Oxford eagle., 1906-12-20
The WORK IS BEIHG PUSHED
Perfection Of Sanitary Conditions
in Canal Zone Has Taken
Much Time.
He Found But Little Ground for Com.
plants and Refutes Statements Of
Crities-calls Some Writers "sIan.
derers and Liars" Approves Of
Type and Route Of Canal.

The following In the text OF President
o,ooneseIvs on ,h ,,s special message to congress
10 the senate and House OF Representa-
In the month of November visited the
canal Zone with considerable care: and
siso visited the cities OF Panama and
wolon' which are not in the zone or
unuer the United States flag, but as 10
which the United States goycrnment
through Its agents, exercises control Tor
certain sanitary purposes. chose the
month OF November for NV visit nartiS
because II Is the raInest month Of The
year, the month In which the work goes
forward at the greatest disadvantage.
anu anu one OF the two months which the
medical department Of the French Canal
company found most unhealthy
Following the Introduction to the mes
SAGE the president gives a resume OF his
IIosranine during tine days he was on
the isthmus, and then says:
AT the outset l wish to pay tribute
70 the amount OF work done by the
rrench Canal company under very dim
cult circumstances, Many OF the buiid-
ings they put up were excellent and
are stiil In use, though. naturally, the
houses are now getting out OF repair and
are being used as dwellings only until
other houses can he built. and much OF
the work they did in the Culebra cut
and some OF the work they did in dig.
ging has been OF direct and real benefit
lhis country has never made a better
Investment than the sio,ocooe which /.
Pain W tne french company FOR work
and betterments. including especially th.
Panama railroad,
An inspection on the ground ct the
height of the rainy season served to con-
vince me of the wisdom of congress in
refusing to adopt either a hgh-ievei or
sea-level canal. There seems 10 be a
universal agreement among all people
competent To judge tina. the Panama
route. the one actually chosen, Is much
superior TO both the Nicaragua and
Darien routes.
Preliminary Work Being Done.
The wisdom OF the canal management
has been shown In nothing more clearly
than IN toe way In which the founda-
Tons OF the work have been laid To
nave yielded to tho natural impatience
OF ill-informed outsiders and begun an
Kinds OF experiments In work prior To n
thorough sanitation OF the isthmus. and
70 fairly satisfactory working out of
the problem of getting and keeping a
sufhcient labor supply. would have been
disastrous The various preliminary
these could not be taken so as TO allow
US to begin the real work - construc-
ton prior to January OF present
year. II then became necessary TO have
the type OF the canal decided. and the
only delay has been the necessary DELAY
until the 18th day OF June. the date
WEI ,,a 'ne congress definitely and wisely
settled that We should have an S-foot
level canal. Immediately after that the
work began in hard earnest and has
pren sohuhueu with increasing vigor
eyer since: and II will continue so to
progress In the future. When the con-
tracts are let the conditions will be such
as TO insure constantly increasing
amount OF performance.
Successful Sanitation.
The first great problem to be solved.
upon the solution OF which the success az
the rest OF the work depended. was the
problem OF sanitation. sThis was from
the outset under the direction OF DR.
W. {. Gorgas, who is to be made a full
member OF the commission. II must be
remembered that his work was me- 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 10
DO all the work that the Marine hospital
service does as regards the nation, that
various states and cities, and that Col.
Waring did In New York when he
cleaned Its streets. The results have
been astounding. The isthmus had been
a byword for deadly unhealthf,iiness
Now, after two years OF our occupation
the conditions as regards sickness and
the aeath rate compare favorably with
United States Especial care has been
devoted to minimizing the risk due 10 the
presence OF those species of mosquitoes
malarial and yellow fevers. In an 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 IL
exercised 10 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 jungle is
cut away for a considerable stac. around
the habltatiOns. thus desfroyinx IN.
places In which the mosquitoes take shaI
ter. These drainage bitches and cleartnrs
ar. " es,asne. IN every ssttiement. and.
mosquito screens aroand the piaxxar. and
Of mosquito doors 20 the houses not 10
spesk % the s&rstsi femis@tion that has
explain the extra,-rsIinary ah-rncs. 81
mosquitoes A a matter % fact but
q singis HAos.lls.te. ana this not Of the
member q our party during ny three
days on the tsthrn1ts EaaAf care -
taken BY slas inspsetors OF the health de-
houses and proper hygienic conditions of
every kind. l inspected hetween - and
70 water-clcsets. both those used by the
white employees and those used by the
coiored laborers. In almost every case
found the conditions perfect. In but one
case did | md them really bad In this
ried white employees. ] found them very
bad indeed. but the buildings were ain
inherited from the French company and
S..rs,, wers being used temporarily while other
ton; and right near the defective water
closet new and excellent closet with a
good sewer pipe was in process OF con-
struction and nearly finished Neverthe-
less this did not excuse the fact thai the
bad condition had been allowed to pre-
vail. Temporary accommodations. even
II only such as soldiers use when eamped
In the neld, should have been provided.
Orders to this effect were issued | APP
pend the report OF DIR. Gorgas on the in
cident. l was struck. however, by the
fact that in this instance, as in almost
every other where complaint was made
which proved to have any Justification
whatever, II appeared that steps had al
ready hnan taken n H..