or Scandinavians; laborers of every color and degree--except
American laborers, more than conspicuous by their absence. For the
American negro is an untractable creature in large numbers, and
the caste system that forbids white Americans from engaging in
common labor side by side with negroes is to be expected in an
enterprise of which the leaders are not only military men but
largely southerners, however many may be shivering in the streets
of Chicago or roaming hungrily through the byways of St. Louis. It
is well so, perhaps. None of us who feels an affection for the
Zone would wish to see its atmosphere lowered from what it is to
the brutal depths of our railroad construction camps in the
States.

The attention of certain state legislatures might advantageously
be called to the Zone Spaniard's drinking-cup. It is really a tin
can on the end of a long stick, cover and all. The top is punched
sieve-like that the water may enter as it is dipped in the bucket
with which the water-boy strains along. In the bottom is a single
small hole out of which spurts into the drinker's mouth a little
stream of water as he holds it high above his head, as once he
drank wine from his leather bota in far-off Spain. Many a Spanish
gang comes entirely from the same town, notably Salamanca or
Avila. I set them to staring and chattering by some simple remark
about their birthplace: "Fine view from the Paseo del Rastro, eh?"
"Does the puente romano still cross the river?" But I had soon to
cease such personalities, for picks and shovels lay idle as long
as I remained in sight and Uncle Sam was the loser.

So many were the gangs that I advanced barely a half-mile during
this first day and, lost in my work, forgot the hour until it was