The Panama Canal : an illustrated historical narrative of Panama and the great waterway which divides the American continents / by Willis J. Abbot ; water colors by E.J. Read.

  • Willis J. Abbot
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The Panama Canal : an illustrated historical narrative of Panama and the great waterway which divides the American continents / by Willis J. Abbot ; water colors by E.J. Read. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CONTENTS « * PAGE INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER I. THE FRONT DOOR TO PANAMA 9 Antilla, a New Sugar Port—The Island of Jamaica—Kingston, The Colonial Capital—Women as Burden Bearers— Characteristics of the Native Jamaican—Life of the Negro Woman. CHAPTER II. CRISTOBAL-COLON; AND THE PANAMA RAILROAD 23 The Approach to Colon—The Architecture and Population of Colon—Railroad Building in a Swamp—-The French Come to Colon—The Beautiful Roosevelt Avenue—Colon Streets in the Early Days—The Varied Population of Colon—San Bias Indians and Their Cayucas—The Ghastly Story of the Chinese—Cost and Charges of the Panama Railroad. CHAPTER III. NOMBRE DE DIOS, PORTO BELLO AND SAN LORENZO 45 The Harbor of Porto Bello—The First Appearance of Balboa—Early Indian Life in Panama—The Futile Indian Up- rising—The First Sight of the Pacific—-The Beginning of Balboa’s Downfall—The Traitor in Balboa’s Camp—The Character of Vasco Nunez de Balboa—Panama a Link in Philippine Trade—-Flush Times in Porto Bello—The Pirati- cal Raid of Sir Francis Drake—The Futile Attack on the Treasure Train—The Appearance of Morgan the Buccaneer —The Pillage of Porto Bello. CHAPTER IV. SAN LORENZO AND PANAMA 75 The Waterway to San Lorenzo—Approach to San Lorenzo Castle—A Rip Van Winkle of a Fortress—The Assault of the Buccaneers—-The End of Porto Bello and San Lorenzo. CHAPTER V. THE SACK OF OLD PANAMA 87 The Advance of the Buccaneers—-The Banquet before Panama—The Buccaneers Triumphant in Battle—The Pirates’ Orgy of Plunder—-How Morgan Plundered His Pirates—The Scene of Morgan’s Great Exploit. f CHAPTER VI. REVOLUTIONS AND THE FRENCH REGIME 101 The Scottish Settlement in Panama—Disasters Beset the Scotch Colonists—The Repeated Revolutions of Panama—- Early Projectors of a Panama Canal—-Sea Level or Lock Canal—A Relic of the French Days—Some of the Finished Work of the French—-The Financial Aberrations of De Lesseps—Yellow Fever’s Toll of French Lives—The Value of the French Work. CHAPTER VII. THE UNITED STATES BEGINS WORK 123 Why Panama Wanted Independence—Our Share in the Revolution—A Revolution Without a Single Battle—Treaty Rights of the United States—Illustrations of the Magnitude of the Canal Work—The Passage of the Canal Locks —Spectacular Features of Gatun Lake—-The Abandonment of Canal Towns—The Pacific Terminus of the Canal—The Forts at the Pacific Entrance. CHAPTER VIII. THE FORMATIVE PERIOD . 147 The Beginning of Work under Wallace—The Absentee Commissioners and the Red Tape—-The Successful War with Yellow Fever—The Change from Wallace to Stevens—The Varying Estimates of the Canal Cost—The Resignation of Engineer Stevens. CHAPTER IX. COL. GOETHALS AT THE THROTTLE 161 What the Colonel Meant by Orders—The Colonel’s Sunday Morning Court—The Autocratic Power of Col. Goethals —The Panama Work Shows Governmental Efficiency. CHAPTER X. GATUN DAM AND LOCKS 171 Atlantic Beginning of the Canal—The Plan of the Gatun Dam—How the Chagres Current was Blocked—The Spill- way, The Nerve Center of Gatun Lake—The Uses of the Electric Power of Gatun—-The Colossal Concrete Work at Gatun—The Motive Power of the Lock Gates. CHAPTER XI. GATUN LAKE AND THE CHAGRES RIVER 187 The Native Affection for the Chagres—The Indispensable Native Cayuca—Keeping the Record of the Chagres— Cruces in Its Day of Greatness—-Animal Life on the Chagres River—A Typical Foreign Laborer on The Zone. CHAPTER XII. THE CULEBRA CUT 201 The Great Problem of the Slides—The Physical Characteristics of the Slide—Some Peculiar Features of the Slides— The Explosive Experience of Miguel—The Gorgeous Coloring of Culebra—The Perilous Passage of Culebra Cut—The almost Human Work of the Steam Shovel—The Work of the Steam Shovellers—The almost Indispensable Track Shifter—The Industrious Ants of Panama—The End of the Canal at Balboa. CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF PANAMA 224 The First Appearance of Panama City—The Popular Panama Lottery—-Panama’s Cost of Living is High—Scenes in the Panama Market—The Prevalent Temper of the Panamanians—-Why Americans are not Popular—American Sen- timent on the Isthmus—The Public Buildings of Panama—The Stout Walls of Panama City—Scenes of the Mardi Gras Carnival—Cock-Fighting and the Liquor Trade-'-In the Ancient Chiriqui Prison—The Many Churches of Panama —Panama Clubs and Open Air Life.
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