The Carlisle independent., 1906-12-20
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- uons of the work have been laid To have yielded to the natural impatienee Of ili-infOrmed outsiders and begun all kinds of experiments in work prior to thorough sanitation of the isthmus, and to fairly satisfactory working out of the problem of getting and keeping d measures had to be taken first; and these could not be taken so as to allow us to begin the real work of constTt1c-' ton prior to January of the present year It then became necessary to have the type of the canal decided, and the only delay has been the necessary delay until the 29th day of June, the date when the congress definitely and wisely 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 vigof3 ever since; and it will continue so. to tracts are let the conas ions will be be $ aeil, to insure a constantly increasing amount of performance. .s.
 Successful Sanitation. {
 The first great problem to be solved. upon the solution of which the success. of problem of santtation. This was from the outset under the direction of Dr. w c. Gorgas, who is to be made full member of the commission. It 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 Panama and Colon, in addition to the 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 Various states and cities, and that Col.~ Waring did in New York when he been astounding. The isthmus had been a byword for deadly unhealthfulness 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 rnalarial and yellow levers. In all the 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 have removed the breeding places of the mosquitoes. while the whole jungle is cut away for a considerable space around the habitations, thus destroying the places in which the mosquitoes take shell fer. These drainage ditches and cAearings are in evidence in every settlement, and, focether with the invariable presence of m0suulto screens around the piaZzas, and Of mosquito doors to the houses, not to sDeak of the careful fumlgation that has rs,ue on in all infected houses, doubtless Explain the extraordinary absence of mnsouftoes As matter of fact, but a single mosquito, and this not of the dangerous species, was seen by any member of our party during my three s1aVa on the isthmus. Equal care is fafen by the inspectors of the health de- nartment to secure cleanliness in the houses and proper hygienic conditions of every kind. I inspected between 20 and q water closets, both those used by the Whfte employees and those used by the r,r5ored labore.s. In almost every case