A graphic and representative picture of one of the construction settlements along the canal was given by the correspondent of _The Times_ at Panama.[13] He chose "Emperador," or "Empire," as the typical village. This is the headquarters of the central division of the construction work, and is situated about halfway along the great Culebra Cut. The correspondent writes:-- According to the census just completed, it contains 7,152 inhabitants, of whom 1,757 are whites, 3,701 negroes, 1,569 mestizos, 101 Chinese, and 24 East Indians. North of the main street is a section called the "native town," apparently because it is inhabited by natives of other countries than Panama, but really because here was situated the native hamlet alongside which the French built their construction camp in 1881. It is occupied by the part of the population not employed by the government, and here are the American saloons, the Spanish _cantinas_ and restaurants, Chinese shops, East Indian fancy-work shops, and negro tailoring and shoemaking places. On the south side of the American settlement are the labour "camps," consisting of barracks and eating-places. All the buildings are of wood, constructed to last not over ten years; and none are large, excepting the administration buildings and the club-house. On three sides of the village are the huts of the labourers who prefer the half-jungle life with its freedom; and here, with discomfort and squalor and liberty, is the only picturesque part of the settlement; all else is orderly, of one pattern, almost smug. On the fourth side the village is limited by the canal itself. In the centre of the village is the commissariat, where the canal and railroad workers buy their food and clothing. Here congregate every morning the housewives of the village to do their shopping, and at night, after work, the men, to complete the family purchases. There is a similar store in each canal village--eighteen in all. The commissariat does away with the middleman's profit and buys in such large quantities, and for cash, that it obtains the lowest prices, while the many ways in which the materials purchased can be used prevent waste. If there is cause for complaint on the part of any class in the canal workers, that class is the bachelors, for they are discriminated against in the matter of quarters. But good provision is made for their meals, at the so-called "hotels" for the white employees, and the messes and kitchens for Spanish and negro labourers.