offered to send tents and provisions to the sufferers, which were accepted, and that subsequently bills were forwarded to the Jamaican Government for the value of the tents and provisions. This story was so circumstantially stated in the newspapers which came to my notice, and gave the Department so harsh a dig, that I afterwards wrote to Secretary Taft, at Washington, to ascertain if such heartlessness had been enacted. The answer went fully into our efforts to help the Kingston sufferers and showed that, although the Jamaican Government had requested permission to pay for tents and other actual military stores that had been forwarded by the Government of the United States, no bill had been sent.

Whether the spirit of lethargy and restlessness, coupled with the spirit of deviltry that is bound to prevail where so many nationalities are mixed together, influenced the resignations of men like Wallace and Shonts, I do not know, but it happened at the time of our visit that Stevens, the engineer-in-chief, who had been held up to us all over the Isthmus as the mainstay of the engineering work, had, only a few weeks before our arrival and subsequent to the failure of the Government to let the work by contract, sent his resignation to the President. Naturally, we expected to see Stevens and have some talk with him.

I had been chatting with Manager Bierd, of the Panama Railroad, about rates. He told me that if I wanted to ship a ton of merchandise from New York to the west coast of South America, via the Panama Railroad Steamship Line, now under the control of the Government, it would cost four dollars and fourteen cents to Panama, of which sum, by reason of its necessities, the Panama Railroad required sixty-two per cent.; in other words, if our great Philadelphia merchant, John Wanamaker, was drumming up

trade in South America and desired to cross the Isthmus under the present system, he must count on spending sixtytwo per cent. of the entire freight rate from New York to get his goods over the forty-six miles of road on the Isthmus. Mr. Bierd maintained that these charges were necessary, and, if they were not maintained, the railroad could not continue to do successful business. Senator Curtis, Chairman Tawney, and others, took the manager in hand, and, as we were approaching Panama, I turned to a clever gentleman, who seemed to have something to do with the work and who had pointed out to me in the harbor of Panama the masts of two Colombian vessels that were sunk by the Panamaneans during their revolution. This gentleman, who proved to be one of the newly-appointed army engineers, was sounding the praises of the chief engineer, Mr. Stevens, and regretting his departure.

"We will miss him greatly," he said, "for Mr. Stevens has made himself a power on the Isthmus, and the boys work harder when he is around because they like him. Whenever he appears, and he is on the go constantly, he inspires them and puts new life into the work."

A rugged-looking man, who had the appearance of a prosperous railroad contractor, and whom I had not observed before, was attracted by the talk. He stepped over and broke into the conversation, because, apparently, he wanted to break it up. He changed the subject by calling attention to some French dredges that had been adapted to American use. I did not know at the time that the gentleman who was praising Mr. Stevens was Major Gaillard, one of the new Commissioners appointed by the President, and that he who had called attention to the dredges was Mr. Stevens himself. "This gentleman is very kind to refer to my work," said the chief engineer.

With this, Lieutenant-Colonel Goethals, U. S. A., Major William L. Sibert and Mr. Harry Harwood Rousseau, the remaining members of the President's Commission, and all the corps of engineers, came forward. They seemed to feel as Major Gaillard had expressed it.

"These gentlemen will find the work in as good shape,' said the retiring chief, "as they could expect it to be, and they will succeed as well, if not better, than we have done.”

Stevens then referred to the vast amount of dirt that had been taken out of the Culebra cut. The output had been increasing from 27,810 cubic yards per day, March 1st, to 32,967 cubic yards per day, March 23d, a total for the month, up to the 23d, of 615,600 cubic yards. He predicted that the new engineers would have the united support of the division superintendents and of the men to prosecute the work still further.

I then asked Stevens why, after all he had done upon the Isthmus, with the certainty of having his name linked for all time with one of the greatest engineering feats of the centuries, he should want to quit. He smiled and told me a story about "a surgical case" that needed immediate treatment. I inquired as to his health, which seemed to be good, and suggested that the people would regret his departure. "Are you homesick?" I said.

Stevens smiled.

"Did you ever hear of the Chinaman who tried the toboggan?" he asked. "Well, after the slide was constructed, his friends induced John to make the ride. John climbed to the top of the steps and mounted the chute. He came down with

rapidity that made his head swim, but he landed safely, somewhat dazed.

"Try it again,' said his friends.

"Not by a d'lam sight!' said John."