Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, May 25, 1902, Page 30

Diplomats on the Isthmian Canal Question (Copyright, 192, by Frank G. Carpenter.) it g SHINGTON May (8 of preliminary work had to be done before ’\."III:(.I‘ N, May ‘YI"" fal the real operations could commence. orrespondence of The Bee.)— Houses had to be built for the officials and Where shall we build m]r' ik workmen. Tuere was ne timber to epeak canal across the isthmus The st and the most of the lumber was brought answer to this is given in the from the United States. Some of the houses following interviews with the ministers were finished in the United States and sent from the ccuntries of the principal routes n pieces to Panama and thcre put together Each man thinks his government has the Hospitals had to be erected, and you find best proposition and each has little good hese now at both ends of the line. A city to say of the scheme of the other But 1 grew up at Colon and that at Panama in- shall let the diplomats speak for them- reased in size, so that today you hav | elves. 1huses, hospitals, offices and cities with | My first interview was with the minister which to do your work from .‘;’u aragua His .';‘ ellency’s n:mwl is “You have also the Panama railroad Senor Luis F. Corea e is a highly edu- ady to transport materials and to lay | cated Central .\HHHv an, who, during his them down along the line of the canal 'j idence in Washington, has .nuuur:fl (‘hn This road is well equipped and running | English tongue v that it was in English It was constructed in the early 00's, when (.h‘.v our conversation was held. Said Senor the prescnt sanitary arrangements had not ":l:' a been made, and it consequently cost an There is no qu !w‘u w,-‘u that the best cnormous lcss of life A similar road will |\m|!u for the w.m.:l is the Nul‘ ,u,lr Inn rulvnr-, have to be built along the line of the Nica- ‘our engineers have so decided, and it ¢ g J ’ ragua canal if you choose that route and it seems to me that all the arguments, both will cost many lives to construct it. The sanitary and financial, are in its favor. By Panama road and canal have led to settle- Nicaragua your Pacific and Atlantic states vati 3 nents along the line and the excavations u'u- “’“I'\r| :I,u h nllln ¢ by l\lu :luia ‘(‘huu iave aided in draining the lowlands so that they would be at Panama cana \ere he country there is healthful today. We could be more casily maintained, and in the " a4 f siaw fa snes . end it would be far cheaper than the Pan- L ‘”‘ »l“dlf S u ag L 3 1 some years and I feel safe in saying that . v'”}»’v‘w’“““.. ; fo there is now no danger to the health ; ‘I w' I.nuv;ml‘x advocates make different \mericans at Panama.” claims,” salc “Yes,” replied Senor Corea. “It is easy Labor Question. to make any sort of a claim, but more dif- “But, suppose we buy the canal, senor, ficult to support it by facts. Let us look can you supply the ]‘n., r needed to com- at the facts. The Panama Canal company R Sy R ” o - . plete it?"” ban ‘alvakdy apant: $380,600,000: RALTLEHAN SENOR LUIS F. COREA, MINISTER FROM NICARA SENOR CARLOS MARTINEZ SILVA, MINISTER FROM CTikEaR L At 0t Hnubiat ¢ | completed about one-fourth of the under- GUA=Thoto Taken' for The Hee. COLOMBIA—Fhoto Take n for The Bee. ting ‘:)ud \l\‘t::I 1::~l'x| “\II:I\‘I'( :;:”l’r‘inmv:: |-| | . k ‘ F ring 3 | taking. It is willing to -“"“l “h"l :“‘“”'{ 10 and grazing lands. We could easily feed there in raising bananas, pineapples, co- thrcugh the Isthmus of Panama and that over from Jamaica and others of the West :""‘. ‘l"“‘l“llf"\j‘f‘l-" ,r”; *‘“'|"""v'"“'“- “'“:’“!';l"_' all the workmen needed, and we have water coanuts and rubber.” if your country does not make it some Indies islands and we can supply much | ¢ nited States has bough 185 gnd rallroad communications which would “What are the opportunities for such other parties will. What we want is to ses from Colombia itself We have a large three-fourths of the canal to make. At the put your supplies just where you want men?” the United States buy out th: French, and number of idle people who would seek work same rate fon the first fourth the expense them, We have now one of the most pro- “They are very great if they can only We belicve that you will find it to your in- of you, and the employment ot these would | would be $720,000,000. It might be done for gressive rulers of this hemisphere, Gen- wait a while for their crops to come into terest to do so.” take away a part of our revolutionary | less, but the cost will be enormous ,.-.m' Jose ,\‘:mllns; Zelaya. He was educated pearing. In rubber it takes about seven Panunma Versus N.caragun, forces. It would render the government Our Gold Goes to France. in Horops and has traveled widely, 'Kle 8 yedrs to ralse!ithe fress, butiatter that = iigiiinose ‘the United Siates does that, Eccure and would gracually make Colombla very broad in his views and he realizes (jje they pay very well. I am interested ”l 11 b the richest and mcest important of the “There Is one thing,” continued Senor Co- that the canal will greatly help our coun- j, plantation which has 25,000 trees. i uf” AL H L L S 4 pal B i G 8L South American states.' rea, “‘the av . , » try and people. He will do all that he can qpay . ;y; 't would not have on the Nicaragua route rea, “that I have not seen mentioned in the y @ pie. ke ? b They are now five years old and will “It would have the difference between “But the Isthmus of Panama is thinly sldere e 1t to aid your government and will grant all . R i Sah Ll Dl 2 i consideration of this Panama proposition. produce rubber about 1904. The trees cost i { advanta yopulated, is it not said 1 b : : necessary concessions. At first it was pro- " comething and nothing. All the advantages POPUlL £ 1 st . The United States is, I know, the richest spaail. RS S ' as ¥ but a trifle to plant and care for. We grow ,re with the Panama r >, It is the short- “*No. It has more inhabitants than mcs . o2 ; 0 b posed to create a neutral zone of three are with the Panama route. Il is the shol , . G country of the world, but can it afford to the sprouts in nurseries and have the In- st proute, the most economical route, the bpcople think rcplied Senor Silva. “The take $40,000,000 right out of its circulation miles on each side of the canal. This or 2 o ' s LAt s L ol s : i A T ake ) ! ight out ¢ : d \iythihg eise that is necessary will be dians set them out at 25 cents per task. piute with the fewest locks and the rou:e Isthmus of Panama belongs to a province and give it to France. If this deal is made ‘ulwu nllh!'ll).'.ll ‘l»v Sup ““‘"\"i-“m“" 6 A task means the setting out of a certain (hat could be maintained at the lowest cost. Which has an area four times as big as your government will have to pay $40,000,- (n""“" &1 the land toia f‘m‘,g'“ power. We number of trees. The Indian may do it in [t is a route that has been tested by ex- Massachusetts. There are parts of it 000 to the French and you will have noth- can, however, lease it in perpetuity, and three hours, four hours or eight hours, but periments and actual work. which have great natural resources, and, ing in return for it but the chance to spend (lhlq' eyl |l;.- ufio thing." Z he is paid by the task without regard to “The Nicaragua line is absolutely unde- together with the rest of Colombia, it will hundred of millions more. If you take up o EAL g : { 4 time. After the trees are once set out veloped. Surveys have been made, but no furnish an enormous field for American g Hew about the health conditions along & Y the Nicaragua canal you will have to spend the line of the canal, Senor Corea?' said they receive but little attention until they practical experiments have shown the pos- capital.” less money eventually and the greater part I. “Can our people live and work l’hvre”" are ready for cropping. sible expense of construction. You know “Suppose the Panama canal is chosen, wili of the money will remain right here. It will “Certainly they can,” replicd the mints- ' There are a good many opportunities for of the railroad tunnel which they are now Americans have any special advantages in | all go toward the purchase of American ..~ . have gone over the reports of your Making money in cocoanuts and bananas, making in New York. Before that tunnel colombia?" | machinery and supplies with the exception engineers and surveying parties. They and also in coffee. About one-third of our was dug all sorts of borings and experl- “I should think so,” replied the Colom- of the comparatively small amount pald out for wages." “But the same will be ama canal, will it not?" “To some extent, but nothing like the amount which will go into American pock- in the construction of the Nicaragua canal. The labor at Panama will be far greater than at Nicaragua. The ex travagance of the French has ruined labor conditions there. You will be able to get workmen for less than $2 per day, while true of the Pan- els cost not at Nicaragua they will not cost more than f0 cents per day. This means that we can save you three-fourths of the labor ex- pense of the work. Our labor is better than that of Panama. We have the Indians, who easily managed; they live upon little and consequently can work at low wages. They will not be walking delegates to Incite trouble among the Jamaicans and other West Indians, whom you import to help along the work."” are Nicaragun Rendy for United Statews. ““But would it not take some time to pre- pare for work upon the Nicaraguan canal? You would have to build railroads and put up towns, would you not?"” “Not at all,”” replicd Senor are towns and cities now along of the canal. Lake Nicaragua has many thriving settlements upon its banks, and the country about it is rich in plantat ons “There the route Corea state that Nicaragua is the healthlest of al tropical countries and not to be conseidered the in same class as Panama. Surgeon Bradford, who went over the route with gixty surveyors and 140 Jamaicans and natives in 1887, says that he did not bave one case of serious illness in his whole piwrty. He was there in the rainy season and was doing actual work along the line now proposed Admiral Walker reports that he had 250 men with him while he was making his surveys through the swamps and that he had less sickness and malaria than he would have had had he been running a survey in Virginia at the same season of the year. I can glve you slmilar quotations from e€very traveler and engineer who has been over the route. We are entirely free from the yellow fever and from malaria In any dangerous form." Amerie s in Nicaragu “Is Nicaragua such a country that Amerl- cans could prosper in it?" “I think so, without doubt,” was the re- ply. “A fit answer to that question is that many Americans are doing We have been having quite an immigration from your country. Three hundred and fif- teen young Americans came in last month and T get at least fifty letters a week in- quiring about the canal and the chances for securing land near it, Already a number of plantations have been set out by Americans who expect make fortunes now £0. to coffee estates are now in the hands of the Germans, but if the United States builds this canal we expect to see many Ameri- can planters come in. We ralse a very fine coffee, as good as can be raised in any part of the world, and it brings high prices. New R Iroads and Mines, “The mineral resources of Nicaragua are great,” continued Senor Corea. *“We have some very rich gold mines and we are now building railroads to open up the mineral parts of the country. We have also large areas fitted for cattle raising. There are now hundreds of thousands of cattle upon these lands, but there might be millions. We export many hides and of late have bcen exporting meat to Cuba and others of the West India islands. ‘Our people realize that the canal would benefit them. They believe it will double the value of their lands and greatly In- crease the prosperity of the country. We have no doubt but that it will eventually be built through our territory.’ I had an interview on the same subject with Senor Carlos Martinez Silva, the min- ister from Colombia, who left Washington some weeks ago. He told me that Colom- bia was very anxious that the canal should be built and that it was willing to give any concessions which would lead to the cholce of the Panama route. Said he: “We feel that a canal will eventually go How Music Soothes Angry Nerves T WAS the incomparable Plato who first suggested the treatment of the sick with music, yet a year or two ago a Paris physician offered the idea as his very own. Perhaps the latter was the first to make a practical application of the theory in the case of hospital patients, relates the Phila- delphia Record, but with what measure of success has not been reported in the news- paper Although when asked by what means rendered his patient insensible to Texas dentist pointed to a club in corner, there are western medical men who are more disposed to keep press he pain a a convenient step with mcdern progress It was from the Paris example, and not from the great philosopher of antiquity, that an alert St. Louis hospital physician got h's inspiration try musical therapeutics The weslern real zed that for the proper or best influence of musie it is essential that the surroundings and all the conditions should be helpful, It is the mis- fortune of the public that the divine musi- clans must be heard only in a great hall, where glaring lights may flash on the pri e- less gems which adorn the crowd of fash- jonable women and where it is imp~8s sible that the hearer should be able to shut out all earthly sights and sounds, save only 1o physician music, and be borne away on the wings of melody to realms cf purest bliss. The man in the next seat fidgets or hums an irritat- ing accompaniment to the instruments, or does something else which proves disturb- ing. The doctor resolved that in his test of the influence of music on the disordered human system the conditions should be as favcrable as he could make them., He could not command stained glass windows and fluted columns and vaulted arches and a cathedral atmosphere, but he subdued the light of the room with effective window drapery and he burned some josshouse in- and put a few mothballs about the In this chamber he installed his grumbling patient newspaper man who suffared from neurasthenia (in commen speech nervous exhaustion)—which is of a'l cense cot nervous maladies the most vague and ob- gtinate and presumably the one in which the vietim must be most responsive to musical treatment. The patient, like all sufferers of his kind, was afllicted by in- somnia. When he did sleep from exhaus- tion it was to awaken in a most irritable state of mind. The sick man slept as the physiclan quietly led the violinist into the room anl placed him in a remote corner, himself re- treating into the corridor. Softly the sweet strains, as tender aeolian harp, as the wandered vibrations of an through the cham- ber. Gradually the notes came stronger and clearer, rising and falling ana dis- persing the perfumed air, more like dream music than the product of human skill. The patient stirred, and as the sounds grew in volume he turned his hecd “Scat! you beast!” he exclaimed. The mu sician was spurred to greater efforr, and harmonicus sweetness poured from the in- strument like nectar from the cup of Ganymede The patient, startlea 1nto wakefulness, sat up. After one wilg, frightened look about the dim-lightea room he leaped upon the unprepared musiclan and bere him to the floor. The doctor in the corridor listened “Help! help! leggo my hair, you darned !'"" were words in lunatic!"" which mingled with the shocking language of the sick man as he bumped the fiddler's hairy head against the floor ‘“Wake me up with your cat concert, will you? You blamed wood:awer!"” cried the indignant invalid as he smashed the costly instru ment over the head of its owner “You never sald the man was crazy,’ complained the musician when the doctor dragged the infuriated patient from h's prostrate foe No explanations could sat isfy either. ments were made, able cost. ‘“When the work was done that the estimate was $10,000,000 below the engineers. fizures of the nel was very short. survey been made in an unknown country, can't tell how far gineers will be from the actual cost. They into it and have space t can figure as to what they can see, but they of the land is hish and cannot calculate all the difficulties that : LR RS 4 have vast areas which may come up. sugar, cacao and othe “On the Panama canal work has been ;ufi'e'o( the s "[ i ?, " “; done along the whole line, A great part of and. th. C‘e ”(E, Ei:.d“ub. it has been dredged, and the mountalns th ‘ed M“fdt:u oY a1 have been actually cut down. Already two- e garden of the universe. fifths of the canal has been completed, and you can figure out the cost of the remainder A large force at work for the last almost to a cent. dreds of men are there working today. The pe‘op'le. The canal will develop 1t. property is in a good working condition. ‘You know something of our minerals. One set of managers can easily step out MY country has already produced more and another begin their labor on a few than $700,000,000 worth of the precious weeks' notice.” metals, and we now stand fourth am ) the great gold-producing countries. We are What French Have at Panama. led only by the United States, Australia “But does the work of the French amount and South Africa. Large amounts of Amer- to much, your excellency?” I asked. does,"” “Those who have not been over the line of “I think it the canal do not appreciate its value. the canal was started an enormous amount and upon the th se an estimate was formed of its prob- extends over basis of bian minister. it was found tween us and we American capital shou and The railroad tun- tion.” The Nicaragua cane “ " e ;nilel:“ltull;: I suppose ycu know,” continued Senor B8Ry ol and y:u Silva, *‘that Colombia is an empire in its S 4 natural resources. It is of great size. Y the figures of the en- greal slxe, You ama, extending, roughl and south. It has an has been ’*“" Texas and its climate is five years and hun- ican capital are already replied Senor Silva. bia, and if you compiete this canal we shall probably be partners in the develop- When ment of the richest parts of all South America. FRANK G. CARPENTER. “The canal would bring our countries closer together. the friendly relations which now obtain be- American could put ten states the between the mountains not far below Pan- It would cement 1d favor immigra- naturally size of New York o spare. The most healthful, and we will raise coffee, crops. We have lands of the worla ght easily be made This valley lies y speaking, area north as great well suited to your as invested in Colom-~ S N1\ 2 ) \\\ Grocer's and Marketmen's Short Order Wagons. 13th and Howard, Omaha. {P. J. KARBACH & SONS., Ask for pric Buiit by <.