Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-29
Sanitation Work.

AAStNN1S23 " OIhs
The sanitation work is in excellent shane
The report says that after a decided rise
in the cases of yellow fever during June
the disease has been got under control and
the arrangements for fumfgating houses
and cleaning up the towns and camps has
reached such a point as was never before
thought possible The sanitary corps has
been working hard and constantly and the
residents of Panama and Colon have dis
played Commendable readiness to co-onar
ate In the work and put up with the incon-
Veniences that accompany it, even though
they themselves are almost all immune fo
yellow fever.
There have been two outbreaks of bu
bonic plague, or at least two cases, one oc-
curing In June and the second in August
In both cases drastic and instant measures
were taken to quarantine the infected spots
and stamp out the disease So we'll was
this done that there has not been another
case and the plague has been controlled as
1t never has been before when 1t once
MAGE us appearance IN tropical climate
Inc report says that malaria has really
caused more trouble than either plague or
yeloW 1eVer The malarial germ is car
REQ by different breed of mosquito from
yellow fever and by one freouentine the
outlying districts and swamps where u js
harder to deal with than in the cities. There
is also less dread of malaria because II ia
not so generally fatal This makes every
one less careful about contracting II but
the ultimate havoc it plays is shown by the
fact that in four months, when there were
II deaths from yellow fever, there were lOS
from malaria. The natives are not i'm
mune to malaria, as they are to yellow
leVer An examination of blood showed
that 80 to 20 per cent of the natives were
affected with malaria all the time
The sanitation of Panama and Colon Is
stu progressing, and these two towns
while they still preserve much of their
quaint original aspect. are being wholly
| TENS for the first time In tbaIr h
Water was turned into the mains last
| Fourth of July. The work of paving is
progressing, and renders it much easier to
| keep the towns clean. and encourages the
| inhabitants to keep their houses and wards
| cleaned up. Pavements and curbstones of
| cement, real cutters and roadways of vltri-
| both Panama and Colon. There is a sewer
| system under construction, modern in every
| respect as the water works
Care Of Insane and INDECENT.
| AT the time the United States assumed
| the government of the canal zone there
| existed no adequate institution, either in
| the canal zone or In the republic of PAN
| anna, for the care of the insane, lepers and
| INDECENT sick. In the city of Panama there
was the hospital of Santo Tomas, with a.
| capacity of $50 beds There was also I'm
| the Same city an almshouse known as the
"Asio de Bolivar" where the INDECENT sick
|
| were cared for as far the limited equip
| ment of the place would permit The in
| sane of the republic were either left to
the supervision of relatives or confined in a
| few rooms of the prison at Panama. Some
| lepers, but not all of those afflicted with
| the disease lived In q collection of novels
| on the seashore near Panama, where they
| eked oIt a precarious existence in depend
| ence OIL the contributions of the charitable
| A permanent insane asylum is now in
| course of construction, and location has
| been selected for lazaretto. The INDECENT
| sick of the republic, other than lepers in
| sane and other chronic cases, are taken
care of at Ancon and Colon hospitals
Organization of Departments.
AS the organization of the various depart
ments has proceeded and the scope of the
work has been extended there has been a
corresponding increase in the number of EN-
| ployes. II November of last year the COM
missions employees on the isthmus NUM-
bered $500. At the present time they num-
Der approximately 1900 men. OF these H.
900 are under the department of construc-