TTTTC RTTVDAT OHECOMAy. PORTXA?iT- FERRTTATIT 11, U s
CITY OF PANAMA OFFERS QUAINT SCENES TO THE TOURIST
Canal Is Not Only Attraction Worthy of Study, Says Writer Warm-Blooded Eesidents Enjoy Excitable Pastimes. - .
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r SEA. off Casta Rira.re. 1. Aa
you 1t th Iithmui of Pmnm
on th trip up th Pacific Coaat of
Central America, with San Francisco
and Oregon aa distant objective points
of the Ions; homeward-bound voyage,
the bustle and activity of the actual
canal construction work, like the tropi
cal coast line, quickly mrrfri Into easy
nothingness.
Almost with rellcr. yon let yourself
forget, for the minute, the wonderful
work that our wonderful army of ditch
diggers Is accomplishing on the Zone.
Awe-inspiring statistics are banrshed
from your mind, you erase to think In
figures and dream dreams of yardage
and hope with the rest of your Amer
ican brothers on the Job that new rec
ords of arromp'.labmenl will be made
on the morrow.
And s!l at once It comes over you that
there are other things back there on the
Isthmus, fast gilding astern, beside the
physical accomplishments of the per
sistent Yankee steam shovels and dirt
trains and dredges.
rtetareeejao Fratarea Maay.
So, considering the four busy weeks
passed so pleasantly In the quaint trop
ical land. It seems but fair to the reader
and to the land Itself that something be
written concerning Its own picturesque
features. lest the Oregonlans who may
be planning the canal trip after ISIS
get the Impression that the canal le
Ianama. and that that la all there la of
Interest for the Isthmian sightseer.
Panama, nest to Guatamala, la the
most interesting of all the Central
American countries. Historically It la
even more fascinating than Is Guate
mala. The latter land's special hold
upon our attention Is Its debased politi
cal condition and almost unbelievable
backwardness. Later letters will de
scribe some of Guatemala s barbarism,
for barbarism there truly is. In thla
land of which so little la knowa by
Americans.
What is there to do and see in Pan
ama? Perhaps the best way to answer A
part of that query is to give a brief
account of a Sunday recently spent by
the writer in the city of Panama. It was
not a particular edifying Sabbath, but
it made up in variety and interest what
tt lacked la edification.
Old ratbedral Qaalaf.
At the Ttvoll Hotel you may step
into one of a dosen neat little carriages
and be taken to any part of the city for
the delightfully reasonable fare of 10
cents. That. by. the way. la about the
end. aa It la the beginning, of reason
ableness In things financial on the
l.'thmul
It being the Sabbath, the cathedral on
the Central Plasa well may be visited
first. It Is a typically Spanish church,
of rock coated with tinted plaster, and
with two rather squat towers facing
the plaxa. The building was erected
after the destruction of Old Panama by
Morgan in 1(71. the then btshop re
cruiting a great army of slaves, whom
he put to work on the structure, the
only condition and recompense of their
unwilling employment being that when
the church was completed they all
would be freed. From which It Is to be
Imagined that there was no loafing
among the workers. Pearl fishers from
the bay of Panama also were called
In to aid 'ho results of their Industry
being visible today In the coating of
mother of pearl shells which adorn
the outer wa.ls of the towers around
the belfries.
Lattery la EaHtlaa
Acroes the plaza from the cathedral
Is the palace of the present bishop. It
Is chiefly notable because la it is the
office ct the lottery, where 1:5.000 of
everybody's money Is squandered each
week.
On the particular Sunday In question
we migrated from the church to the
lottery. With a fortunate Introduction
to Gabriel Iocque. the concessionaire
who controls the lottery aa he does
most other profitable things in Pan
xt we were admitted behind, the.
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counters, and saw the drawing; take
place. Hundred of natives. Jamaicans,
Chinese and the riff raff of creation,
crowded outside the railings that sep
arated the office, where we were, from
the outer room where occurred the
actual drawing.
The lucky number Is decided by a
small boy or gtrl, who whirls around a
species of metal basket, from which,
after the whirling, he pr she fishes out
an Ivory ball, which is unscrewed and
contains a single number. The process
Is repeated six times, the combination
of figures so procured making up the
final winning number.
Daeeja latereatla; His.
Ducque. by the way. la one of the
most interesting figures on the Isth
mus. He came to Panama from Cuba
4i odd years ago. and has remained
ever since, through the French boom
days and all the upa and downs of
Isthmian prosperity and discourage
ment. And In the meantime he has
been accumulating wealth and the
things that go to make up power. He
now controls the lottery, owns the
chief newspaper, has Important inter
ests In ice Ad lighting works, and la
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generally associated with about
all
that la considered a good thing."
Ducque Is an American by natural
isation. For many years his news
paper has been an American corpora
tion, a course found expedient In the
days when Panama was a part of Co
lombia and the Bogota government
would have wreaked dire vengeance
upon the outspoken editor and his sheet
had the latter not been thoughtful
enough to keep under the protecting
folds of the Stars and Stripes. In
cidentally, the Panamanian editor Is a
notable father. He Is credited with
having 40 children. . While the number
may be exaggerated, there is no doubt
that this gray-haired business man
has done much to merit the title of
"Father of His Country." with which
he often Is dubbed. And he Is In no
wise ashamed of his promiscuous pa
ternalism, and speaks quite freely of
it. A most creditable feature of the
elastic family is that each and every
child Is said to be cared for with ad
mirable generosity and It Is well known
that the schools of the United States
are educating many of the editorial
offspring. A stranger combination, of
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shrewdness, strength and generosity
than is presented in the character of
this quaint personality It would be dif
ficult to encounter in any clime.
Walta Heard A gala.
There is a large and creditable the
ater, unfortunately not "In eruption"
during the visit cronlchled. But echoes
of the last travelling European opera
company were yet thick In the air.
Need it be stated that these echoes
were the inevitable and unescapable
strains of that unkillable "Merry
Widow Wa'ts?" Tou may go to Pata
gonia or Mount McKlnley. but you
cannot get out of hearing of that ever
lasting melody, Tha writes encount
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tered it again in the remote districts
of Salvador, late at night, during a
quaint native "Passion Play." It
spoiled the ceremony.
Inevitably you get to the sea wall,
the outpost of the old city Jutting out
Into Panama Bay. It is a rarely beau
tiful place to ramble there upon a
great pile of historic masonry, with the
limpid waters of the Pacific stretch
ing out to the soft horizon and the
softer clouds fl.atlng laxlly above it,
and with the brilliant colorings of the
piled up tinted walls of the city, sur
mounted by the church towers behind.
Yet with all Its beauty there ae
many; American families who have
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lived at Panama for years and never
have been to the sea wall. Indeed, it
would be hard to find a place where
the provincialism of the average
American is better illustrated. Trans
plant him and put him to work and
the Yankee has no desire to look be
yond the end of his nose.
Scenic Beauties Unseen.
There are many men and women on
the Canal Zone who never have seen
one-tenth of the scenic and hlstor.c
wonders of the adjacent country and
never will try to see them.
In an Isolated corner of Guatemala
the writer encountered an educated
American, who lived one mile from tue
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1 f rJsto1;t till
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most wonderful and elaborate preliif.
torlc ruins and stone carvings in all
Central America. He had never gor
to them. He preferred to raise ba
nanas morning, noon and night; 1-
thought and dreamed bananas, and T.aa
content. When he had made his "pile"
he said he was going to "hit the trail
for God's country," meaning Broadway
and theater parties with lobsters and
Welsh rarebits. Incidentally. he
greatly regrett-d that the' ruins 'i
question were being preserved, first
because he wanted the excellent ba
nana land they were on, and secondly
because the prehistoric stones would
make the finest kind of ballast for his
banana railroads.
But then, there are plenty of people
in jregon who have never Leen to.
Mount Hood, seen Crater Lake, or
ta.cen the trip up the Deschutes Can
yon. Below the sea wall on which you
walk are many dungeons. They are
not pleasant p'aces.
Prison Conditions Bad.
In the upper part of the prison, in an
open ward, we came upon a young
Chinaman and a lltle negro boy. The
former told us that lie was in "on sus
picion." After being held ten months
for an alleged theft he was tried and
found innocent by a jury of three, but,
despite his acquittal, was still retained
for a new trial. Doubtless there was
another side to the case, but the fact
remained that the lad, of about IS
years, had been kept in a jail none too .
clean for ten months without trial. "It
is possible," was the comment of
Americans to whom the incident was
mentioned.
While It Is not recommended as an
altogether appropriate adjunct to the
day. a Sunday afternoon visit to a cock
fight can prove a very entertaining di
version. As a sporting event it Is
rather more exciting than the bloodiest
college football match, and as an op
portunity to see Spanish America ex
cited and absolutely with its conven
tional sleeves rolled up, so to speak. It
is unequalled.
Fare Chief Aim.
When you direct your cabby to take
you to the cock pit he is apt likely to
show some astonishment, for well
dressed Gringoes are not in the habit
of frequenting the arena of the prize
fighting chanticleers. However, Just
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