Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-07-08
WAR ON YELLOW FEVER
Panama Nurses Experience In
 Fighting the Disease.
TRIPS OF THE DEAD TRAINn
Miss A. A. Robinson Says IL Certainly Sometimes Oftener - Physical Dis comforts Great, but They Are Noth- ing, She Finds, 10 the Mental Star vatiop-Iany Nurses Coming Home.

yatioD-AIany Nurses Coming Home.
 There is no doubt that the yellow fever situation on the isthmus of Pan ana is grave and growing rapidly more acute" said Miss 4. A. Robin son of New York. one of the nurses who returned to New York recently 1 from Colon by the steamship Advance, says the New York Tribune. Miss Robinson has been a year on the isth- mus, first as nurse at the Ancon hos pital and later as matron at the hos pital in Colon.
 Governor Magoon is very anxious, and so are the physicians, for yellow fever strikes down the white man. while the negro is immune. Some of the finest young men who have gone to the isthmus since have been there have died of it. and they were well set up, clean boys. with good principles. Deaths occur right along. It doesn't seem 10 be the fault of the govern ment or of any one in particular, but it is agreed on all hands that what should have been done before a spadeful of earth was dug out of the canal was to provide good sanitary quarters for the engineers and others who were 10 work there. Why. these poor fellows have been drinking un6ltered rain water. and a number of them came down without mosquito bars, which are necessity of life in a region where the mosquito carries the yellow fever infec- tion."
 Asked as to the dead train" which, 1t has been stated, runs from Colon to Monkey Hill cemetery. mile and a half south, always once and sometimes as many as fourteen times a day, N''ss Robinson replied. The train certs ' runs to the cemetery once a day. s, O. times oftener. but never knew 1t to run fourteen times. The truth is that, while there has been jIst ss much vel American occupation as before. the deaths are fewer by far. There are now about fifty American trained nurses down there. Before we came there the two hospitals were in charge of the Sisters Of St Vincent de Paul In those days there was a steady proces- sion Of the dead on their way to the cemetery. The sisters used to lock up the wards st night and % home. In the morning they would come and un- lock them and find some of their ya- tients dead. They were lovely women. but quite innocent of all the elements of modern nursing. as we found when those who remained for awhile after we came helped with the diets. They thought it so cruel in us to have nurse or orderly sit up all night in each ward and held ID tbelr hands in amazenent af the mention of Ice bags. typhoid baths and antiseptic surgery
 Ms Robinson is a Boston girl and a graduate of the Hartfsrd Hospital Training School For Nurses. She went out with a party of ei-ht other nurses on July 12. 1904
 HNo more fsihmuS Of Panama for me she said The physical discom- forts are great. but theT are nothing to the mental sfarva1ion- There is ab- solutely no recreatiOn-ns music. ne ehurcbes. 10 hz,szinz. ID books CT mag azines. n driving zcept round and round inside the towns Nobody ever walks. and athIetie sports are Lupossi- hIe i1 climate that has six montss of rainy season and is all the tine ike warn vap0- bath The bare monoeuU Of tie nurses existe1ce is sppA0nG
 The food iz essi although Amao can food was at first very hardsee-1nr, tain and f-eSh vegetables are auwxs and Esh rare ca account of a t1x 11nx