The Panama Canal.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 3, 11 May 1885, Page 3

The Panama Canal.

There sue 40,000 men employed on the Panama Canal, distributed nil the way from Colon to A*|>inwall or Panama. The tKshmc&by mil l*etween these Wo point i* is not over 30 miiei. . The wages foi skilled workmen is 23s psr day, ancl for labourers 12s 6d to 16s 6d. per day. The latter are chiefly runaway sailors and natives who, induced *Wy the high wages, tttke the elm noes of sickness and death. The mortality is frightful. Hundreds die monthly, and th« hospitals are constantly filled with the sick. It w said ilwt nine out of ten of the patients who are sent to tbe*e hospitals die there. If the dead man has money or influence, he is pat into a pine box and buried; otherwise his body is dumped iuto a pit and quicklime thrown over him. There is an old saying that every tie of the Panama railroad represents a tombstone forsomepoor unfortunate. Now, it is true that every foot of excavated ground symbolizes a grave. The canal is 12 feet deep and from 80 to 90 fei't wide. The rains, which are abnnoant, not only interfere with the work, but often cause the banks to cave m and fillupthecunnl. Board and lodging cowls from 245. to £3 per week. Machinist* and engineers are paid from £12 to £15 per week.