Cleveland Murrell … remembered how his father had worked as a janitor in the Canal Zone, all the while carefully saving his money. He returned home [to Barbados] with about $100 and used it to rent a bit of land. Rising prices during World War I earned him a solid profit on the sugarcane he grew, which he then used to buy six acres and open a shop. Murrell recalled how proud he felt of his father’s economic achievements: “When my father finished working the land, he would peel the mud off of his feet and throw it back on the land. He would save and save. I don’t know how he did it. He was very thrifty–different from those who would sit around and drink rum.”

Julia Greene, The Canal Builders, p. 343