Panama and the canal in picture and prose ...

Front matter

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CHAPTER I. THE FRONT DOOR TO PANAMA g

Antilla, a New Sugar Port — The Island of Jamaica — Kingston, The Colonial Capital — Women as Burden Bearers — Characteristics of the Native Jamaican — Life of the Negro Woman.

Chapter II. Cristobal-colon; And The Panama Railroad. .■■.■■•: 23

The Approach to Colon — The Architecture and Population of Colon — Railroad Building in a Swamp — The French Come to Colon — The Beautiful Roosevelt Avenue — Colon Streets in the Early Days — ^The Varied Population of Colon — San Bias Indians and Their Cayucas — The Ghastly Story of the Chinese — Cost and Charges of the Panama Railroad.

Chapter III. Nombre De Dios, Porto Bello And San Lorenzo 45

The Harbor of Porto Bello — The First Appearance of Balboa — Early Indian Life in Panama — The Futile Indian Uprising — The First Sight of the Pacific — The Beginning of Balboa's Downfall — The Traitor in Balboa's Camp — The Character of Vasco Nunez de Balboa — Panama a Link in Philippine Trade — Flush Times in Porto Bello — 'The Piratical Raid of Sir Francis Drake — The Futile Attack on the Treasure Train — The Appearance of Morgan the Buccaneer —The Pillage of Porto Bello.

Chapter IV. San Lorenzo And Panama 75

The Waterway to San Lorenzo — Approach to San Lorenzo Castle — -A Rip Van Winkle of a Fortress — The Assault of the Buccaneers — The End of Porto Bello and San Lorenzo.

Chapter V. The Sack Of Old Panama 87

The Advance of the Buccaneers — The Banquet before Panama — The Buccaneers Triumphant in Battle — The Pirates' Orgy of Plunder — How Morgan Plundered His Pirates — The Scene of Morgan's Great E.xploit.

Chapter VI. Revolutions And The French Regime . . . .' 101

The Scottish Settlement in Panama — Disasters Beset the Scotch Colonists — The Repeated Revolutions of Panama — Early Projectors of a Panama Canal — Sea Level or Lock Canal — A Relic of the French Days — Some of the Finished Work of the French — The Financial Aberrations of De Lesseps — Yellow Fever's Toll of French Lives — The Value of the French Work.

Chapter VII. The United States Begins Work ; . 123

Why Panama Wanted Independence — Our Share in the Revolution — A Revolution Without a Single Battle — Treaty Rights of the United States — Illustrations of the Magnitude of the Canal Work — The Passage of the Canal Locks — Spectacular Features of Gatun Lake — The Abandonment of Canal Towns — The Pacific Terminus of the Canal — The Forts at the Pacific Entrance.

Chapter VIII. The Formative Period . : 147

The Beginning of Work under Wallace — The Absentee Commissioners and the Red Tape — The Successful War with Yellow Fever — The Change from Wallace to Stevens — The Varying Estimates of the Canal Cost — The Resignation of Engineer Stevens.

Chapter IX. Col. Goethals At The Throttle 161

What the Colonel Meant by Orders — The Colonel's Sunday Morning Court — The Autocratic Power of Col. Goethals — The Panama Work Shows Governmental Efficiency.

Chapter X. Gatun Dam And Locks 171

Atlantic Beginning of the Canal — The Plan of the Gatun Dam — How the Chagres Current was Blocked — The Spillway, The Nerve Center of Gatun Lake — The Uses of the Electric Power of Gatun — The Colossal Concrete Work at Gatun — The Motive Power of the Lock Gates.

Chapter XI. Gatun Lake And The Chagres River 187

The Native Affection for the Chagres — The Indispensable Native Cayuca — Keeping the Record of the Chagres — Cruces in Its Day of Greatness — Animal Life on the Chagres River — A Typical Foreign Laborer on The Zone.

Chapter XII. The Culebra Cut 201

The Great Problem of the Slides — The Physical Characteristics of the Slide — Some Peculiar Features of the Slides — The Explosive Experience of Miguel — The Gorgeous Coloring of Culebra — The Perilous Passage of Culebra Cut — The almost Human Work of the Steam Shovel — The Work of the Steam Shovellers — The almost Indispensable Track Shifter— The Industrious Ants of Panama — The End of the Canal at Balboa.

Chapter XIII. The City Of Panama 224

The First Appearance of Panama City — The Popular Panama Lottery — Panama's Cost of Living is High — Scenes in the Panama Market — The Prevalent Temper of the Panamanians — Why Americans are not Popular — American Sentiment on the Isthmus — The Public Buildings of Panama — The Stout Walls of Panama City — Scenes of the Mardi Gras Carnival — ^Cock-Fighting and the Liquor Trade — In the Ancient Chiriqui Prison — The Many Churches of Panama — Panama Clubs and Open Air Life.

2 CONTENTS (Continued)

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Chapter XIV. The Sanitation Of The Zone 253

Beginning the Warfare on Mosquitoes — Methods of the Anti-Mosquito Crusade — Some Humors of the Mosquito War — How the Streams are Sterihzed — Results of the War on Mosquitoes — The Two Great Canal Commission Hospitals — ■ The System of Free Medical Treatment — ^The Pleasant Village of Taboga — The Sanitarium and Leper Colony.

Chapter XV. The Republic Of Panama 273

The Doubtful Soil of Panama — The Simple Study of Native Life — The Building of the Bridegroom's House — Labor and Land Titles in Panama — Agriculture and Temperature in Panama — Rubber and Cocoanuts Offer Possibilities — The Sport of Shooting Alligators — A Colossal Agricultural Enterprise — The Banana as an Empire Builder — Why the American Flag is Rare — Getting the Bananas to Market — David and the Cattle Country — Gold from the Indian Tombs — Efforts for a System of Industrial Education.

Chapter XVI. The Indians Of Panama 305

Marriage Customs of the Indians — The Many Tribes of Panama Indians — Characteristics of the San Bias Tribe — An Exclusive Aboriginal People — Family Quarters of the San Bias — Customs of the Chocos and Guaymies — Peculiarities of the Darien Indians.

Chapter XVII. Social Life On The Canal Zone ■. . . 320

The Population of the Canal Zone — The Temptations to Matrimony on the Zone — The Gold and Silver Employees — • The Object Lesson of the Canal Zone — Why It is not at all "Socialistic" — ^In a Typical Canal Zone Dwelling — Some Features of Zone Housekeeping — Prices of Food at the Commissary — The Complicated Social Life of the Zone — Church Work and the Y. M. C. A.

Chapter XVIII. Labor And The Government Of The Zone 341

The Colossal Business of the Commissary — The Task of Feeding Forty Nationalities — ^The Stern Suppression of the Social Class — Evil Effect of the Abolition of the Canteen — Some Figures Concerning the Commissary Service — The International Agreement on the Commissary — The Police System of the Zone — The School System of the Zone — Agricultural Possibilities on the Zone — Future Possibilities of the Canal Zone.

Chapter XIX. Fortifications, Tolls, Commerce And Quarantine 363

Why Fortify the Canal at All? — The Suez Canal no Parallel — Some Details of the Fortifications — The Mobile Force on the Zone— The Sufficiency of Fortifications Planned — Effect of the Canal on Trade Routes — The Railroad Fight on the Canal — The Canal and the Flag — The First Immediate Advantage of the Canal — The Much-mooted Question of Tolls — Our Trade with Pacific-Latin America — Time Saved by Panama Canal Route — The Possible Commerce of the Canal — Some Phases of Our Foreign Trade — The Need of Our Own Ships and Banks — What Our Merchant Marine is — The Grave Question of Quarantine.