Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . he second floor is always a large assembly-roomused for enter-tainments anddances. Thismatter of dancingwas at first em-barrassing to theY. M. C. A., forat home thisorganization doesnot encourage thedreamy mazes ofthe waltz, and Iam quite surefrowns disap-provingly on theswaying tangoand terribleturkey trot. Butconditions on theIsthmus weredifferent andthough the orga-nization does notitself give dances,it permits the useof its halls byother clubs whichdo. The halls alsoare used for mov-ing pictvire shows, concerts and lectures. The Superintendent
Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . he second floor is always a large assembly-roomused for enter-tainments anddances. Thismatter of dancingwas at first em-barrassing to theY. M. C. A., forat home thisorganization doesnot encourage thedreamy mazes ofthe waltz, and Iam quite surefrowns disap-provingly on theswaying tangoand terribleturkey trot. Butconditions on theIsthmus weredifferent andthough the orga-nization does notitself give dances,it permits the useof its halls byother clubs whichdo. The halls alsoare used for mov-ing pictvire shows, concerts and lectures. The Superintendent of ClubHouses, Mr. A. B. Dickson, acts as a sort of impres-sario, but the task of filling dates with desirableattractions is rather a complicated one 2000 milesaway from the lyceum bureaus of New York. The service of the Y. M. C. A. is not pay an annual fee of $10 each. This,however, does not wholly meet the cost of mainte-nance and the deficit is taken care of by the Com-mission, which built the club houses at the Photo by Underwood & Underwood LOBBY IN TIVOLI HOTEL That the service of the organization is useful isshown by the fact that Col. Goethals has recom-mended the erection of a concrete club house tocost $52,500 in the permanent town of Balboa. Social intercourse on the Zone is further im-peded by the fact that the few thousand goldemployees are scattered over a strip of territory43 miles long traversed by a railroad which runs but three passen-ger trains dailyin each are heldon alternateSaturday nightsat the Tivoli andWashington Ho-tels and guestscross from theAtlantic to thePacific or vice-versa to attendthem, but onthese nights aspecial train takesthe merrymakershome. If, how-ever, a lady livingat Culebra desiresto have guestsfrom Cristobal todinner, she mustkeep them allnight, while apopular bachelorwith half a dozendinner or partycalls to makeneeds about threeuninterrupted days to cover his list. Church work, too, has b
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Keywords: ., bookauthorabbotwil, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
