New-York tribune., 1905-08-04


every block of paving be utilized as soon
as IL is laid without waiting for the whole
he done Meantime the unpaved streets are
being kept as clean possible. sewers are being
flushed, houses are being fumgated for the de-
struction of the yellow fever mosquitoes which
have habit of hiding away indoors instead OF
coming out boldly into the open like their New
Jersey kinsmen, and eight Panaman physicians
are making house TO house inspections OF the
city in the interest OF sanitation. Colon and the
other places in the zone must be treated in
similar fashion, but that will be a smaller task.
because those places are so much smaller. Colon
and Cristobal lie so low that the problem OF SAN
itation there is complicated. and will probably
have to be solved by raising the level OF those
places several feet, as to permit proper drain
age. That will not be difficult job, seeing
the amount OF material for filling in which the
Culebra cut will furnish. 1t will provide enough
for Colon and Cristobal, and for all the swamps
along the line thus securing drainage and get
ting rid of the breeding places of mosquitoes in
a single operation.
The housing of the employees is another mat
ter to which special attention is being paid.
Many of the old buildings really unfit for
further use. but many others good. and are
rapidly being put into satisfactory condition
The old buildings at Pedro Miguel. about seven
miles from Panama, have already been repaired
and cleansed. and their tenants will have
cause for complaint. Some hundred and
fifty carpenters are rushing work number
of new hotels. and sites for others are being
prepared. There is reason to believe that by
September 1 there will be satisfactory quarters
outside of the City of Panama for every nom
immune empoye of the canal administration.
but. of course. the work will not stop them 1t
will be continued at high pressure until there
.-e,a
only non-immunes and gold employees" but
common leborers WELL and by satisfactory l
mean quarters that are not only adapted to the
necessities of the climate and to the laws of
hygiene. but are also invested with a reason
able measure OF homelike comforts. Another
wise step will be the removal of the administra-
tive Offices from the City of Panama to Ancon.
They will there be fully as convenient of access,
and they will be vastly more healthful and COM
Portable. Upon those dry and breeze swept
heights men should be as secure from fever
though they at home in the States. AS for
the hospitals at Ancon and elsewhere they are
now in satisfactory condition. Colonel GorgaS
considers them adequate in room, medical and
nursing staff, equipment and funds for the prob
able requirements of working force of 10000
employees, which is the maximum force esti-
mated by the chief engineer for the next year.
In connection with the erection of the new
hotel buildings. single incident will illustrate
the way in which reforms can be wrought and
expedition be effected by practical and tactful
TO the isthmus by vessel on the Pacific. Usually
1t would be landed at La Boca, but there was d
case of bubonic plague foreign ship at La
Boca some time ago, and, although there have
been and probably will be, no more cases on the
isthmus, that one made it seem prudent to quar-
antine La Boca for time, and therefore to
fetch lumber in lighters TO the old wharf in
Panama. Now, the usual procedure there would
have been 10 land the lumber on the wharf, load
1t upon cars, convey it to the lumber yard, sort
1t. inspect it, measure it, reload it upon the cars,
take it to the places where the hotels to be
built, unload it and cart it to the sites. Thus
month or six weeks would have been CONSUMED
in getting the lumber from shipboard TO the
carpenters hands. Such a programme did not
suit Governor Magoon, he just impressed
upon everybody connected with the work his
conception of the Importance of haste and his
desire that precedence should be given to the
result is that the lumber is sorted, inspected
and measured right the old pier, and then
rushed by the railroad to the building sites
Thus in single week a hundred carloads have
been transferred from the vessels TO the hands
of the builders.
Another important reform is to be observed
in the food supply for the employees. That sup
ply must be at moderate in cost and excel
lent in quality. Those who have lived on the
isthnus know that such characteristics not
universally found i'll the ordinary market wares
of Panama and Colon. and it is evident that they
would be still more lacking in the supplies Of ten
or twenty thousand imported employees. The
scheme has therefore been devised of securing
an Independent food supply, extraneously, ex-
pressiy for the employees ard laborers along the
canal The steamships OF the Panama Railroad
and also of the United Fruit Company are TO be
equipped with refrigerators. and thus are to con-
vey TO Colon supplies of fresh meats. eggs, but
ter, vegetables, etc, from the United States. At
Colon there will be erected cold storage ware
house. an ice making plant, bakery, laun
dry and other establishments TO cater to the
needs of the employees. There will be provided
on the railroad a supply train. with refrigerator
cars laundry car, etc. which will the
line every morning, supplying 10 each camp
the needed meat vegetables. bread etc. for
the day. and also clean clothes. linen. etc,
SOiled articles
This, it is believed will satisfactorily solve the
food problem. 1t will make the canal force in
dependent of the local market, but it will not
necessarily work any hardship give any Of
fence to the latter. At most it will not be TAX
ing any normal patronage away from the Pan
market, but will merely be supplying an
not be able to supply anyway Moreover, as
the United States is creating the extra demand
it sureis has the first right to supply 1t. OF
course, this arrangement Will not exclude Pan
anna produce from the canal zone. but such sup
plies as can be furnished the isthmus will
doubtless be gladly purchased
1t is III this practical and judiclous fashion
that work is being pushed under Governor
Magoons direction. The detailed items of il are
not as sensational doggerel about the imag-
ined horrors that lie beyond the Chagres Xiv
er,'' as vague hints about unmentionable OBJ
staces to canal construction and unspecihed
considerations that caused the late Chief En-
gineer's resignation But they mean much for
the real promotion of the enterprise which we
have there in hand. 1t mistake to think
that steam shovels must at all hazards be kept
making the dirt fly Culebra before proper
preliminaries are attended TO. The work of
preparation should have been made primary. and
OF merely incidental. That error has now been
corrected and ii is seen even more clearly
than before that the late chief engineer
judiciously said, upon the authority of his long
experience and thorough investigation. that
there are problems connected with the Pan
anna enterprise which insoube or which
cannot be readily solved by any good engineers
and administrators There is no call for occult
oil 1h M "A