Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-23


the last month, only three cases were re-
ported--not one OF these among canal EN-
ployes--and all originating many miles from
fever are being continued instead of being
,relixed< Square miles Of woven wire net
ting, with interstfces 50 small as TO prevent
the entrance of mosquitoes are being spread
abt)ut the piazxas of the houses OF every
American and foreigner who comes to live
under the auspices of the canal csassnis-
sion on the isthmus The windows inside
are also screened, and mosquito bars ON
the bed are used as additional precaution.
Whenever case OF yellow fever Is dis
covered the patient Is at once either re-
moved to the hospital and put under
main at home) the woven wire screen is
put over him. and an orderly placed in
charge OF him at his own residence. In
this way he Is prevented from furnishing
a supply OF the poison TO the healthy mos
quitoes. who would bring 1t back to men by
singing. In other words, the plan is to
kill all mosquitoes, well or Ill; keep them az
much as possible from singing men. and
to isolate every man with yellow fever.
not from his fellows, but from mosquitoes.
Or course, there are an this district, eS-
pecially in the old town OF Panama and
houses which must be burned completely to
the ground because OF the infection in them
which 1t Is impossible to destroy. The old
buildings In Panama are persistent sources
of the yellow fever mosquito.
Canal Commissions Offices.
THE canal commission," continued the
Secretary. "has its offices In one OF these
great stucco structures, with thick walls.
bad ventilation and damp hooks and cram
MES. 1t has often been funhgated and
cleansed in every way, but once in while
a new case Of fever in one of the American
employees is to be charged to the old build
ing. l am glad to say that the general
offices are soon to be moved to new build
fngs at Culebra and Emperador, on the
line of the canal. Little by little, facing
dscouragement after encouragement, the
1900 employees of the sanitary department
are winning this fight against disease, upon
depends.
which the whole success Of the canal work
las Mr. Stevens said to me when
crossed the isthmus with him last month:
I take off my hat to the work which the
sanitation department has done in this
canal zone In the month Of August, out
of a force of ID 900 men, the percentage
of illness was less than % per 1000. In June
the cases of yellow fever were 81, with 10
deaths; in July there were 80 cases and Ii
deaths; in September there were cases,
and in October only 8. The percentage Of
deaths among all is about 80. and among
Americans about 20.
Good food is now furnished by COM
missary at reasonable rates. The carrying
Of refrigerated fruits, foods and meats on
refrigerator cars from Colon across the
isthmus has just begun. There Is an ice
plant at La Boca, another one at Colon,
and others along the way are to be con-
form of liquid in the tropics. will be at hand
for all.
"a hotel has been erected where the
American employees of the commission may
live and go into Panama to business In a
few minutes by railway hotel of 1913
rooms Is being constructed at Ancon. which
is the Pacific terminus of the terminating
township of the governmental isthmian
SfrlO The French had aycpllQpt hos
pital at Ancon, one at Panama. a GONZALES
cent hospital at Taboga-an island some
ten miles off the coast in Panama bay,
where very healthful water, healthful boat
ing and healthful fruits may be had-so
that In all the hospital accommodation has
been increased from about $50 to upward
of a thousand beds.
American trained nurses may be had at
any point on the isthmus," said Secretary
Taft. land any employee or laborer or any
member of his family will be taken care
of at these hospitals. In addition to this.
and to protect itself, the commission has
taken over the general hospital of Panama
and has accepted $4,000 Mexican, a fund
which hao been voted by Panama for
rebuilding it. 1t has also taken care Of
the insane and lepers of Panama, charging
certain rate per day. 1t exercises by
right of law and agreement complete quar-
antfne jurisdiction over Panama. Colon and
the isthmian canal strip, and this quaran-
tine is a division of the sanitation bureau
under Governor Magoon and Colonel
Gorgas.
Filling Swamps and Lowlands.
Not only has 1t been found possible to
accomplish much by the draining of
swamps by surface drainage, or turning of
stagnant pools into running water and the
cutting of cutters and the flushing from
reservoirs, bus the attention Of the chief
engineer has also been directed to filing
up with the spoil from excavations made
in construction, swamps and fowlands
which now generate disease. The evidences
OF successful war against malaria are not
SO easy to produce as those Of the defeat
of yellow fever. One reason Is that ma
laria Is so much harder to combat than
the latter disease. To begin with yellow
fever finds it's victims only among those
who are not residents of the tropical coast
tOwns-so, at least the statistics seem to
show. Europeans and Americans from the
temperate zone, Colombfans coming from
the hills and mountains, and other work.
men from the interior-especially the high
landS-are all subjects of yellow fever, but
generally the blacks from Jamaica and
Trinidad, from the islands of the Carib-
bean sea, and the Panamanians themselves
are immune. The field for attack by yellow
however, with malaria. An examination
for experimental purposes, repeated at va
rious times under the direction of Col.
Gorgas, shows that at least 10 per cent Of
have the malarial microbe. l am glad to
say that since our occupation the malaria
has not generally taken on the malignant
form of the days of the French railroad
and canal construction, but is rather mild.
1.-The great difficulty in preventing the
transmission of malaria concluded the
Secretary, is that. with GO or 10 per cent
of the persons infected with malaria, 1t Is
Impossible to prevent malaria mosquitoes
from happening upon the source of ma
Iaria supply in the blood of 60 per cent of
the inhabitants of the fsthmus. The cases
of yellow fever. on the other hand, are
comparatively so few that isolating them
is a real measure of protection to all. New
ertheless, by the reduction In the total
number of mosquitoes, which, though an
enormous task, is still capable of accom-
plishment, the spread Of malaria may be
largely checked. This is work OF con-
slant attention. and which will last long
after the construction of the canal and
will be constantly the task of those respon-
sible for the government of the strip. OF
course the less malaria, even of the mild
character, the greater the efficiency of the
laborer.'
Ecstasies Of Mecca.
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