The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-10

of the tens of thousands of victims scar ring the hillsides In the region of Boho sound discouraging warning to the new arrival. Sleep out of doors seems almost impossible on account of malaria. and sleep indoors is out of the question during the greater part of the year, although in many locations preferable, from the standpoint of comfort. to the noxious vapors of the night. These two diseases are the scourge of Panama and the ter TOT of any one who has spent his life in cooler attitudes.
 The writer took good heed of the warn- ings of friends, and stunned the low lands, especially at night, thereby avoid- ing liability of exposure to either of the diseases. When Americans can become acclimated to this country consumma- ton of the canal project will be much nearer, but from the writer's observa- tions, 1t looks as though many good men will be sacrificed to the swamps and jungles of the isthmus
 Colon Typical City.
 Colon is a typical city of the southern cline. Lethargy seems to hang In the air. and, except where the streets are torn up by the workmen who gre busily installing a system of sewers and water mains every one seems to be taking good rest. There is the customary row of quays and docks, with the line or warehouses behind, and then the small sea of low flat-roofed buildings, with the tropical vegetation cropping up eV- erywhere. For three or four miles around the country smiles as benignly as country ever smiled, and then begins the dense jungle which breaks it's solidity only to allow for the interpolation or an occasional swamp all along the line or the proposed canal. Some ten miles back from the sea the land begins to rise to af Rnhin about the middle of the isthmus, 1t is wild. rocky and almost mountainous country scared here and there with the pitiful remains of the De Lesseps and later canal projects, a&1 the graves or the unfortunates who sacrlnced every thing to the cause. The remainder or the distance to Panama Is but a repetition Of the other slope. with It's swamps, Jungles and mosquitoes
 Any seaport, particularly one in warm climate, where vessels from all parts of the world touch, Is liable to ep- idemics and plagues, and this IS partlcu- larly true of the western slope or the isthmus At La Boca, the seaport Tor the city of Panama there is a bubonic plague which has gained such head way as to effectually tie up all shipping on that side of the isthmus all summer, and although the official quarantine or this important point shows how thorough and determined the officials are to se- cure the most sanitary and healthful conditions for the workers 1t also serves to emphasize the dangers from tropical diseases Vessels can only discharge their cargoes by lightering through the bay Of Panama, at unusually heavy expense. for unscrupulous wharfngers have been quick to take advantage of this unfor- tunate condition and are shaking down the merchantmen for all they can.
 Tlat anttrp raDnhliC Of Panama has been rich feeding ground for the yellow fever germ Is apparent on every hand, and residents of the region have acquired a superstitious terror of even the word. Thanks to the efforts of the sanitary division of the canal commis- sion the disease is not nearly so prevail ent as 1t was and 1t is hoped to so lm-