Show Letters hers i is 1 ren EDITED BY JOSEPH i J Jo 4 INSTALMENT 28 In the fall of 1906 the New York elections elections elections elec elec- were of national significance The president resident amazed the country by throwIng throwing throw- throw ing ng his influence for Hughes against Hearst in In the cont contest st for gov gov no National issues were at stake Jion he believed lie Secretary c Root was sent I to o Utica as spokesman of the administration lon tion in a statement attacking Hearst and backing sacking Hughes The first third j term talk alk began to be heard at this Juncture It was said that the fortunes of the Republican party and the fate f te of what were to become known as my policies I f would compel the president to to reconsider his decision not to run The again again The Ed Ed- I What the President Saw at at f Panama I U. U S. S S. S Louisiana I I At Sea Set Nov 20 1906 Dear Kermit Our visit to Panama was most successful suc- suc successful successful suc suc- as well as most interesting interesting- We were there three days and we worked from morning till tm night The fhe second day I 1 was up at a quarter to 6 and got to bed at a quarter to 12 and I do not believe that in the intervening intervening intervening inter inter- time save when I was dressing dressing dressing dress dress- ing there were ten consecutive minutes minutes minutes min min- utes when I was not busily at work in some shape or 01 form For two nays aay there were uninterrupted tropic rains without a glimpse of the sun and the Chagres river rose in a a. flood higher than any time for tor fifteen years so that we saw the thc climate at its worst It lt was Just what I desired to do It lt certainly adds to ones fines me pleasure to have read history and to appreciate the picturesque When on Wednesday we approached the coast and the Jungle jungle jungle Jun jun- gle covered mountains looked clearer and clearer until we could see the surf beating on the shores while there thero was hardly a sign of human habitation habitation habitation tion I t kept ept thinking of the four centuries centuries centuries cen cen- of wild and bloody romance mixed with abject squalor and suffering suffering suf suf- fering which had made up the history history his his- tory of the isthmus until three thre e years ears ago I 1 could see Balboa crossing at Darien Darlen and the wars between the Spaniards and the Indians and the settlement settlement setI set set- and the building up of the I quaint wall walled d Spanish towns and the trade across he seas by galleon ann ana overland nd by pack train and river canoe in gold and silver in precious stones and then the advent of the thc buccaneers buccaneers bucca bucca- and of the English seamen of Drake and Frobisher and Morgan and many many others and the wild de destruction destruction destruction de- de they wrought Then I thought of the rebellion ag against the Spanish dominion and the uninterrupted d and am bloody wars that followed the last oc occurrIng occurring occurring oc- oc when I became president wars the victorious heroes of which have their pictures frescoed on the quaint rooms of the palace at Panama City and In similar palaces In all capitals of these strange tU turbulent little half caste civilizations Meanwhile l the Panama railroad had been built b by Americans over half a century ago with appalling loss of life so that ItIs it itIs itIs Is said of course with exaggeration that every sleeper laid represented the Ole death of ot a man Then the tile French Tench canal company started work and for tor two or three e years did a good deal until It became evident that the task far tar exceeded its powers powers and then to miscalculation and inefficiency was added the hideous ed ed of adventurers ers ers- trying each to save savo something I from the general wreck an and the company company com corn pany closed with infamy and scandal i Now we have tal taken cn hold of th the job joh I We tie have difficulties with our own I people of of i t course 1 I ha haven t La q that it witt t e 6 Ali 1 Jong A and d dost post coat ost a little more than men now now ap ap- 1 predate but I believe that the work Is as being done with a very high degree both of ot efficiency and honesty and I 1 Iam Iam am am Immensely struck by the cha character ter of ot American who are engaged en engage engaged en- en gage 1 not merely in superintending superintend superintend- ing the work but in doing all the Jobs that need skill and intelligence The Tho steam shovels the dirt trains the machine shops and the like are all filled with American engineers conductors conductors con con- machinists boilermakers car car- penters enl rs the From ItOm the top to 0 the bottom these men are so handy so efficient so energetic that tho t it is a real pleasure to look at them Stevens the head engineer is a big fellow man of ot daring daring daring dar dar- ing and good sense and burly power All of these men are quite as formidable formidable able and would if it it were necessary dl dp do quite as much in battle as the crews of Drake and Morgan but as It ItIs itIs Is they are doing a work of infinitely more lasting consequence Nothing whatever remains remains' to show what wha t Drake Dral e and Morgan did They produced produced produced pro pro- I n n nb real effect down here but bu t Stevens and his men are changing the face of the continent care are are doing th the e greatest engineering feat of the ages I and the effect of their work will b be e felt while our civilization lasts I wen went t over everything that I c could could uld possiblY go over in the time at my disposal I examined the quarters of ot married and single men men white men and negroes I went ov over over r the ground of the Gatun andLa and andLa andLa La Boca dams went through Panama and Colon and spent a day in the Culebra cut where the great work is being done There the huge steam shovels are hard at it scooping huge masses of ot rock and gravel and dirt previously loosened by the drillers and dynamite blasters loading it on trains I which take it away to some dump either in the jungle or where the dams are to be built They are eating steadily into the mountain cutting it down and down Little tracks are laid on the side hills rocks blasted out and the great ton ninety-five-ton steam shovels shovels shovels els work up like mountain howitzers until they come to where they can with advantage begin their work of ot eating into and destroying the mountain side With intense energy men and machines machines machines ma ma- chines do their task the white men supervising matters and handling the machines while the tens of ot thousands of black men do the rough manual la labor labor labor la- la bor where it is not worth while to have machines do it It is an epic feat and andone andone andone one of ot immense significance The deluge of rain meant that many of ot the villages were knee Inee deep in water water water wa wa- ter while the flooded rivers tore through the tropic forests tit It is a real tropic forest palms and bananas breadfruit trees bamboos lofty ceibas and gorgeous butterflies and brilliant colored birds fluttering among the orchids There are beautiful bea flowers too All my old enthusiasm for natural history seemed to revive and I would have hive given a good deal to have stayed and tried to collect specimens It would be a good hunting country too deer and now and then jaguars and tapir and great birds that they call w wild turkeys there are alligators in the rivers One of ot the trained nurses from froma a hospital went to bathe in a pool last t August and an alligator grabbed hamby him ham by the legs and was making off with him but was fortunately scared awa away leaving the man roan badly injured I 1 tramped everywhere through the mu mud 1 Mother Iother did not do the roughest work and had time t to tb see more of ot th the e really picturesque and acid beautiful side of the life lite and really enjoyed herself I P P. S. S S. S The S-The The Gatun dam will make a alake alake alake lake miles long and the railroad now I goes on what will be the bottom of ot otI this lake and it was curious to think I that in n a few years great ships would be floating in water feet above aboe l where we were To be continued |