The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1906-12-21
Preliminary Work Being Done.

The wisdom of the canal management
has been shown in nothing more clearly
than in the way in which the founda-
lions of the work have been laid To
have yielded to the natural impatience
of ill-informed outsiders and begun all
kinds of experiments in work prior to a
thorough sanitation of the isthmus, and
TO fairly satisfactory working out of
the problem of getting and keeping a
sufficient labor supply, would have been
disastrous. The various preliminary
these could not be taken so as to allow
Us to begin the real work of construc-
ton prior TO January 1 of the present
year. 1t then became necessary to have
the type of the canal decided, and the
only delay has been the necessary delay
until the goth day of June, the date
settled that we should have an S5-foot
level canal. Immediately after that the
work began in hard earnest and has
been continued with increasing vigor
progress in the future When the con-
tracts are let the conditions will be such
as to insure a constantly increasing
amount of performance.
( Successful Sanitation.
The first great problem to be solved,
upon the solution of which the success of
the rest of the work depended, was the
problem of sanitation. This was from
the outset under the direction of DR..
w. C. Gorgas, who is to be made a full
member of the commission. 1t must be
remembered that his work was not mere
sanitation as the term is understood in
our ordinary municipal work. Through
out the zone and in the two cities of
sanitation work proper, he has had to
do all the work that the Marine hospital
service does as regards the nation, that
the health department officers do in the
Warning did in New York when he
cleaned it's streets: The results have
been astounding. The isthmus had been
a byWord for deadly unhealthfulness
Now, after two years of our occupation
the conditions as regards sickness and
the death rate compare favorably with
reasonably healthy localities in the
United States, Especial care has been
devoted to minimizing the risk due to the
presence of those species of mosquitoes
which have, been found to ,propagate
settlements, the little temporary towns
or cities composed of the white and black
employees, which grow up here and
there in the tropic jungle as the needs
of the work dictate, the utmost care is
exercised to keep the conditions healthy
Everywhere are to be seen the drainage
bitches which in removing the water
have removed the breeding places of the
mosquitoes, while the whole jcngle is
cut away for considerable spa e around
the habitations, thus destl ,ying the
places in which the mosquitoes? take shell
Ter These drainage bitches {. I'd clearinSs
are in evidence in every settlement, ana,
together with the invariable presence of
mosquito screens around the piaZZas, ana
of mosquito doors to the houses, not to
speak of the careful fumigation that has
gone on in all infected houses, doubtless
explain the EXTRAORDINARY absence OF
mosquitoes. AS a matter of fact, but
q single mosquito, and this not of the
dangerous species, was seen by any
member of our party during my three
days on the isthmus. Equal care is
taken by the inspectors of the health de-
partment to secure cleanliness IN the
houses and proper hygienic conditions of
every kind l inspected between ~ and
90 water-closets, both those used by the
white employees and those used by the
colored laborers. In almost every case l
found the conditions perfect. In but one
case did 1 find them really bad: In TINS
case affecting a settlement OF unrnar-
ried white employees, ! found them very
bad indeed, but the buildings were al,
Inherited from the French company and
were being used temporarily While other
buildings .were in the'course of construc-
ton; and right near the defective water
closet a new and excellent closet with
good sewer pipe was in process or con-
struction and nearly finished. Neverthe-
less this did not excuse the fact tnat the
had condition had been allowed to pre-
vail. Temporary accommodations, even
AZ only such as soldiers use when camped
In the field. should have been provided
. Orders to this effect were issued ap-
pend the report of DR.. Gorgas on the IN
cident. 1 was struck, however, by the
fact that in this instance. as IN almost
every Otn6T WneTe u COulpihiht
which proved to have any 1ustincatloh
Whatever, Il appeared that steps had az,
ready been taken to remedy the evn
complained of, and that the trouble was
mainly due to the extreme difhculty, anu
often impossibility, of providing in every
place for the constant increase IN the
numbers of employees. Generally the pro,
Vision is made in advance, but II IS not
possible that this should always De the
case: when II is not there ensues a
period of time during when the conol-
Hons are unsatisfactory, until a remedy
can be provided; but l never found a
case where the remedy was not oeins
provided as speedily as possible
improvements in Cities:
The sanitation work in the cities OF
panama and Colon has been Just as
fmnorfsS1t as in the zone itself. and in
many respects much more difhcult pc
cause IL was necessary to deal with
the already existing population, which
naturally had scant sympathy with
reyolutionary changes, the value OF
which they were for a. long time NOT
ebie 10 perceive. In Colon the popula-
ifion consists largely of colored LABOR :
ara who having come over from the
west Indies t. work on the canal.
lsbandon the work and either take 70
ere brush or lie idle In Colon itself
lthna neopIing Colon with the least de-
sIrabie among the imported laoorers