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Minutes of a conference held in Colón, Panama, between Secretary of War William H. Taft and three steam shovel operators working on the Panama Canal over the rate of pay and medical care for the operators.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-03
Secretary of War Taft would like to correct the total yardage needed to complete the Culebra Cut. He mentioned an incorrect number in a previous letter to President Roosevelt. Engineers have also been assessing the test pits and have made considerable progress compared to the last time Roosevelt was there. Taft adds in a handwritten note that he had a satisfactory talk with the Panamanians yesterday, which he will report on in his next letter. He also plans to hear the complaints of the citizens in Colon and take up the matter with the workers there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-01
William Brown McKinley asks that the quarantine for the SS Blücher be lifted because Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and his party are on board, expecting to reach Colón by the 22nd.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-13
The Hamburg-American Line asks if the SS Blücher will receive the same treatment at Colón it received in Venezuela. It notes that some of the passengers are Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon and congressmen with whom he is touring.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-03-08
Scenes of the Panama Canal, generally in the natural order of passage, from a ship moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The ship passes by the Panamanian city of Colón on the Atlantic end, through the channel to Gatun Locks and into Gatun Lake, with views of the Gatun spillway and the Chagres River. From here she passes from Gaillard Cut (Culebra Cut), into the Pedro Miguel Locks and into Miraflores Lake; then through the Miraflores Locks and into the final portion of the canal, passing the Canal Zone towns of Ancon, Balboa, and Balboa Heights. Final views are of the Ancon Hospital (Gorgas Hospital) and the United States Administration Building at Balboa.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1919
There are reports that revolutionary forces are preparing an attack on the government forces of Colombia in Panama. Due to America’s potential interest in the New Panama Canal Company of France and guarantees of free transit across the isthmus, it may be necessary to secure the railroad terminals and route. Naval forces have been ordered towards Panama to protect the interests of the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-12
Theodore Roosevelt received the telegram about Belle having bronchitis, but reassuring cables from Kermit and Doctor Rhoades determined that Edith would not travel to Belle. Roosevelt says they will remain uneasy until Kermit, Belle, and baby Kermit start for New York. In his postscript, he tells Kermit to read a certain chapter in his new book A Book-Lover’s Holidays in the Open.
1916-05-09
President Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit to tell him about his trip to Panama with Edith. He includes the history of the area, the Panama Canal work site, and the scenery.
1906-11-20
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary encloses a letter from Roosevelt to General Hamilton, who is expected to arrive from Colon, Panama, around May 7. As Roosevelt wishes for the letter to be delivered to Hamilton as soon as he arrives, he thought it advisable to send the letter to Bennett who will know how best to reach Hamilton.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-26
President Roosevelt reports that President-elect William H. Taft was not angry about Harry Johnston’s letter. The breakwater that Johnston spoke of will soon be started and they will have to “just disregard the Panamans’ susceptibilities.” Roosevelt chose not to take his “wanderjahr” in Central America and the Caribbean, as he wants to stay out of politics right after he leaves office and not appear to look like an American envoy appearing in different countries.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-15
President-elect Taft encloses a letter from Sir Harry Johnston about the dreadful conditions at the Hotel Imperial in Colón, and his own reply. He found Johnston’s decision to complain at length about his personal discomfort to another country’s head of state perplexing. Taft’s wife, Helen Herron Taft, did not share his “intense amusement” at Johnston’s “extremely English” tone. Taft also encloses the self-explanatory letter he wrote to President Jose Domingo de Obaldia of Panama after a call from Obaldia’s competitor, Ricardo Arias. Taft is disgusted by Representative Henry Thomas Rainey’s “diatribes” in the House of Representatives.
President-elect Taft was sorry to hear about Harry Johnston’s unpleasant stay in Colón, and he addresses Johnston’s grievances in detail. The natural geography of the Colón harbor would make the kind of breakwater Johnston suggests both difficult and expensive to construct, but the board of engineers does plan to address the matter. The weather conditions that stranded Johnston in Colón were unusual, so travelers rarely have to stay at the Hotel Imperial. Although Taft agrees that the hotel is “dreadful,” it will probably be impossible to open the government’s hotels in Colón to ordinary travelers. These government hotels anger local hotel owners who must compete with them for customers. The Hotel Tivoli in Panama City is an exceptional case. Colón’s water supply has already improved greatly, but a filtration system is currently being added.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-06
Harry Johnston thanks President Roosevelt for facilitating a warm reception when he visited the Panama Canal construction site, where he met president-elect William H. Taft. Johnston then wrote a letter to Taft on his return to Colòn about the city’s appalling hotel and infrastructure. He now worries that this was inappropriate. If Taft is angry, he asks Roosevelt to “placate his wrath.” Johnston also wonders why Roosevelt is going hunting in Africa instead of somewhere in South America, Central America, or the Antilles. He shares his address in England, and hopes that United States Minister to Haiti H. W. Furniss will retain his position in the new administration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-03
Harry Johnston enjoyed meeting President-elect Taft and his wife, Helen Herron Taft, during their Panama Canal inspection. Johnson is optimistic about Taft’s plan for a dam at Gatun, but advises that the city of Colón poses another significant threat to the Canal. He offers suggestions for improving Colón’s dated and unsafe infrastructure.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-02
President-elect Taft describes his pleasant journey to Colón to inspect the construction of the Panama Canal. He informs President Roosevelt that changes among the engineering staff have resulted in clear improvements. The committee is not inclined to change the plans for the canal’s locks and dams. They worry that too much money is being spent on safety precautions, but Taft disagrees. He approves of Roosevelt’s decision to widen the canal, and is optimistic that it will be finished before the projected completion date. Additionally, Taft discusses cabinet and diplomatic appointments he is considering.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-01
Chief Sanitary Officer William Crawford Gorgas informs the Assistant to the General Manager of the Hamburg-American Line of a yellow fever quarantine in several Venezuelan ports. Gorgas explains how the quarantine will impact a ship landing in Panama to view the canal work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-05
Secretary of State Root communicates his travel plans to Second Assistant Secretary of State Adee at the White House, saying he will sail from Colon, Panama, through Cartagena, Colombia, and eventually up the Potomac River to Piney Point, Maryland. He says President Roosevelt telegraphed him, saying that he will have the ship Dolphin or Sylph ready to transport Root to the capitol the morning of September 30.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-21
Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) Stevens has received a telegram from ICC Chairman Shonts, presumably prompted by an article by Poultney Bigelow in the Cosmopolitan, asking whether employees of the Panama Railroad Company or Canal officials own land in Colón. Stevens asks William Grant Bierd, General Manager of the Panama Railroad Company, for a list of those who own land in this town and if any leases have been made within the last year so that he can advise Shonts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-06
Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry notifies William Loeb that the Columbia will be at Colón, Panama, on September 16.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-30
Charles D. Sigsbee reports on the investigation into Colombia having sent a gunboat into the Gulf of Darien. He believes the Colombians’ purpose was not aggression toward Panama but to transport troops to control their own state of Cauca. Sigsbee also describes a strategy for protection of Panama from any possible future aggression by Colombia. Sigsbee encloses a letter from the United States Consulate in Colón.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-26