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DR W I SEYMOUR
Admiral Deweys insistence that a canal
be built has opened the eyes of con
gress so to speak- and that august
body has at last taken the matter up
in earnest reporting unanimously in
favor of building the long neglected
canal and dispatching a select commis
sion to investigate and report as to the
advantages of the rival routes It re
mains to be seen to what extent the
committee is susceptible as between
the Panaman and Nicaraguan claim
ants but Washington appears to have
already decided that the commission
has fixed upon or been fixed for the
Nicaraguan route However it is
stated on -good authority that the in
terests of the French stockholders in
the Panama canal have been purchased
by citizens of the United States and
that the work of construction is again
proceeding with great vigor The
capital stock of the company has been
increased from 530000000 to 8120000
000 A representative said The cost
of the completion of the work is esti
mated at Si00000000 and that one
half of that amount had already been
expended that the route is regarded as
the best and that the purpose of the
company is to press the work to com
pletion at the earliest practicable
date In spite of the disastrous fail
ure of the DeLesseps company there
are many eminent engineers who con
tend that tbe Pamama canal can be
completed at much less expense than
the Nicaragua canal could be con
structed and that the former has many
other advantages over the latter The
But until the Walker Congressional
Committee returns and reports it
were of course unfair to anticipate its
findings in the premises So much for
congress and the probable outcome of
legislation concerning the mucli de
sired canal
Let us turn now our thoughts ocean
ward and enjoy a mid winter trip from
New York to Panama and thence to
San Francisco At New York king
winter held sway but we had hardly
gotten outside of the snow mantled and
the ice bejeweled harbor before the
balmy and delightful influences of the
gulf stream were encountered causing
us to quit our top coats and seek the
deck unmindful of the arctic atmos
phere so near and yet so far that we
had so recently parted with The New
York Central American ships too were
rather comfortable and resting To be
sure they are not of the large luxuri
ous and fleet type that the American
European greyhounds are being build
ed for freight rather than passenger
traffic nevertheless one finds the to
date conveniences and requisites and
the seven days that are consumed be
tween iNew York and Panama pass
pleasantly and reposefully on the
shoreless deep What with agreeable
fellow travelers a week of ship life in
mid winter on the gulf stream is not
monotonous despite the sameness of
sea sky and sun for there is the
hearty appetite the wholesome air
evening games the library and the
cosmopolitan crew if one is inclined to
s K Xf X
V V V X t V
OURING IN TEMPTING TROPICS
A Water Dash From New York to Panama thence to San FranciscoFull of
Interest and FactsBiulding the Oreat lanal
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx
As a result of our lata war with Spain
and American expansion a Pan-American
ship canal is now a certainty and
the beginning of 1901 will prohably
witness a final choice of routes as be
tween the Panaman and Nicaraguan
contestants The international desire
to sever the isthmus has been pro
nounced for a century or longer and
the cause of no end of congressional
discussion but until the present time
the public in general has not demanded
definite action The Oregons trip
from California to Cuba during the
Spanish American war together with
capitalists who are behind the Pana
ma canal have absolute confidence in
the suceess of their great enterprise
and say that they neither need nor de
sire assistance
And so it may come to pass that if
congress blindly decides in favor of the
Nicaragua route the Panama canal
will be finished and operated as a pri
vate or toll ship highway As be
tween the Panama and Nicaragua
routes the former is at the narrowest
point of the Pan American neck and
therefore possible of economy in sched
ule as well as of cost of construction
J
Ha JBBHWnOtHBHBHI
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behemian entertainment I must not
forget to tell you of my first glimpse
of a school of flying fish on this trip
About the third day out and from that
on all through the tropics it was one
of my favorite occupations to study
these strangely winged fins They
hop out of the billowy blue and skin
the surface in defiant glee uncanny yet
fascinating in their very oddity The
southern seas teem with them
Hardly is one inside the tropics
before he catches glimpses of
the
hama Islands San Salvador is
first then Fortune and Castle
shortly comes charming Cuba
course now laid along the eastern
Ba
the
and
Our
end
of the late war island adjacent to Cape
Maysi and only a few miles distant
from the famous Santiago
It was not until we struck the Car
ibbean sea did I fully experience the
novelty of a tropical rain or deluge
There is nothing quite like a tropical
rain save perhaps another one Five
minutes more than suffices to saturate
everything and not even the awnings
are proof against its force Fortunate
ly it is as soon over as it comes and the
sun once again shines out in all its
splendor quickly dispelling the sus
picion of the apparently inverted sea
IJut so it is four five and six times a
day for one must remember we are
now in the midst of the trophical rainy
season
rFrom Cuba to Colon one sees no
more land but instead is surrounded
bya placid sea of a blueness beyond
description D One of the beauties of
the trip isj this wonderful coloring of
the water to be found in the tropical
zone Just six and three quarter days
from New York we rironDea anchor in
the Cbarbor of Colon the Atlantic
terminal of the Panama railway and
canal after a quick and quiet voyage
Adiews are not said here for we are
all passengers as far as Panama at
least C5 We land on the dock and im
mediately opposite to us is the funny
train -that is to convey us over the
isthmus and along the canal route
The moment one steps foot upon land
he realizes that he is in a different
world almost from anv he has ever
trod before Gigantic palms and cocoa
nut trees command attention on every
side and over all is the southern vul
ture lazily circling around in search of
food The newness of the scenes the
stillness of the birds impresses one
with the fact that he is indeed in the
land of Manana To be lazy does not
necessitate living in the tropics but
to live in the tropics necessitates being
lazy Little time is afforded to view
the sights of Colon nor is it needed as
the periodical revolutionists have ut
terly razed the major portion of the
town One sees all there is to see from
the railroad and once beyond the limits
of the town one is in the underbrush
Not the underbrush of our northern
land but the rank growth of palms
cane and rat shrubbery so thick one
must cut ones way Twas here as so
many know that the enermous loss of
life occurred in building the Panama
railroad Before the road was built
the ground was a vast swamp reeking
with fever and not until it was drained
was lite sate jnow an is entirely
changed but at what a terrible cost
for the saying here is that for every
tie placed a man laid down and died
Think of it Thousands perished be
fore the work was completed but not
in vain as the road is now one of the
greatest aids to commerce the world
has
There is no doubt that the canal
across the Isthmus of Panama will
prove as great a sanitary godsend to
Central America as the great drainage
canal is destined to prove to Chicago
The connecting of the Atlantic and
Pacific will drain and redeem the
marshes and swamps of Panama now
so fearfully and f atally unhealthy and
Dredging the Great Canal
establish a North American era in the
region Of course the completion of
the canal is going to exact countless
lives among the workmen just as the
building of the Panama railroad did
nevertheless the enterprise is inevit
able and like grim war the sooner
the dreadful work is over the better
that we may forget the ghastly record
in the great benefit to commerce that
is destined to follow The nations of
the twentieth century demand the
sacrifice
Contrary to the general belief the
Panama is an ancient and typical
South American city but situated as
it is at the head of the canal and term
inal of the railway it is commercially
important The business of the town
is mostly carried on by foreigners
the most prosperous of whom as a
class are the Chinese As my visit
was at the time a revolution was in
progress I could not form a very accur
ate idea of the business possibilities
but it afforded a capital opportunity
for studying a full fledged revolution
While the active operations were most-
only the rarest beof That it is possi
ble for North Americans to Income ac
climated and live healthily in the re
gion however is attested by the num
ber of Americans that are in evidence
all along the canal route Perhaps
American capital and civiKzatiohmay
redeem the Panama region and trans
form it into healtbfnlness and desira
bility after the order of reborn Cuba
and the Philippines respectively
The voyage up the Pacific is quite
as agreeable as that down the Atlantic
and quite as instructive withal About
P AN AM A -Street Scene and Water Vender
canal is being pushed and is well un
der way across the Central American
neck Indeed at least a full third of
all the work has been completed Evi
dences are apparent on all sides of the
extravagence and waste that were
practiced in DeLesseps day Expensive
machinery was purchased and left to-
rust Fearful waste has been suc
ceeded by a careful and business like
management and even as I write our
congressional commissioner are on the
ground looking over the work and are
to determine the advisability of our
ly in the interior yet evidences were
to be seen on all hands It was not an
unusual sight to see squads of political
prisoners being marched through the
streets and I give a view of a rebel
stockade It was impossible to tell
which side the natives favored for a
free expression of ones sentiment
other than for the government was a
dangerous utterance Added to the
unrest already felt on account of the
revolution was the riimor that Ecuador
was about to inaugurate one of its
own Martial law was declared but
twenty days are required to make the
Pacific trip but as all personal com
forts are well looked to and as the fre
quent short stops afford great interest
the time is none too long Puntarenas
the first stop is the principal seaport
town of Costa Rica As all the Central
American states are entirely depend
ent upon foreign manufactured arti
cles our cargo was a mixed one I
noticed with pleasure that most of
the articles were of American make
with a fair amount of German and
French goods respectively Their
PANAMAA Stockade of Political Prisoners
buying the canal and hastening its
completion Certainly the canal is
necessary and the demand for it is
growing every year of course The
savings to commerce will be fabulous
when ships are able to go direct and
quickly from one ocean to the other As
it now is three distinct handlings of
all cargoes are necessary at an aver
age expense of fifty four cents a ton
each time How many tons think you
are transported in this manner
fortunately not until my passport had
been vised and I was free to depart
Central America and Panama are
extremely trying to a fresh and vigor
onsNorth Americanand more apt than
otherwise to make him ill in transit
except he exercises the utmost care
and haste The heat filth and squalor
are appalling the climate prostrating
and the people incomprehensibly de-
praved To thwart the lurking fevers
I subsisted on dry bread and ventured
ports consist of coz sn ir hides
and indigo Much improvement is nec
essary in the native to make him self
supporting and were the climate less
favorable serious difficulties would
arise After Puntarena Corinto La
Litertad Acajulla San Jose de Guata
mala Champerico and Acapulco are
visited in quick succession The boat
is rarely out of sight of land until
Cape Coventer passed on the California
coast and the scenery is in many
t y f W90LW - r B
PANAMAExcavating the Canal