided with improved and ample shipping facilities. There are two extensive piers there in constant operation ; one built in the days of the French, and the other by the present regime for the accom- modations of the increased Commercial, Rail Road and Canal traffic across the Pan- ama Isthmus. NATURE AND LIFE. 75 Both piers, to-day, are, more or less, tem- porary compromises for the Canal, on ac- count of the advantage they offer to the steamers, of loading and discharging their cargoes direct from, and to, the cars of the Panama Rail Road Company, instead of having to do so in the stream, by means of lighters, as was the custom formerly, and which necessitated extra shifting and hand- ling that incurred additional mutilation of cargoes. The first steamer to dock at La Boca, was the United States Ship "Ranger," which was ordered there by the Administration at Washington, for the purpose of taking soundings of the Basin and the Channel leading up to the pier, which was built by the French Company; with the result that the "Ranger" was quickly followed by the Pacific Mail Steamer "Costa Rica," which inaugurated the new service that is now in full and successful operation at La Boca, one of the busiest harbors on the Pacific Coast. The day I went there on a visit, the two 76 PANAMA PICTURES. piers were full of life and activity, and ver- itable pandemoniums of Labor; for, in their mad haste and eager endeavor for suprem- acy in the art of truck-wheeling, good-nat- ured truck-men jostled against each other frequently, while the powerful trolley-trans- porters swung their heavy sling-loads around with a pendulum-like regularity, and a whir! whir! whir! and then de- posited their burdens on the piers. At La Boca there are extensive Machine- shops, operated by the Commission, where the repairs for all the Floating Canal Equip- ment, such as tugs, clappets and dredges, are effected daily. In addition to which there are, of course, the usual buildings for the ac- commodation of the employes of the Com- mission and the Panama Kail Road Com- pany.; hospitals for the sick, and hotels and mess-rooms for the satisfaction of the inner man. No one should come to the Isthmus with- out paying a visit to La Boca, the Gateway of the Canal on the Pacific, the betrothed of the Atlantic Ocean. NATURE AND LIFE. 77 PART VIII. The work of building the great Water-way across the favored Panama route, has served as a most powerful magnet in the way of at- tracting all sorts and conditions of people to the Isthmus from almost every quarter of the Globe; for a more cosmopolitan collec- tion of the human races than that we have among us to-day, does not, I believe, exist in any other part of the universe: There are Americans, British, French, Germans, Ital- ians, Spaniards, Greeks, Colombians, Dan- ish, Peruvians, Central Americans, East In- dians, and, of course, an abundance of the ever ubiquitous Chinese, who have all tended, largely, to change our local color and the aspect of our surroundings and en- vironments. Many, even, of our old histori- cal land-marks have disappeared from these scenes entirely, in order to make room for Canal operations; and, to judge from the 78 PANAMA PICTURES. present outlook of things, the time is not far distant when the few remaining ones shall have completely vanished and have been suc- ceeded by the greatest Work that man has ever yet conceived or attempted. The labor chiefly employed to work on the Canal is made up of a somewhat motley gathering of Jamaicans, Barbadians, Mar- tiniquenians, St. Lucians, Spaniards, Ital- ians and Cartegenians, with a possibility of an augmentation of these classes by the in- troduction, later on, of the progressive Jap- anese. Yet, strange to say, and also won- derful to contemplate, that, notwithstand- ing this mixed assembly of peoples, all work- ing side by side together, in the name of the one great Cause, there has been so little, if any at all, of crime on the Isthmus of Pan- ama ; but this, no doubt, is due, firstly, to the combined Police regulations of the Panama and the United States Governments in the strict maintenance of peace and order, and, secondly, to the law-abiding natures of the aliens. And yet, for my part, I do not be- lieve in such a cosmic gathering; it is dan- NATURE AND LIFE. 79 gerous, 6ecause it sometimes leads to dis- turbances between the different races of men, whose respective tastes and languages, characteristics and temperaments, are so widely apart from each other. The French brought the Africans to the Isthmus, and they made no end of trouble for us, even to the last day, when eight hundred of them marched in to Colon, from Culebra, and, with razors and knives, defied the, then, Co- lombian policemen just at the entrance of Cristobal ! The Spaniards, it has been said, are very good workmen, and I think, myself, they are too; and the Japanese have been mentioned as a probable solution of the labor problem ; but it is my forcible and candid opinion, based upon many long years' experience in this country, that the Jamaica Negro is the fellow to dig the Canal : he is accustomed to the climate, and can better adapt himself to the prevailing conditions on the Isthmus than any of the men of the other nationali- ties I have just mentioned here. And now for a few words more before 80 PANAMA PICTURES. closing this paper. I trust it will not be thought by any of my readers, that I have posed in these pages either as the self-consti- tuted "Trumpeter" of Panama, or as the mouth-piece of the Panamanians. I have simply wished to fulfil the duty, which I have long felt was mine, as an old resident of the Isthmus, of endeavoring, in my own little humble way, to convince the preju- diced minds that, after all, we are not such a "heap, bad lot from away back," as many of our unfriendly and aided critics, abroad, have magazined and newspapered us to be. As a lover of the Truth, I must frankly admit that we have not yet reached that stage of perfection, which is beyond re- proach and unfavorable criticism, towards the happy goal to which we are trending daily ; for there are still a few flaws that yet need mending. On the other hand, however, it should also be conceded that the Republic of Panama, as an Independent Nation, and as the Ruler of her own destinies, is, so to speak, in the infancy of years: The rough edges found here and there in her Ashler to- NATURE AND LIFE. 81 day, will be worn away as Time rolls onward to the Future! As for our Critics, let me say that, taking them on the whole, they have been a most wonderfully gifted assortment of people in their utter lack of knowledge of the Isth- mus, its past and present conditions, its topography and its environment of to-day. For a stranger to sit in a Rail Road car, whirled away at an average speed of some- thing like twenty-five miles an hour, and think, by just gazing, cursorily, through the window, that, he, or she, could write a faith- ful report of a country so rapidly traversed, is, to my mind, as ridiculous as it is impossi- ble ! Yet much to the chagrin of the Pana- manians, and to the disgust of the many friends of the Isthmus, has this marvelous feat been attempted. The Isthmus of Panama is exactly what we make it, by our mode of living, our con- duct, and our habits generally. If men will come here and turn night into day, commit- ting indiscretions in over-drink and all other kinds of imprudence, as they have, 82 PANAMA PICTURES. oftentimes, done, the result, as it would be in any other part of the world, must be pat- ent and obvious. Yet almost every case of sickness and death that has occurred here from time o time, has, invariably, been chalked down, in great, big letters, against the climate of the Isthmus, whose health conditions, notwithstanding, will compare most favorably Avith those of any other coun- try in the Tropics, and, perhaps, with those of some places in the North also a state- ment that may seem chimerical to some, but all the same the Truth, for which I have, as testimony, the official figures of our limited mortality, the percentage of which is far be- low that of any of the larger cities in the world. Whatever may be said to the contrary, the Isthmus, within the past two years or more, has made wonderful progress in the way of general improvements. Socially, we have had some very valuable acquisitions with the constant influx of peo- ple from abroad ; and yet, I am compelled to confess, Society on the Isthmus is a verita- NATURE AND LIFE. 83 ble Study not in "Scarlet," but in every color of the rainbow ! For the dominant feat- ure is that everybody wants to be "It," and no one will consent to be subject at least, not those who can boast of birth and lineage, good-breeding and education, but from whom, ofttimes, POSITION, and not the man himself, withholds the keys of the Par- lors! Morally, the Americans have done a great deal towards improving the tone of the lower classes, among whom concubinage, at one time, \vas woefully rampant. As a re- sult, however, of the enforcement of the law against this mode of living, not less than twenty-five marriages occur daily on the Zone. Finally, I wish to testify to the truth of all the statements which I have made here they are the plain truth; nothing but the truth ; even if they do "hurt" those who are enemies of the Isthmus, and who are inimi- cal to the building of the great Interoceanic Water-way across the favored Panama route. A TALL OF THE OLD WASHINGTON HOUSE A Tale of the Old Washington House, Colon. I. It was in the early Seventies. The Wash- ington House that stood then, flanked on both sides by stately cocoanut-trees, was merely a shapeless pile of woodwork that, so to speak, tottered upon the crutches of its senility! For, for almost two decades, the building had been the sport and prey of every wind and weather, beneath the ever recurring stress of which, as the years rolled on, it gradually fell to decay, until, at last, it listed towards the sea-front heavily. The windows, nearly all of them, were blind for the want of glasses; and the laths of the shutters, moist with the rime of the salt-sea air of years and years and years, hung loosely down, like so many dilapidated wooden pendants, with which the breezes toyed and rioted madly. 87 88 A TALE OF THE OLD The rooms were half the size of those of its now more pretentious successor, and the walls were thickly crusted with whitewash coatings, that constantly fell upon the painted floors in large thick scales, white as the snows that drop from heaven ! But good old Tom, the Bedroom Steward, was always "on .-deck," at shoulder-arm with his ubiqui- tous corn-broom, ready, like little Orphan Annie, to sweep the fallen debris away, and clear from every nook and corner the fes- toon and embroidery of cobwebs that, Hy- dra-like, sprang up constantly, despite of good old Tom, who finally proved himself to be no Hercules for them. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the building, right happy days were those of the Washington House of old! There was, in every sense of the word, a true and genuine comradery among the boys the maddest, merriest lot one ever came across in Chris- tendom up to all kinds of tricks, the suc- cessful perpetration of which, such was the entente cord laic,, was never known to evoke a serious protest from the chap whose every WASHINGTON HOUSE. 89 stick of furniture, bed and bedstead alike, had been taken from his room while he was out at night, and cast over the balcony on to the wet green lawn in front, to remain there till he returned to lift them up the steps him- self, and put them back again in their places; nor yet from the fellow who, by some daring piece of mendacity, had been divested of his property. No ! In those days a practical joke met rather w r ith pleasing applause than with any word or act or sign of protest; so much so, that one joke was quickly followed by another, in which the last victim would endeavor to get even with his latest perpetrator. But then, it was not to be wondered at that each man accepted his "dose'- with such good grace and humor; for the boys of that time were, so to speak, a brotherhood of one. No tales were "carried out of school" when one had been taken home on the proverbial "shutter;" nor yet when another had been down the night before at Valdez's to spin the magic wheel, or, haply, to dance the cumbia with Zoila! All this was kept as sacred as the 90 A TALE OF THE OLD secrets that characterize the great Masonic Fraternity. With the exception of Jimmy Ward, Mac- kenzie, and Mike Devlanete, P. M. S. S. Co.'s men, the rest of the household was made up of Rail Road boys, who were : Slim Frankinton, Train Despatcher, Fred Hudsin, Commissary, W. Winchester, As- sistant Cashier, A. Sharpe, Secretary to the General Superintendent, and C. Walker, Road Master. There were also the em- ployes of the lesser rank, of course, such as Scotty, Hendersin, Thatcher, Guthrie and George Dranrab, Check Clerks all of them. Then, there was dear old Billy Thomson, who occupied a room in the building. He was not connected with the Road in the days written of; but he had been once, in almost every position down from Trackman up to the more exalted position of General Super- intendent, from which he resigned to enter the local mercantile arena. Thomson was the soul-embodiment of a gentleman! Through his kind and courteous manners, he had won for himself a tender spot in all WAtiHIXGTON HOUSE. 91 the hearts of the boys, who delighted to re s^ect and honor him. There were no "frills'' about Billy Thomson at all ; he took as much pleasure sitting down spinning yarns to the boys as he did conversing with the G. S. of the Koad ; and he was always to be found at the little seances held from time to time in the dear old Washington House. "When trouble was in the wind," as the saying goes, it was from Billy Thomson always that the boys would seek advice, and it was his "word," too, that "went" with them always. Among the Rail Road crowd, Scotty, though somewhat brusque in his manners, was the general favorite; for, despite of the sixty years that had crowned his head with silver, he was the life and soul and music of the building, even if he did swear like a trooper! Scotty was a Scotchman every inch of him but one, and that was in his liquor; for, strange to say, he was never known to touch the firewater of his country. Brandy, instead, was his poison, and of this he constantly kept a bottle behind an old leathern trunk of his he had brought from 92 A TALE OF THE OLD England with him, and which, a wreck since of its former magnificence, stood within a quiet corner of his bedroom, instead of tak- ing its place in the graveyard of cast-off and unserviceable packages ! To this trunk, or, rather, to the narrow little dusty corridor, that ran between it and the wall, Scotty was wont to pay frequent visits daily he and himself alone ! For as for asking any of the boys to accompany him in a trago, that was out of the question entirely ! In fact, he had grown of late so supremely watchful of his liquor, that he never once failed, as Tom declared, to mark, with his ever wary eyes, the ebb-tide of the bottle each time he picked it up to help himself, which he invariably did most liberally. Finally, he became so or- thodox in his principle of inviting no one into his room to have a drink with him, that Slim Frankinton, in a conference held one night with Fred Hudsin, decided, there and then, to get square with Scotty on the very first opportunity that offered, and thus teach him a lesson for the future. WASHINGTON HOUSE. 93 II. Time, that swings his pendulum inces- santly, had brought the New Year's Eve around, and the Washington House was decked out in full regalia of Chinese lan- terns and multicolored bunting, in celebra- tion of the occasion that marks the passing of one year, and heralds the advent of another ! On the lawn, fronting the seashore, there was deep-mouthed eloquence of fire-works, and the pandemonium was simply deafen- ing! The boys, it appears, had made up their minds to enjoy themselves on that night above all others which they did, too, to their very hearts' content. Some of them, with crimson-cracker in hand, ensconced themselves behind the cocoanut-trees, and, in a second, dashed out again with their lighted fire-devils, and tossed them at each 94 A TALE OF THE OLD other in a game of mimic warfare. A mad, glad, New Year's Eve was that full of pleasant memories ; but of those who figured in the association of that dead time, few are left to tell its until-now-unwritten story. Scotty was the only one who had not joined the party on the lawn; he had had a day's hard work of it on the Dock, checking a heavy shipment of nails, which had come by the New York steamer, destined for San Francisco ; so he sat upon the balcony alone, and w r atched the proceedings below. It was not long, however, before he fell into a deep slumber; and, as was his wont, began rehearsing in his sleep the fights he had had with his call-boy, and other little incidents, too, in connection with his day's checking "M, C. H. in a diamond, 5 kegs, Sir!" he broke out suddenly. Hang it ! why the devil don't you sing out louder? Can't hear a G d word you say ! hoAv many was it?" "Five kegs, Sir, and tally!" "You're a liar !" roared Scotty "Hi, there, Lisha! hold on with your truck, WASHINGTON HOUSE. 95 will you? It's all right; you can go ahead now : five and tally it is." Then ? after a while, he broke loose again into a wild fit of vituperation, which, sand- papered down, and passed through the finest crucible, would reduce itself to language nothing less refined than : "Hell ! I wish the man who shipped these nails had every one of them stuck into his blasted ribs damn him !" But here, his dream was interrupted by a great red flash and a sputter and a boom! crack! bang! beneath the chair he sat in, which started him from his sleep with such a sudden bound that he was almost precipi- tated over the tottering balcony ! White with rage, he rose up to his full height, shook his clenched fists menacingly at the crowd on the lawn, and yelled out vociferously : "I'd like to know who the h it was that did that ! Show me the fellow and I'll lick the life out of him right now !" With which he turned around quickly apparently with the object of putting his threat into execu- 96 WASHINGTON HOUSE. tion, when, lo! Hendersin, his dearest com- panion, stood before him just at the en- trance of the hallway, immediately behind where he had been sitting. As they con- fronted each other, Hendersin gave a broad guffaw, and, with some difficulty, raised his hand and rested it on Scotty's shoulder, say- ing, somewhat incoherently: "Sh say, Sh Scotty, old chap, hie I did it, see ? and hie what about it? Want ter fight? sh better not, Sh Scotty, i' sh New Year hie come and have a drink with me ! had a beau sh f ul time ! !" At all of which, Scotty simply exploded with laughter, and asked facetiously : "Say, Hendersin, what, in the name of heavens, have you been eating that has given you such an infernal indigestion?" "Eating?" responded Hendersin, grinning stupidly, "hie foo'ish question don't know hie sh what you're talking about! Sh come along Sh Scotty, old chap, and I'll sh show you what I've been eating hie." And he made a, A TALE OF THE OLD 97 bee-line for the steps, leading the way down- stairs to the little Reading-room, situated at the southwest end of the building. As they reached the entrance, Hendersin stumbled and fell into a shapeless bundle on the floor, with such a thud that the glasses and bottles which lay on the old mahogany table clattered and came together in an out- burst of apparent applause at the tableau- Hendersin ! For a moment Scotty was taken aback; for he stood stockstill before the doorway and gazed in perfect astonishment at the battery of jugs and bottles that fortified the table, intended only for the occupation of peaceful and instructive literature. Then, after a while, he stepped into the room and lifted his friend, Hendersin to a chair. In the act of doing this, the entire party that had been "going it" on the lawn, tramped in noisily each man bearing, gun- wise, a palm-branch over his shoulder, and singing lustily : "When Johnny comes marching home !" When the song had ceased, all eyes were 98 WASHINGTON HOUSE. turned towards the almost unrecognizable figure crouched up in a chair in one corner of the room wondering who the person could be ! Frankinton, however, could stand the suspense no longer; so, weighted down with his burden of curiosity, he walked across the floor and laid his hand gently upon the drooping figure. Hendersin started at once, and raised his head slowly ; then he stretched himself out to his full length and breadth, and yawned aloud! Finally, he threw himself back into a reclining attitude against the wall, grinned uglily at Frankin- ton, and began to sing in a hoarse and squeaky voice : "We won't go home till morning ! "We won't go home till morning!" when Frankinton yelled out to him : "For God's sake, Hendersin, shut up your darn racket, will you? Don't you know that Mack and his wife are asleep in the room next door? A fine looking specimen of .hu- manity, you are, ain't you?" said Frankin- ton, catching Hendersin by the shoulder, and shaking him admonishingly. A TALE OF THE OLD 99 "None of your darn business !" shouted Hendersin; "to hell with you, - Mack and his wife and the whole bloomin' crowd of you !" and then he started to sing the old refrain again : "We won't go home till morning! "We won't go home till morning !" which he kept on repeating until he was almost out of breath. But he finally be- came less strenuous in his language his ob- ject being, no doubt, to make atonement for his late vituperative outburst. "Franky old boy," he called out, some- what disconnectedly, "pass the bottle 'round to everyone and let's have a drink the whole of us to- gether ! And say, you you over there you shaved head beggar !" he yelled out, pointing to Thatcher, "give us a lively tune on your harmonica will you and I'll dance a good old clog for the company by way of opening up the ball !" The bottle was passed, accordingly, and all hands supplied their glasses, and tossed 100 WASHINGTON HOUSE. their tragos down after pledging each other heartily. Then, Thatcher adjusted his am- ple mouth to his harmonica, Sharp tickled his violin with bow and finger, while Hen- dersin, who had recovered somewhat from his late attack of indigestion, rose from his chair and stood up in the centre of the room, waiting for the first outburst of the music, with his arms akimbo! The instruments were, at last, awakened to measure: Sharp scraped his violin frantically ; Thatcher held his own on his harmonica, while the boys beat a lively tattoo upon their knees by way of accompaniment. Then Hendersin started dancing wildly; but he had not well begun before every man rose up and formed a cir- cle around the table. When everybody had fallen into line, Hudsin stepped forward and called out at the top of his voice : "Nqw, boys, wait and take the time from me i Q ne Two Three Musical Let 'ergo !" and every foot began to sway simul- taneously, till the flooring creaked beneath the burden of the dancers ! When the revel had reached its highest, A TALE OF THE OLD 101 Wincherster held his hands aloft and sang out amidst the infernal uproar : "Hoop-la! Let 'er rip! Go it, boys! Shake 'em up ! All hands 'round ! Balance to your partners lively! Up and down the centre ! Left wheel ! keep it up, boys ! Hi ! Hi ! Hi, there !" and a chorus of "Hi's !" went up from every mouth as the dancers' feet came down upon the floor, keeping time with the rhythm of the music! Finally, the dancing ceased, and all hands fell into their chairs, exhausted panting and puff- ing heavily. Then there w r as a brief pause for breathing, after which Jimmy Ward pulled his watch out of his pocket and said : "Boys, it's just three minutes now to the hour of twelve, so let's fill our glasses once more and drink the New Year in!" The motion being seconded by Mike, and unanimously carried, the bottles were drained of their last intoxicating drop of liquor; then a moment's silence ensued a silence, haply, dedicated to thoughts of home and to loved-ones over the boundless waters ! Suddenly, however, the clock upon 102 WASHINGTON HOUSE. the mantel-shelf began to toll out mourn- fully the last hour of the senile year, which woke the boys from their reverie; and just as the stroke of twelve vibrated in an echo, every man clinked glasses and drank ; then, hand-in-hand, sang "Auld Lang Syne'' to- gether. When this deathless song had ceased, it was discovered that Scotty and Hendersin were missing from the crowd. 2so search was made for them, however, because it was deemed best to leave, at least, Hendersin alone to get over the effects of the night's hard dissipation. But the rest of the boys stayed on, bent each one, on keeping the ball a-rolling. The first man to reopen the proceedings was Slim Frankinton. Drawing his chair close up to the table, he sat down and gazed enquiringly at the regiment of bottles lined off before him. Then he looked upon his empty glass forlornly, and picked the bottles up, one by one, and shook them vigorously to ascertain if there was anything left in them; finding nothing, he laid them back again upon the table, saying : A TALE OF THE OLD 103 "Boys, I'm sorry to tell you there isn't a single drop of liquor left; but 'sh don't give it away," he commanded, shrugging his shoulders and turning around to see if any- one outside was listening. "It's all right," he resumed in a whisper, a no need to worry about a drink," he said, a for I've got the whole thing fixed, and if you chaps will only hold your tongues for a minute, I'll tell you all about it. I've got a scheme on hand that you couldn't beat to save your lives Nay Nay Pauline!" And he turned around again looking for eavesdroppers. Convinced that all was well, he took the crowd in his confidence : "Boys," he said, "it's just this : Scotty has a couple bottles of brandy hidden away be- hind that antediluvian trunk of his; he got them to-day from Johnny Ugg ; so, if you'll all stand by me, I promise to get one of them before I'm two hours older if I don't, then my name isn't what it is; furthermore, if I fail, I'll take you down to the Howard House, whenever you're ready, and set up the drinks for the whole outfit !" 104 WASHINGTON HOUSE. All hands having promised their hearty co-operation, Frankinton disclosed his plan of campaign on Scotty's brandy, after which everybody proceeded to leave the room. But George Dranrab, fearing that Scotty was not yet well asleep, saw the wisdom of ad- vising a little delay in the adventure. "Dear boys," he called out in his usual en- dearing fashion, "I wouldn't risk it now if I were you. Better wait a few minutes more ; it will be safer then. In the meanwhile, to pass the time away, let's get Mike to give us a story; so sit down, the whole of you, and make yourselves at home where you ought to be," he remarked facetiously. "George, old man !" exclaimed Walker, "it isn't a bad idea at all !" Then everybody called on Mike, who stepped forward de- murely, and stood up for a while, fumbling with his watch-chain his eyes elevated to the ceiling waiting to catch the very first wave of inspiration. Growing impatient at waiting so long on Mike, Walker called out suddenly : "Come along now, Mike; give us some- A TALE OF THE OLD 103 thing you can't get out of it no ! not on your life ! Tell us about the night that Hud- sin swam across the Lagoon, with all his clothing on, to get away from a policeman who had been chasing him. But Mike blushed all over and said, "I really couldn't give you that one!" Then Frankinton got up and suggested : "Well, perhaps, you'll tell us about the night that Walker stoned the Washington House, and Hudsin came out on the balcony with his gun and popped away at him yes, you remember, don't you? how Walker, after the first shot had been fired, ran and hid himself behind a cocoanut-tree, scream- ing out : 'For God's sake, Hudsin, stop your shooting ! it's I, Walker !' " No ! -No ! : No !" interrupted little Wardy, the Englishman, "that ain't what we want, at all! Let's 'ave instead, the bloomin' one 'bout you and Frankinton don't you know? I mean that shooting af- fair," he said, addressing himself to Mike. "Yes ! Yes ! Yes !"' shrieked the whole crowd together. 106 WASHINGTON HOUSE. "Wardy, old chap, you've just struck it right !" exclaimed Wincherster "give it to us, Mike, it's a good one on you !" "So, after exchanging a few consulting glances with Frankinton, who signalled over, "I don't mind if you do," Mike scraped his throat and began : "Well, boys, I remember the night full well. I had just *:ome in from work, tired as I could possibly be, and was preparing to go to bed, when Frankinton called out to me from his room, adjoining mine: " 'Mike! Oh, Mike! are you there, Mikey?' as he used to call me when he was in a good humor. " 'Yes! Yes! Frankinton,' I replied; what, in the name of heavens, is the diffi- culty now? Is George dead, at last?' I en- quired. " 'Dead?* he exclaimed interrogatively, and in a tone of voice that smacked of im- possibility. 'Not on your life! Why, look here, Mike/ he answered, 'you couldn't kill him with a crowbar, if you tried to!' " 'No! it wasn't that; what I wanted to A TALE OF THE OLD 107 say to you, Mikey, was just this : it's the an- niversary of my birthday, and I'd like you to come over and have a friendly drink with me in celebration of the occasion. I've got a bottle of good old Jamaica here I bought from Dewsberry this afternoon, that'll make your hair curl and your head swim all at the same time labeled Special Brand ; and, just fancy, twenty years old,' he commented invitingly. " 'No thanks, Frankinton, it's too late now,' I replied; 'and what's more, I'm dead tired, and am going to turn in right away; for I have to be up early in the morning, to meet the Colon and assort her papers in time to despatch them to Panama by the first train leaving so, good night, old chap, and don't bother me any more !' " 'Tired the devil!' he retorted angrily, 'you've got to come and have a drink with me, Mike, or else there'll be trouble !' "But I paid no attention to him what- ever, and turned in to bed quickly. "I had barely dimpled the pillow with my head, when I heard the sound of hurry- 108 WASHINGTON HOUSE. ing footsteps in the hallway. Immediately, I jumped up and fastened every door and window, and stood in the centre of the room awaiting developments. I did not have to wait for very long, though ; for, suddenly, I saw, under the crevice of the doorway, the glimmer of a sharp steel weapon, w^hich the moonlight, streaming through the sashes, re- vealed to be the blade of a machete! This Frankinton swayed from one side of the door to the other in a vain attempt to force an opening. Finding his efforts futile, he called out to me, despairingly : " 'Mike! Oh, Mike! are you coming, Mikey? uno nada mas!' he said, swinging the machete lively. "Terrified, and with the view of appeas- ing Frankinton, I made answer : " 'All right, Franky, old boy, go to your room now, and I'll be there in a minute!' With which assurance he went away quiet- ly, leaving me, almost out of breath from fright, standing up and gazing blankly around the room, the while I listened to the A TALE OF THE OLD 109 sound of his receding footsteps in the hall- way. "As soon as I knew he had reached his apartment, I got into bed and cuddled up under the counterpane, hoping that Frank- inton had forgotten all about the promise I had made him; when lo! he began with his threat again : " 'Mike!' he shouted, 'you'd better quit your fooling see? and come at once, for I ain't waiting any longer on you sabe! In fact, I'm going to give you just three more calls, Mike, and if you're not on the way by that time, why then, you can look out for squalls, I tell you; for, by the Holy Moses, I'll shoot for sure!' Then he immediately started to put his threat into execution. " 'Mike,' he began, are you coming? uno!' "No answer. " 'Mike,' for the second time, are you coming? dos!' "Still no answer. " 'Mike,' he continued, deliberately and 110 WASHINGTON HOUSE, slowly, 'for the third and last time, Mike, are you coming? tres!' "But never an answer did he get from me. And so, exasperated over my unyielding silence, he called out quickly : " 'Well, then, here she goes, Mike!' and the last word had scarcely escaped utter- ance when, lo! there was a terrible report, and a flash like lightning; then a bullet hissed by me, just an inch or so above the spot where I lay in bed dozing. "Quickly, I started as from some horrible nightmare, and was on my feet in a second scared to death, and shaking like a jelly- fish! In fact, it was only long after I had recovered from the shock, that I began to realize just what had happened, and the nar- row escape that I had had. Frankinton, too ; for he called out to me somewhat nervously : " 'For God's sake, Mike, are you hurt at all, old chap? talk out, will you? for the thing has given me the ague P "Then, I thought I heard him shiver