PANAMA 



H7ti 



PANAMA 



were imi'tnltd. I November. HHKJ. Panama 



declared iut'll" an independent republic. ! 



United States immediately recognized the new 



government and concluded with it a treaty for 



the construction of the Canal. For this eon- 



,n the United Stan - made to the republic 



'inaina an immediate payment of $10,000.- 



:iiul bound itself to a perpetual yearly 



,ent of $250.000. beginning with the year 



191,. Since that time the country has been 



- nil and prosperous. The government 

 maintains over 360 public schools, and pays for 

 the education of a number of students in 

 Europe and the United States. O.B. 



UrlHtril Subject*. The following articles in 



these volumes may bo consulted in connection 

 with this topic: 



Balboa. Vasr.. Xunez de Colon 



Banana Panama 



Central America Panama. Isthmus of 



Colombia Panama Canal 



PANAMA, the first city founded by Euro- 

 peans on the American continent, now the capi- 

 tal and larL r e-t city of the republic of Panama. 

 It is at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal, 

 and is the chief port of the country. Strange as 



- ms, Panama, on the Pacific Ocean, is many 

 miles east of Colon, at the Atlantic end of the 

 Panama Canal. This is due to the form of the 

 i>thmus at the point where the Canal joins the 

 seas. The city lies entirely east of the state 

 of Florida, and it is 200 miles farther east than 

 Havana, Cuba. 



The city was founded in 1519 by a Spaniard, 

 Pedro Arias de Avila. In the centuries since 

 that time it has had many changes of fortune, 

 and has been in turn rich, powerful, poor and 

 insignificant. During the sixteenth century the 

 city, with a single exception, was the strongest 

 :iish fortress in America. Here came the 

 great galleons, loaded with gold and silver from 

 Peru. The Camino Real, the Royal Road, be- 

 ginning in front of the Royal Treasury, cros.-.-d 

 the isthmus through tropical forests to the 

 Atlantic, and over this path the precious metals 

 were then carried, to be placed again on vessels 

 which sailed the Atlantic. Panama was rich, 

 but in 1671 it was burned, and its treasures were 

 irried away by the buccaneer, Henry Morgan. 



Two years after this disaster the city was 

 rebuilt on its present site, which is five miles 

 west of the original location, and it soon flour- 

 ished again. Until the end of the eighteenth 

 century it remained the chief Pacific port for 

 'II Spanish trade. For half a century its impor- 

 tance crew steadilv less, until the disroverv of 



1:1 ild in California auam led hundred- of ii'old 



hunt' the i.-thmu- in preference to tin- 



dangerous and wearisome journey by wairou 

 over the Western prairies of the United State.-. 

 In 1S55 a railroad, built and operated by New 

 York capitalists wa- opnifd from Panama to 

 Colon, then known a< A<pinwall. Smee that 

 tune Panama has been an important center for 

 re-hippinu . all kind-. 



Panama of the twentieth century OWCfl its 

 importance not to a railroad but to the tin-at 

 Panama Canal. Until the building of that 

 waterway the city was not a healthful place in 

 which to live. The streets were unpaved, and 

 the frequent rains made them at times im- 

 passable. There was no provision for clean 

 drinking water, or for proper disposal of sew- 

 The mosquito which carries yellow fever 

 was everywhere, and a visit to Panama was 

 certain exposure to disease. When the United 

 States took over the construction of the Canal, 

 the first thing to be done was to make the city 

 a safe and sanitary place in which white men 

 could live and work. With the permission of 

 the republic of Panama, streets were drained 

 and paved, a sewerage system was constructed. 

 and most important of all, yellow fever and 

 malaria were practically exterminated. This 

 great task was carried to completion by Sur- 

 geon-General Gorgas of the United States army 

 (see GORGAS, WILLIAM CRAWFORD). 



The importance of Panama is due to the 

 trade which passes through it. The harbor is 

 shallow, but the American-built docks at Bal- 

 boa, three miles away, furnish excellent facili- 

 ties for shipping. All of the important build- 

 ings, except the cathedral, are modern, and the 

 government palace, the national theater and 

 the municipal building have been completed 

 -ince 1903, when Panama declared its inde- 

 pendence. The dwelling houses are mostly 

 -mall and are built of stone and native woods, 

 with the wide verandas which are characteristic 

 of tropical countries. The streets, compared to 

 Canadian or American streets, are narrow, but 

 are clean and well paved. All sanitary ar- 

 rangements are under the control of the Cnited 

 States, but with this exception it is governed as 

 part of the republic of Panama. Population in 

 1911,37,505; in 1916, estimated. 56,000. M.W. 



PANAMA, ISTHMUS OF, the strip of land 

 that connects North and South America and 

 separates the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. 

 In a more limited sense the term has been 

 applied to the narrow section between the cities 

 of Colon and Panama, through which the great 



