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Show AMERICANS on tAe ISTHMUSn vW' .i r$ - .,- " j-j 'i w1 - - ' families, whose members possess education edu-cation and refinement, and those that are there are not especially fond of Americans. Consequently there la not much social intercourse between the two races. The social activities of the Arnerlcau have three general centers the Tlsvll club, the Washington Cotillon Co-tillon club and tbe Young Men's Christian Chris-tian association. The first two are dance organizations and give balls alternate al-ternate fortnights at the Tlvoll hotol In A neon and the Washington hotel In Colon. These affairs are quite formal and attract the best of the Americans from all parts of tbe soue. As for the Y. M. C. A., its work on the Isthmus really deserves a chapter to Itself, for It has been one of the big factors In the successful building of the rsnsl. At first It was found Impossible Im-possible to persuade men from the United Uni-ted States to remain long on the Isthmus. Isth-mus. The psy wss good, the work Interesting, In-teresting, but homesickness found easy victims and they resigned and went back to the States In discouraging discourag-ing numbers. Several remedies wer tried, and finally the commission established es-tablished a club house In every tone town of any size and wisely put them In chargo of the Y. M. C .A. In these bousea are billiard rooms, bowling alleys, al-leys, gymnasiums, soda fountains, libraries, li-braries, lounging rooms and a dozen other conveniences, and each bouse has a hall large enough for dances and amateur dramatics and musical enter-ta! enter-ta! amenta. The secretaries In charge have been exceedingly active In the organization of bowling, baseball, billiard bil-liard and other leagues, and the tourneys tour-neys are continuous and of great Interest In-terest Of course no Intoxicating drinks are to be'found In these clubs, but In other respects they are conducted conduct-ed on lines so liberal as to be sometimes some-times surprising. In one of them for Instance, I ssw a number of young men and women dancing In tbe ball, to ' the music of a phonograph, Immediately Immediate-ly after the close of the Sunday evening eve-ning religious service. This may have been an exceptional case, as it waa In one of the more Isolated towns. In A neon, Cristobal and some others oth-ers of the larger American towns flour lulling women's clubs have been maintained, main-tained, and these were united In a zone federation wblch dissolved only this year, feeling thst Its work was done with the virtual completion of the canal. The clubs bare done a great deal In the way of philanthropy and study, and many social functions are given under their auspices. As may readily be comprehended, life for Americana In tbe tone Is much llko life In an American suburban suburb-an town, and It has some of the disadvantages disad-vantages of the latter. Gossip and social so-cial Jealouslea are prevalent here, as there, and not a few women have been driven back to tbe States by them. Disputes over promotions and the assignments as-signments of living quarters cause bit terness and estrangements, and of course there are Innumerable complaints com-plaints of undue Influence "pull" In these matters. In some cases It must be admitted there baa been cause for these complaints, and, sad to say, , often woman has been the csuse. Iter Influence with certain of the high officials of-ficials cannot be doubted, and some- 1 times It baa reaults that are to be do- 1 plored. Here Is one Instance of the power 1 exerted fcy "pulL" A man for some I years has held a responsible position po-sition with the Panama Hallroad com- . pany, and who bas a wife, two daugh- ( ters snd a young son, bas been waiting long for housekeeping quarters, which 1 are at a premium. Twd minor clerks 1 ot the railway bad been attenUve to ' the daughters, but, being objectionable to the father, were discouraged. Hut Lhe clerks bsd some Influential con- j Dections, and In revenge bsve so con- j Irlved things that the family In ques- ( Lion bas been passed by repoatedly In ho assignment of housekeeping quar- ( ters. Tbe father and son live In one building, the mother and daughters In mother, and all must tske their meals 1 it the hotel. ' Naturally, not many of the Amer 1 leans on the Isthmus wUl remain I there after the completion of the I anal. A few of the doctors may en ' tsge In general practice there rome tlready bare done so and some of , lhe workmen may And the tropic cIV- . mate so to their liking that they win itay. Put nearly all are looking rath-r rath-r eagerly to the time when they can ! eurn to the states. The engineers ind physicians no doubt will find that " iie experience they have had wlU be nvaluable to them In the getting of t positions and practice when tney 'ini home. Put to readjust them- t elves to the old conditions of living t nay not be easy for the men aad , romea who have bees ti the (one Urn , 'ears. Colon, C. Z. For tbe American resident res-ident of the Canal Zone life is not all beer and skittles. Thero Is plenty of beer, but I have not seen a skittle here. I'erbaps I would not have recognized one If I had seen It The Amurlcsn In a foreign land Is not so tenacious of his home customs as Is the Knglishmsn, and In Panama be finds himself not only In a tropic cltate but In the midst of a civilization Much older than his own. Consequently Conse-quently be yields In nisny particulars to the customs of that clime and that civilization. The mid day siesta of two hours, when he disrobes and dozes In a cool room, the dip In the ocesn bo-fore bo-fore dinner and the evening stroll In tbe plaza all appeal to him as to the native and have become a part of bla life there. At the same time the Influx of northerners north-erners has had Us effect on tbe Panamanians, Pana-manians, especially, perhaps, In tbe matter of sports. liuDflghts no longer are to be seen here and cock' lighting has suffered a marked decline. In place of them the native now enjoys frequent wrestling matches and prizefights, prize-fights, Indulges In tennis to some extent ex-tent and bas taken kindly to the national na-tional American sport of baseball. It Is the American woman on whom the changed conditions of , life bear hardest, for housekeeping on the Isthmus Isth-mus Is attended by many annoyances. A good many people have the Idea that a woman In the tropics lies in a hammock ham-mock all day and at meal time picks her food from tha branches of trees that shade her resting place. As a matter of fact she must do her household house-hold shopping as at borne, snd the domestic do-mestic problem Is with her here as there, only more so If possible. For clothipc and standard groceries she usuafty goes to tbe store of the commissary com-missary department, where she can buy well an" Vapry. Hut for " fruit and many of the vegetables there Is the dally trip to tbe market. In that spacious building! aw speaking now of Colon and Panama are scores of booths and tables, attended by Jamaicans, Jamai-cans, Chinese and native Panamanians, and plied bigh with taro, breadfruit, sou rasps, gusvss, papayas, bananas, plantains, alllgstor peara, stewjoes, oranges, or-anges, cocoanuts and a dozen other tropical products. The layout Is tempting, tempt-ing, but the purchasing Is a task. Such a thing as a fixed price Is unknown and one must bargain diligently or get the worst of It And the Insolence of the neero women Is often commensurate with their Ignorance. The native meat market Is quite "Impossible" for white people from the I'nlted States, for the meat roughly hacked, Is sold immediately immedi-ately after slaughtering, and the screening enforced by the American sanitary department Is rendered Ineffective Inef-fective by open doors. The domestic servsnts employed by Americans in the sone sre almost all Jamaican negresaes. They are nest and clean, but their stupidity usually Is monumental. Rvery detail of the household operations must be driven 1 Into their hesds, and their minds seem- : Ingly are on the Island home they have ' left, for their memory Is almost nil I snd their eyes see little close at hand. 1 Then, too, after a year or so of service and saving they begin to think of re- I turning to Jamaica and grow "weary." I Why, lllancbe," said one shocked I housewife, "here It Is eleven o'clock 1 ind tbe breakfast dishea and kitchen things not wsshed, and the ants all ver them!" j "Oh, marm. I couldn't do them, I'm i io exharttrd this morning," was lilancha's reply. t Thst's a mild sample of what must I e contended with. i Speaking of ants, there Is another ot f be annoysncea of housekeeping In thai t roplcs. Tbe ants are everywhere, in t icbelievsble numbers and moat extra- t irdlnary activity. Screens do not keep t hem out nor Insect exterminators die- t oursge them. .They must simply be t ndured. If they take a fancy to a t ilcely growing garden of young vegn- t sblee, they cut and carry oft all the I caves In a night It Is the so-called s af ant that does that All over the a ithtnus he is to be seen, moving In recessions along well beaten paths. ach Individual carrying a leaf or I ther bit of foliage. One day I saw a c jng line of them moving through the g parse turf, all cairrlng tiny red bine- a oma cut from a sow 11 weed. It wss t very picturesque miniature parade, t 'o place and no age bas been free s rom the cockroach, and In Panama he e rows to an enormous size aad spends r ome of his time and energy eating a se covers of bound books. t Rust and mould add to the woe of li lie American housekeeper- and many p rtlcle ehe must keep In "dry cloaeta" r i which electric lamps are kept burn- . n There are not la Panama a great uay of the old pure-blooded Spanish y |