8 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
I. M. Marshall Gives Talk on Panama Trip, 
Before Brotherhood. 
f. M. Marshall, editor of the Man- 
chester Cricket, gave a very interest- 
ing talk before a large gathering of 
men at the meeting of the Baptist 
Brotherhood last Monday evening. 
His talk was about his trip to New 
Orleans and the Panama Canal a few 
years ago. 
Mr. Marshall said in part: “My 
daughter and | left here on Saturday, 
Feb. 5, 1910, for a trip to New Or- 
leans and Panama in company with 
other Eastern people. As we left 
New England, and made our way to- 
ward Chicago, I noticed the differ- 
ence in the amount of snow that cov- 
ered the ground along the Berkshires 
and the amount grew less as we near- 
ed Chicago. Arriving there we made 
our headquarters at the La Salle ho- 
tel. This hotel is 22 stories high, has 
1150 rooms and could hold at one 
time 2500 people. It’s cost to build 
was $7,000,000. 
“Although it was Sunday, one 
would hardly know it, for the theatres 
were open for business and many 
other attractions were to be found. 
My daughter and I took a trip to the 
Children’s - hospital where Miss 
Sjolund is situated. She took us 
over the building, we covering our- 
selves with frocks to protect the sick 
children from possible infection with 
germs. I say this to dispel the belief 
that the hospital authorities are care- 
less. 
“As we left Chicago and got out 
a little way we saw the harvesters 
getting in their late crops; there was 
corn on every side of us. Next morn- 
ing we awoke to find that the scenes 
of the night before had completely 
changed; instead of corn we saw 
cotton plantations. We could see here 
and there a tree in blossom and we 
could hear the songs of birds. Our 
first stop was at Vicksburg. The 
principal thing that interested me here 
was the National Park, the scene 
of many battles. The cemeteries 
were also interesting, for there 
are 16,000 Confederate soldiers bur- 
ied in one cemetery. We left this 
city and went on to Natchez, then to 
Baton Rouge. 
“We arrived at New Orleans on 
the ninth of February and stopped at 
the Grurwold hotel, where we held our 
convention. |! found the city a great 
commercial center, shipping coming 
down the Mississippi and leaving 
cargos to be re-shipped to all parts 
of the world. The population is 
largely French. An interesting feature 
of the city is the land is several feet 
below the level of the river. The ceme- 
teries contain thousands of tombs, 
for graves are impossible, as water is 
found but a few feet below the sur- 
face of the ground. ‘The streets are 
well laid out and are lined with beau- 
tiful palm trees. 
“Sunday morning we sailed for the 
Gulf of Mexico, and our trip was the 
same as all long water trips. It is 
needless to say I did not eat very 
much during the trip. We arrived 
finally in the harbor of Colon The soft 
breezes came out from the shore, and 
we were soon on land, much to the 
satisfaction of all. The scenes were 
different here than they were in the 
East. We looked about for a short 
time and were then taken in charge 
by Col. Goethals, chief engineer of 
the canal who put us aboard a special 
train to cross the isthmus. The rail- 
road was 47 miles long and in its con- 
struction there were 127 people killed 
or died to every mile, caused by sick- 
ness, and poisoning by insects. It 
cost $8,000,000 to build it and has paid 
$75,000.000 as profits. In early 
days it cost $25 for car fares across, 
today you go across in a few hours at 
a cost of $2.40. 
“After a few hours’ ride we came 
over onto the other side, and put up 
at the Tivoli hotel, a government 
building. Its construction is different 
from ours, as the needs are different. 
In the afternoon we went to Culebra 
the headquarters of Col. Goethals who 
gave us the history of the work, and 
explained about its construction. 
“The canal is certainly a wonderful 
piece of work. It is 47 miles long 
and is built through a zone owned by 
the United States, to miles wide, 
which was bought by the U. S. to- 
gether with all of the property rights 
of the Old French company for $40,- 
000,000. It will be when com- 
pleted 85 feet above the level of the 
sea. ‘The wages of laborers interest- 
ed me very much, drillers get 30 cents 
an hour, common laborers 16 cents an 
hour, the crane men $185 a month, 
and the engineers $210 a month There 
are €oo miles of track laid along the 
trenches, and the men seem to take 
the work to heart as though it was a 
personal work, 
“Panama is an interesting old city. 
It was a thoroughly foreign scene. 
‘The buildings are built very open be- 
cause of climate, and are of cement. 
Their markets were interesting to me 
because of the articles of food, among 
them live lizards. All their meats are 
salted if dead, because of the heat. 
They try to sell everything alive in 
order to preserve it. 
“Sunday at Panama is a great day. 
The great events of the week happen 
on Sunday. ‘The grand lottery takes 
place on Sunday morning when the 
drawings draw a large crowd. ‘The 
chief prize is $7000. 
“Its old Spanish buildings were also 
very interesting, as well as the old 
ruins at Old Panama which are 
still visible. After<- our =stop 
here we went back to Colon then 
on to Bocas del ‘Toro, founded 
by the United Fruit Company. Here 
we took on 47,000 bunches of bananas 
and started on our homeward trip. 
We arrived in Chicago, where the 
party broke up, and then came on to 
Niagara Falls.” 
At the close of the talk icé cream 
and cake was served by the entertain- 
ment committee. 
An exploded theory is apt to be 
heard by everybody except the 
theorist. 
Women like to attend a social func- 
tion in order that they may be able to 
criticise it properly. 
Spring Millinery Opening 
Thursday, Friday and Saturday 
March 20-21-22 
Your inspection is invited on these days 
rs. MURRAY 
101 Main Street 
Gloucester 
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