Show ef 1 H I 1 I 1 E f A JI r 77 V w colon c Z in writing or talking about tho the Pa panama canal the tive live degree la Is very likely to be overworked the bennal ennal itself Is tho the big gest thing of the kind ever under taken the locks are unequalled unequal led in size tho the work of tho the department ol of sanitation Is the most remarkable ever carried out and BO be it goes alt there is one other feature of tho the building of tile the canal that caus calls loudly for the superlative degres deg reethe the commissary department and the way in which it has fed the zone not fed it only either but largely clothed it and supplied dt It with household feces bithis and even een luxuries tile tho commissary department la Is a department apartment part ment of tile the panama railroad w aich la Is owned by the united states and of which chairman Goot goethals hals Is president As stated the commissary department of tho the panama railroad is operated by the subsistence department of the isthmian canal commission for tile tho purpose of supplying employee emp loyes of the panama railroad and isthmian canal commission and their families with foodstuffs wearing apparel and household necessities and also supplying food for the hotels hospitals messes and kitchens operated by the isthmian canal commission and for the united states soldiers and marines ma marl rines nes located on the isthmus of panama and ships of the united states navy it la is estimated that the department supplies about people dally daily computing onn dependent for each employed emp loye the business of the department fr for the fiscal years ending juno june 30 1912 was 68 to transact which it is a nece necessary sary to carry cairy a stock valued mt at a t l obo r w that sounds dealy r os albut tn in truth the operations orthis of this great bustness business machine are almost romantic roe rhe vr asels leeis orabe of tha panama railroad in unending procession bring to the docks at cristobal tile the vast bulk of supplies and as continually these are sent out to the score ot of stores maintained by the department along the route of the canal and at poro pork bello every evening each storekeeper er telegraphs to the headquarters in ili cristobal the list of supplies of which he la in need and during tile the night the c cars are ire ro loaded at each morning the long supply train starts out fro from in colon it consists of 21 cars 11 of which are refrigerated and the food and ice ara distributed along the r route so go that diat they may be delivered to the quarters gu arters of 0 families by 8 in cristobal Is the biggest store of ill all and aid it compares well with the huge department stores of american cities there may bet be obtained all kindie of food stuffs american and european Sur Tur clothing for mem and women furniture household wares supplies for tra travelers cigars and cigar dittes indeed almost anything any thing one might call for except intoxicating rinks articles from foreign lands being imported by the government itself of cauree pay no duty and consequently such things as fine english chinavare can be bought there at prices tar far below those charged in tile the states it is raid eald on tho the isthmus and generally relieved that th the e members of congressional junketing parties which from almo me to time go down to inspect the canal always carry home them a lot of 0 this choice por at the tha head ot of the commissary department part ment Is the subsistence officer col eugenta wilson whose huge physical bulk Is well matched by hla his great executive ability it would seem that no better man could possibly have been found for the po position altion for lie he has hag in hand band every detail of the immense business and ana it runs like clockwork seldom Is a complaint heard beard from even the most exacting of housewives and when one Is registered it Is 13 courteously received and the fault it if one exists promptly rectified cleanliness before godliness every eimil alm la Is colonel Wll sona motto and though it Is not posted on any wall every employed understands that hla his job depends primarily on his cle cleanly aull elcas in cristobal are the tha great cold storage bakery coffee plant lea ice plant ice cream plant corneil corned beet plant butter printing plant and laundry rind and in every one ot of them unwritten rule bo be clean Is adhered to with tha utmost care Now nowhere heie it if it Is IH abe there e personal con tact with the food and the nume numerous rouEl and ingenious automatic machines aro are kept scrupulously clean now nov lets got gat back to figures in ili order to obtain some idea ot of tho magnitude of the commissary departments operations take the cold storage plant farst in its cubic feet of refrigerated are kert kept constant constantly I 1 on hand meat and vegetable supplies suppell ait ot toj tf ji days at least in sodie some id ln stances much more hanging in long rows in ili tho the icy cold rooms are the carcasses ot of beeves and hugs hogs and sheep in duo due proportion in ili other rooms not so cold aro are tons of potatoes rod d vast quantities ot of anions turnips beets carrots cabbages bams yams celery tomatoes and other vegetables et la yet other rooms are ten tons of poultry and elsewhere are arc boxes ot of fruit without number and this enormous supply la Is dally daily depleted and dally daily renewed adjoining the cold storage plant Is tho the bakery in whose immense ovens ovena are baked each working day about loaves of broad bread 2200 rolls and pounds of cako the coffee department part purt ment which roasts and sends out about pounds of the tha roasted berry each year receives therspe the espe especial caal attention ot of colonel wilson lor for he Is himself a great coffeo coffee drinker lie he personally makes up the formulas tor for tho the blends and as something of a coffee coty fee connoisseur myself I 1 can testify that he knows what he to la about when he does it tho the people ot of tho the zone white and black alike are very fond of ice cream and to supply the domand demand the mhd commiss lary manufactures about gallons a year of three grades the first grade Is as aa good ice crena as one can get anywhere and oven even the third grade Is mighty welcome after a hot hoi day in the culebra cut or tho pedro maguel locks freyou are you tired it if not please consider that tho the ice plant at cristobal makes nearly tons tona of ice a year the corned beet beef plant has haa an annual output of about i pounds and thit that almost pounds ot of butter to Is handled by the butter buttri r fi hillh avant all batte being brought from the united states then wa va will move to the laundry laundr y in this s spacious building with its long lone rows of washing machines and drying and ir ironing devices all tho the laundry work of the kone excepting that of the ancon hospital ledone Is done and in addition that of all the steamship lines running to colon except ane one we aro are now handling said the manager an average of about will bait a million pieces a month and in the months when the tourists como come la in greatest numbers the figures mount to about the flig figures ures I 1 have been giving are approximate only tor for they are ara changing continually with changing conditions I lere here to la a list of some eoma of th tha 0 more important importations ot of food products during the last fiscal year pounds pens peas and aind beans in bulk sugar i sl tea i 1 1 1031 11 preserved reserved fruit in in tins and glass i I 1 janis jams jellies and preserves preserve Vi in ilna fiL and glass milk eva evaporated evaporate rind and condensed peas and beans beana in tins i pickles end and sauces j ini 1 L lard rd C codfish 0 dal 1002 71 itice 19 3 flour 4 confectionery macaroni vex vermicelli and rid spaghetti ati p F fish ish canned fresh moats moat cured wid and P pickled IC aneata rn eata a is cheese i I butter resli fresh poultry 1 1 I potatoes white I 1 58 potatoes potato e 9 sweet 1 I 1018 39 on onions on s 4 T turnips u r s C carrots ar rol fa 11 aiji i ji cabbage yarris Mi other vege vegetables iw G 17 apples i As will be readily understood the co commission Is able and willing to sell food at very little above cost canse consequently the housewife on the isthmus can buy at prices priced that thac are never above t those hose in the states and that nearly always are considerably lower an important part of tho the commis sary plant to la the industrial and experimental perl peri mental laboratory in cristobal where all the foods are tested and many things such As aa flavoring extracts are manufactured the commission conducts more than a dozen hotels for white americans where good meals are furnished for 30 30 cents each a score of mess mesa balls for eu european an la laborers borers where a day daya a board costs forty cents and ab about out twenty alko kitchens tor for west indian laborers where board casts thirty cents a day something filhe a million meals are se served aryed each mouth month in carlous estal ill for nearly evary employed of 0 the commission elta eats at a 0 government table it has been vald that no private contractor in the world feeds his hill empl byes as well as tho the esth talati canal commission very tw few of toe the men ever ate better meals than thley 7 are getting on the isthmus and this is true of the americana americans as aa well al a of the Spaniards and west indians indian no YO you u cannot avoid th the 0 use of toe the superlative degree in speaking about abou colonel olsons commissary commissary depart debar went |