THE PANAMA CANAL 



353 



ters, the collection and disposal of garb- 

 age and refuse, the issue of furniture, 

 and the delivery of distilled water and 

 commissary supplies to the houses of 

 employees, and is to have charge of the 

 construction of all new buildings. Oper- 

 ating in conjunction with the purchasing 

 department in the States, the quarter- 

 master's department secures all supplies 

 needed for construction and other pur- 

 poses and makes purchases of materials 

 on the Isthmus when required. 



The common-labor force of the com- 

 mission and the Panama Railroad aggre- 

 gates in the neighborhood of 25,000 men, 

 and consists of about 6,000 Spaniards, 

 with a few Italians, the remainder being 

 from the West Indies. The Spaniard is 

 the best laborer, as he possesses more 

 strength and endurance. Under some 

 conditions this is not true, the foreigner 

 strenuously objecting to doing work that 

 requires him to stand in water. 



All the skilled labor, the clerical force, 

 and the higher officials are Americans 

 and are recruited through the Washing- 

 ton office. 



This department also has charge of all 

 the property records, receives semi- 

 annual returns of property from all those 

 to whom property has been issued, and 

 checks the returns and inventories of the 

 storehouses, made at certain times, with 

 the records compiled from original in- 

 voices. 



the; hotels and messes for the men 



The subsistence department has charge 

 of the commissaries and the manufactur- 

 ing plants, which consist of an ice and 

 cold-storage establishment, a bread, pie, 

 and cake bakery, a coffee-roasting outfit, 

 and a laundry. These belong to the? 

 Panama Railroad Company, as, at the 

 time they were established, money re- 

 ceived from sales could be reapplied, 

 whereas if operated by the commission 

 the money would have reverted to the 

 Treasury, necessitating reappropriation 

 before the proceeds of sale could be util- 

 ized. They are, however, under the 

 management of the subsistence officer of 



the commission, who has charge of the 

 various hotels, kitchens, and messes of 

 the commission. 



There are 16 hotels from Cristobal to 

 Panama, which serve meals to the Amer- 

 ican, or gold, employees at 30 cents per 

 meal. There are 24 messes where meals 

 to European laborers are served, the cost 

 per day to such laborers being 40 cents ; 

 and there are 24 kitchens, or messes, for 

 meals supplied to the silver laborers, or 

 West Indians, the cost to the laborer 

 being 30 cents per day for three meals. 

 Subsistence is furnished without profit 

 to the commission, though every effort 

 is made to have the institutions self- 

 supporting. The commissaries and man- 

 ufacturing plants are operated at a profit, 

 so as to reimburse the Panama Railroad 

 Company for its outlay in six years from 

 January 1, 1909, at 4 per cent interest. 



The subsistence department also has 

 charge of the Hotel Tivoli, which is a 

 large hotel located at Ancon, for the en- 

 tertainment of the commission's em- 

 ployees at a comparatively low rate, and 

 of transient guests at rates usually 

 charged at first-class hotels. 



All moneys are handled by the dis- 

 bursing officer, who pays accounts that 

 have been previously passed upon by the 

 examiner of accounts. This last-named 

 official makes the administrative examina- 

 tion required by law prior to the final 

 audit of the accounts by the Auditor for 

 the War Department. The pay rolls are 

 prepared from time books kept by fore- 

 men, timekeepers, or field clerks, subse- 

 quently checked by the examiner of ac- 

 counts, who maintains a force of time in- 

 spectors. The time inspectors visit each 

 gang, generally daily, at unknown times 

 to the foreman, timekeeper, or field clerk, 

 and check the time books with the gangs 

 of workmen; the inspectors report to the 

 examiner of accounts the results of their 

 inspection not only in connection with 

 timekeeping, but all violations of the 

 regulations of the commission that may 

 come under their observation. 



Payments of pay-rolls are made in 

 cash, beginning on the 12th of each 

 month and consuming four days for the 



