The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-24
Would Exceed by That Much the Cost of Lock Canal
 Now Planned
GREAT CULEBRA CUT IS
 THE MAIN DIFFICULTY
Ditch at This Point Would Have to Bs More Than 32o Feet Deep-Little Work Thus Far Ac-
 complished.
BY CHARLES H. cocHRANE.

Colon, Panama, December 5.-(Special1 1-
 I have previously referred to the work
 of sanitation In the canal zone already
 undertaken by the engineers of the com
 mission. That this work was given the
 first consideration is good evidence that
 the commission Is going at the task In
 the right, methodical, business-like way When John F. Wallace first visited Pan-
 anna chief engineer for the commission
 he took with him Carlton E. Davis, who
 was commissioned to design and con
 struct water supplies for the cities of
 Panama and Colon. The work was
 rushed through immediately, and at the
 time of the writer's visit In October the
 city of Panama, with 25,0o0 inhabitants,
 was equipped with a fairly complete sys- tenn of water mains and sewers. res- ervoir constructed by the French com- pany In the highlands about Boho and Culebra was of great assistance, and after being put into repair was found of
 d capacity sufficient to furnish sixty-six
 gallons of water per day to each inhabi-
 tant of Panama city. The reservoir is
 supplied from the headwaters of the Rio Graude river, and the water is conveyed
 through six-inch main to a retaining reservoir near the city, from where it Is 1 taken through twenty-inch pipe to connection wit hthe system. Similar wa ter works are now almost completed at Colon, and the scheme includes other connection with the system. Similar Wa the line of the canal.
 Complete arrangements, such as these,
 seem to me to be the only guard against the tropic pestilences which show them
 selves in the unSanitary lowlands of Pan- anna. The matter of hotels, lodging and mn hoI1 bn1 ok ro6 r1 q r. tention, with the result that two hotels
 and seven mess houses have already been erected, and some six thousand merf are being fed by the government.
 These two hotels are of considerable in- terest in connection with the canal work,
 an dthe writer took occasion to examine them thoroughly. The principal one Is
 at Corozal on the Panama railroad, three
 miles from Panama city. It is a T. shaped frame building of three stories, with large dining room and kitchen on the ground floor, the other two floors being given over entirely to sleeping apartments. There are eighty of these apartments. furnished cleanly and neatly, but in no sense elaborately. The build ing has been constructed by modern
 methods along the most up-to-date lines,
 and it's arrangements in the way of san 1tation and operating convenences are
 as thorough as 1t Is possible to contrve in a locality as peculiarly situated as Corozal A more undesirable spot to To- cate such an institution couds hardly have been chosen, and it is claimed that
 the hotel was built here after the spot
 l. WAS condemned as place of residence by Col. w. C. Gorgas, chief sanitary offi-
 cer of the canal zone; 1t Is also stated that the French authorities twice con
 demned the location as one of the worst
 malaria-infested spots on the Isthmus of
 Panama. Corozal lies in a hollow or the hills, so low that drainage is impossible and it's capacity in misunderstanding is
 apparent from the records in the main isthn1ian hospital at Ancon, which show that the settlement contributed more cases of malaria and yellow fever during the French regime than any other spot
 on the isthmus. And yet, as indicating the efficacy of the sanitary methods of the present commission, 1t must be re- corded that but three cases of yellow
 fever have been taken out of the valley Hotel Prices. At the time of this opening the hotel was operated by two lessees, DeLemos
 and Schaefer. who had the privilege of
 boarding employees quartered at the hotel.
 The charges were s22.50 per month for the meals-which, by the way, were none too excelent-and $2.50 per month for cleaning and keeping in order the rooms.
 About a month before the visit of the
 writer, however, complaint as to the
 food, particularly the meats served at the hotel signed by every employe quar-
 tered there, was laid before Chairman Shonts, Governor Magoon of the canal zone and Chief Engineer Stevens, with the result that the lessees were busted and the operation of the hotel placed in the hands of the commission. Meal books, containing sixty coupons valued at D cents each, are now issued to employees, the cost of the book, $15, being deducted
 from the months salary. One ticket is torn out for each meal, and once a month ten tickets are taken for the charge of room cleaning.
 There is very naturally a strenuous