The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1906-12-22
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 i'll 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
Naring did in New York when he
cleaned its streets, The results, have
a byword for deadly unhealthfulness
Now, after two years Of our occupation
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
settIements the little temporary 't towns M
cities composed of the white and black
employees. which grow up here and
of the work dictate, the utmost care is
exercised to keep the conditions healthy.
bitches which in removing the water
have removed the breeding places of the
mosquitoes, while the whole jungle is
cut away for considerable space around
the ha bitations, thus destroying the
places in which the mosquitoes take shell
ter These drainage bitches and clearings
are in evidence in every settlement and.
together with the invariable presence of
mosquito screens around the piazzas, and
speak of the careful fumigaton that has
gone in all infected houses, doubtless
explain the extraordinary absence OF
mosquitoes. 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
daVS the istlmOS Equal Is
taken by the inspectors of the health de-
. partment to secure cleanliness IN the
houses and proper hygienic conditions of
every kind. | Inspected between 20 and
30 water-closets, both those used by the
colored laborers. In almost every case
found the conditions perfect. In but one
case did l find them really bad; In this
case. affecting settlement of unmar-
ried white employees. l 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 or cohstruc-
ton; and right near the defective water
closet a new and excellent closet with a
good sewer pipe was in process of con
struction and nearly finished, Neverthe-
bad condition had been allowed to pre-
vail. Temporary accommod odations, even
II only such as soldiers use when camped
in the field. should have been provided.
Orders to this effect we're issued. ap-
pend the report of DR.. Gorgas on the In
cident l was struck, however. by the
every other where complaint was made
which proved to have any Justihcation on
whatever it appeared that steps had al,
ready been taken to remedy the evll
compla ined of, and that the trouble was
mainly due to the extreme diHculty, anu
often npossiblity. 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 be the
case; when 1t is not there ensues d
period of time during which the condl-
tions are unsatisfactory, until remedy
can be provided: but l never found a
case where the remedy was not peihs
provided as speedily as possible.
Improvements in Cities.
The sanitation work in the cities OF
Panama and Colon has been just as
important as in the zone itself, ana IN
many respects much more difncult, pc
cause 1t was necessary to deal win
the already existing population, when
naturally had scant sympathy WIN
Revolutionary changes the value OF
which they were for long time not
able to perceive. In Colon the popula-
tion consists largely of colored labor.
ers who, having come over from the
l West Indies to work on the camel.
abandon the work and either take 70
the brush or lie idle in Colon itself
thus peopling Colon with the least De
sirabie among the imported laoorers'