The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-10-08
HOSPITAL LIFE
ON THE IsTHMUs
YELLOW FEVER CoMPLETELN..
MASTERED AT LAST. rs,

%
The Government Hospital at Ancou Ono
Of the Finest in the World-EYery
Employee Treated Free, Regardless o61
Race or Rank-The Great Work and
the Wonderful Popularity of Colonial
Gcrgas-Inhabitants of the Canal
Zone Pining for Home Newspapers.
---
Panama Correspondence Boston Tran-i
script. II
Parma is at last free from the yellow
fever. There is but one case under treat
ment, and he is well along toward cont
yalescence. Hardly time enough has,
passed yet to be sure that there will beli
recurrence, but strong hopes are en-;
tertained that the epidemic is a thing !
OF the past. AS for the babonic plague, |
there. has been no case since Aug. 26, .
and the scare is fast dying out. 4.
The most beautiful and interesting !
pita51 where the battle against tropicals:
diseases is constantly going on. Here ii
Panama, the yellow fever when it comes
is o serious matter, the death rate
being about 80 per cent, more than
double what it is in New Orleans. This
is thoroly appreciated by the authori-
ties and n Of the finest hospitals iHst
the world has been erected and
equipped to give the sick the best posi-.
capable Of affording. The hospital can
accommodate 700 patients, but since this
Americans took control the number has
never exceeded 500 at one time. EverYF
employee Of the commission, regardless
of race or color, is entitled to free treat,
ment as long and as often as is nee.
essary. OF some 400 patients, which is
about the average number, not morai
than seventy-fve are white, but the coli
,ored men receive exactly the same careF
and attention. The physicians and
:canl be procured. s-s aa<
? The hospital Is situated on the side OF
.Ancon hin, which rises to a height Of
300 feet between Panama and La Boca,
and comprises some forty. buildings all
devoted to hospital purposes. The lo.a
cation commands beautiful. views of. tha
mountains to the east and the Pacific to
the south, and is generally swept by
COOLING breezes. The use of blanket1,,
at night is almost universal, quite dif.
ferent from down in the city, where
why - AOFOA uS0u. LIS DullUluQS.i
some forty in number, are placed ON
both sides of a beautiful palm-lined ave-.
nue. which winds gradually up the hill
from the examination office at the eng
trance to the nurses quarters, at thu
highest point of@Ithe hospital grounds
At the office the incoming patients are
examined to determine the character of
their trouble and assigned to the va91
nous wards according to the diagnosis,
II their ailments require hospital treats
meidi Some only require medicine
the dispensary just beyond the office.
Every white patient showing temper..
azure above normal is assigned to d
particular ward, where he is cut under
observation until the character Of his
fever is a certainty. AS the yellow fe2
yer is confined to white people, with
rare exceptions, it is here that the bat1
tie with that dread disease is fought.
On, admittance, the patient is exama
ined more carefully, a specimen of his.
blood taken: and he is given a bed in
the ward THERE'S plenty of fresh air.
here, for the windows are numerouE
and are never closed. They are, howo
ever, carefully screened with fine mesh
wire, so that mosquitoes cannot enters
There is only opesowaytof coming into.
the wardEthruT a. doub1e-screened door.
into a corridor and from the corridor
thru another double-screened door into,
the ward. In the corridor chemicals
are always burning, whose fumes de-
stroy any mosquito which may, By,
chance, have come thru the first door,
when it was opened ~ Thanks to these
precautions, nc mosquito, has ever been
found in the ward AS "a still further
precaution, one side of the ward is
taken up with a series of wire ages,
eight feet square and eight feet high,
tentered by a door also. screened. EACH
until it is certain that his trouble is
not yellow fever, or until he is past the
stage where he can infect a mosquitoj
when he is transferred to an uncagei
bed on the other side of the ward. II
requires some three days to determine
whether a patient has the yellow feverg
The treatment Of yellow fever il
principally a matter Of careful nursing.
Few medicines are given and all solid
liquid food is given very. sparingly.
When the patient Is very sick, he sell
dom wants any, and rather resents hav.
ing it offered to him. What he desires.
generally, Is to be let alone, as he is
very weak and the slightest exertion,
mental or physical, is almost unendur-
able. There is almost continuous back
ache and headache. To relieve the lat
ter somewhat, cracked ice is kept on
the head most Of the time. It is worry
difficult to go to sleep, and the use Of
morphine is necessary In some cases to
bring this about. The one luxury that
Is allowed Is icewater ad libitum. It
the patient lives three days after the
fever is fully developed, it is probable
that he will recover. Should severe
vomiting come on before this period,
it is usually a fatal sign, for the suf-
ferer is in nc condition to stand the
drain upon his strength.
The whole hospital force is a most de.
voted band. The nurses are gentle,
painstaking and thoughtful, as are the
physicians. Every man who has been In
the fever ward iswears by Colonel Cor
gas, Altho at the head Of n of the
largest and busiest departments and
obliged to be at his office in the city
most Of the day, Hhessvisits personally
everyoneSin the fever. ward morning and
evening, and prescribes for their treat
ment. Not q man among them who does
not feel 100 per cent better after his
visits.
Convalescence is a tedious matter, as
strength returns very slowly at first,
Books and magazines are in great de-
I mand, A certain number of the latter
are circulated each day by the chaplain
Father Russell. There is a still greater
call for home newspapers. Some papers
in the states have put Ancon hospital
on their free mailing list. Probably
no papers that are sent out give greater
n1oo o,1rn Than these 80 4e