The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-15

the sanitary facilities we shall provide. and
TO make them obey the sanitary regula-
tions We shall institute. That is the real
problem TO be handled in this situation. To
handle it properly we must exercise a most
vigorous police supervision over the whole
of the canal zone, with adequate sanitary
and health inspection services. The people
must be taught the value of decent living.
and to teach them we must begin at the
very beginning of the lesson. They live now
in houses with corrugated iron roofs and
corrugated iron partitions, or in the mean
est matched huts. In the first class of
abodes the moisture in the atmosphere con-
geals constantly; in the second class there
is a perpetual natural dampness. To d
TO the difficulty these people believe that
the miasmatic mists that envelop the
country are the cause of all their ills.
They, therefore. shut themselves up as
closely as possible at night, absolutely eX-
GLIDING fresh air from their homes. This
habit but accentuates the evils resulting
from living in the damp abodes L have de-
scribed, and this combination Of circum-
stances has produced a veritable scourge Of
rheumatism and tuberculosis in a country
where neither should be known.
eft will be our business, therefore. not
only to afford sanitary arrangements and
surroundings. and teach these people to
use and value those Improvements. We
to appreciate fresh air, and what manner
of places they should live in. For the con-
tractors and other white men who will
come h~re to direct the canal work, as well
as for l G negro and coolie labor that must
be imported, there will be a different les
son needed.
STRICT REGULATIONS REQUIRED.
People going into tropical countries are
prone to dysentery. and certain to be more
or less disposed to malaria. 1t was the ex-
perience of the French that new arrivals
on the isthmus paid no attention to this
obstacle to good health, and after working
all day under the burning sun or in the
l-s,,g,r r,fD xurnrnl1 unnnd Tho nfgh& %
drinking and carousing, just as men might
do in the northern climates. The result
was speedy debilitation and great %suscepti-
bility to disease. Our people and those we
must be taught, or made, 10 avoid a mode
of living which made former canal work
ers die like flies in the falltime. Neither OF
these lessons TO be taught will be easy;
the instructors must be rigorous and I'M
bending, and for that reason the admin
istration for the canal zone must be es-
pecially intelligent and capable.
IF. however, we can succeed in inculcat-
ing these lessons the problem Of sanitary
conditions in the second division / have
made will be practically solved. We must,
of course. supply some simple facilities, but
these will involve no difficulties. The water
sheds in this division VIII have TO be rigidly
protected from pollution, crematOries for the
incineration of garbage and fecal matter
will have TO be established, and a garbage
collection system instituted, so as 10 pre-
vent offal from reaching the streams: all
the residents OF the canal zone must be
compelled to drink filtered and boiled water.
and an extensive system of lighthouses.
with enforcement OF regulations as to bath
ing. must be instituted. There is nothing
complex in these requirements, nor will
there be any difficulty experienced in Pan
ANA, where, as l have said, sewerage, pure
water and disinfection alone are required.
The water supply for Panama may be
drawn from an absolutely pure mountain
stream flowing twenty-eight miles northeast
of the city.
THE PROBLEM AT COLON
colon will be the most stubborn propo-
sition with which we shall have to deal. It
would be greatly simplifed if every building
outside of the railroad section should be
given 10 the torch. The whole area Of the
city must be filled in until it's surface shall
be not less than four feet above the level OF
the sea, A complete system Of underground
and surface drainage must be provided, as
well as a perfect sewerage system. Cristo-
bal Colon Point, constructed by the French
10 be the one actually healthy spot. is to-
day one Of the worst incubators OF disease
on the entire isthmus, and will nave to be
radically dealt with. All open places left
in Colon after the city shall have been filled
must be grassed or graveled and well and
constantly cared for, and the swampland
should be drained and filled I'm for a mile
in every direction. Unless the buildings
are all burned and the town rebuilt. every
one must be raised so hat IL will be above
the level of the ground and set upon a Sc
cure foundation, AFTER Wnlcn there must be
applied most vigorous measures Of disin-
lection and fumigation.
To get a supply OF pure water for Colon
ii VIII be necessary 10 go 10 the mountains.
a reservoir may, however. be constructed
on Monkey hill, two miles from the city,
where the railroad now has its reservoir.
The water may then be brought by gravity
into Colon; but If this plan is adopted all
the native residents in the vicinity of Mon
key hill must be made to move TO other
parts OF the isthmus. If these measures are
adopted, and the same lessons taught and
the same general regulations instituted as 1
have described for the second section. Colon
may be made a habitable place. with "A
death-rate not especially excessive. Police
supervision will, however, have to be most
vigorous in this place.
MOSQUITOES MUST co.
Besides the measures 1 have described
for the three divisions Of the isthmus, there
must be a general and most determined cru
SADIE against mosquitoes over the entire
canal zone. We know beyond question Of
doubt that mosquitoes are the active dis
seminators OF Infectious diseases. Those
that abound SO plenteously on the isthmus