Gilpin observer., 1906-12-20


competent to judge that 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 the way in which the founda-
tions of the work have been laid To
have yielded to the natural impatience
of il-informei outsiders and begun all
kinds of experiments in work prior to "a
thorough sanitation of the isthmus. and
to a fairly satisfactory working out of
sufficient labor supply. would have been
disastrous. The various preliminary
measures had to be taken first: and
these could not be taken so to allow
us TO begin the real work of construc-
ton prior to January ! 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 18th 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
ever since: and IL win continue so TO
progress In the future. When the con-
tracts are let the conditions will be such
amount of performance.
Successful Sanitation.
The first great problem to be soive6
upon the solution OF which the success 81
the rest of the work depended. was .t<
problem OF sanitation. This was fr-,u.
the outset under the direction of Es.
w. c. Gorgas. who is to be made a 'utl
member of the commission. 1t must -
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
denarfment ~ n
various states and cities. and that Col.
Waring did in New York when he
been astounding. The isthmus had been
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
malarial and yellow fevers In all the
settlements. the little temporary towns
or cities composed Of the white and black
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 wafer
have removed the breeding places of the
mosquitoes. while the whole Jungle is
the habitations, thus destroying the
places in which the mosquitoes take shell
are In evidence in every settlement. and.
together with the invariable presence of
mosquito screens around the piazzas. and
of mosquito doors to the houses. not to
speak of the careful ftrmgaton that has
gone on In all infected houses, doubtless
explain the extraordinary absence OF
mosquitoes. As a matter of fact but
a single mosquito. and this not OF the
dangerous species, was seen by any
days on the isthmus. Equal care is
taken by the inspectors of the health de-
partment to secure cleanliness in the
houses and proper hygienie conditions OF
every kind. / inspected between 20 and
80 water-closets. both those used by the
white employees and those used by the
colored laborcrs. In almost every case
found the conditions perfect. In but one
case did | find them really bad: In this
ried white employees, l found them very
bad indeed. but the buildings were all
were being used temporarily while other
buildings were In the course of construc-
ton: and right near the defective water
closet n new and excellent closet with n
good sewer pipe was in process of con-
struction and nearly finished. Neverthe-
less this did not excuse the fact that the
bad condition had been allowed to pre-
vail. Temporary accommodations. even
II only such as soldiers use when camped
orders to this effect were issued. ap-
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. 1t appeared that steps had az,
ready been taken to remedy the evil
complained of, and that the trouble was
mainly due to the extreme difficulty, ana
often impossbility. OF providing in every
place for the constant Increase In the
numbers of employees Generally the pro-
vision is made in advance, but 1t Is not not
possible that this should always be the
case: when II Is not there ensues a
period OF time during which the condi-
tions are unsatisfactory. until remedy
can be provided: but | never found Il
case where the remedy was not being
provided as speedily as possible.
Improvements In Cities.
The sanitation work in the cities of
Panama and Colon has been just ns
Important as In the zone itself. and In
many respects much more diho>lt pc-
cause II was necessary to deal with
the already existing population. which
naturally had scont sympathy with
which they were for a long time not
able to perceive. In Colon the popula-
tion consists largely OF colored labor
ers who. having come over from the
West Indies to work on the canal.
hA either take to