In the adjoining room, over the "blotter," snapped
the brusk stereotyped nasal reply:
"Ancon! Bingham talking!"
The instrument buzzed a moment and the deskman looked up to say:
"'Andy' and a nigger just fell over into Pedro Miguel locks.
They're sending in his body. The nigger lit on his head and hurt
his leg."
His body! How uncanny it sounded! "Andy," that bunch of muscles
who had made such short work of the circus wrestler in Gatun and
whom I had seen not twenty-four hours before bubbling with life
was now a "body." Things happen quickly on the Zone, and he whom
the fates have picked to go generally shows no hesitation in his
exit. But at least a man who dies for the I. C. C. has the affairs
he left behind him attended to in a thorough manner. In ten
minutes to a half-hour one of the Z. P. is on the ground taking
note of every detail of the accident. A special train or engine
rushes the body to the morgue in Ancon hospital grounds. A
coroner's jury is soon meeting under the chairmanship of a
policeman, long reports of everything concerning the victim or the
accident are soon flowing Administration-ward. The police accident
report is detailed and in triplicate. There is sure to be in the
"personal files" at Culebra a history of the deceased and the
names of his nearest relative or friend both on the Isthmus and in
the States; for every employee must make out his biography at the
time of his engagement.
Pages:
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207