The Washington herald., 1906-12-18

the BliISn W est InQleS also saw TIE
French consul, Mr.. Gey. gentleman OF
equally long service and honorable rec
ord. I saw the ieutenants, the chief
executive and administrative officers, I'M
der the engineering and sanitary depart
ments. I also saw and had long talks
with two deputations-one Of tae maehin-
lists and one representing the railway men
of the dirt trains-listening to what they
had 10 say as to the rate Of pay and va
rious other matters. and going over, as
much in detail as possible, all the diff
ferent questions they brought up. As 20
some matters / was able 10 meet their
wishes; as 10 Others ] felt that what
they requested could not be done consist
emily with my duty to the United States
government as whole; as TO yet others
1 reserved judgment
Third Day.
On Saturday morning we started at S
o'clock from The hotel We went through
the Culebra cut. stopping off to see the
marines, and also to investigate certain
towns; one Of white employees. as to
which in certain respects complaint had
been made TO me; and another town
where / wanted to see certain houses Of
the colored employees. We went over the
site Of the proposed Gatun dam, having
on the first day inspected the sites Of the
proposed Ia Boca and Sos8 dams. We
went out on a little toy railway 20 the
reservoir. which had been built 10 supply
the people of Colon with water for their
houses. There we took lunch at the en-
gineers' mess We then went through
the stores and shops at Crist0bal. inspect
/ ing carefully the houses of both the
white and C0l0red employees, married and
D. 4
ings. We then went 20 Colon and saw
the fire department at work; in four min
utes from the signal the engines had
come down TO Front street, and twenty
one 2lz-inch hose pipes were raising
/ streams of water about % feet high We
rode about Colon, through the various
streets paved. unpaved, and in process
of paving. looking at the bitches, sewers,
curbing. and the lights. l then went
| over 10 the Colon hospital in order 10
compare it with the temporary town or
/ field receiving hospitals which / had al
ready seen and Inspected. I also in-
/ spected some Of the dwellings Of the en-
/ pl0yes. In the evening I attended a re-
/ ception given by the American employees
on the isthmus. which took place on one
/ OF the docks in Colon, and from there
/ went aboard the Louisiana
/ Each day from twelve to eighteen hours
We're spent in going over and inspecting
all there was To be seen, and in examining
/ various employees. Throughout my trip
/ I was accompanied by the Surgeon Gen
/ eral Of the Navy. DR.. RiXey; by the chair
man OF The Isthmian Canal Commission.
/ Mr. ShOnts: by Chief Engineer Stevens:
I by DIT. GoTgas. the chief sanitary officer
/ Of the commission; by Mr. Bishop. the
/ secretary of the commission, by Mr..
/ Ripley. the principal assistant engineer,
/ by Mr. Jackson Smith. who has had prac-
/ teal charge Of collecting and handling
/ the laborins force; by Mr.. Bierd. general
/ manager of the railway. and by Mr..
/ Rogers. the general counsel of the COM
/ mission, and many other officials Joined
/ us from time TO time
At the outset I wish 90 pay a tribute 90
I the amount of work done by the French
/ Canal Company under very difficult cir
/ cumstaHces Many Of the buildings they
put 40 were excellent and are still In
/ use though, naturally the houses are
I now getting out of repair and are being
I used as dwellings only until other houses
\ can be built. and much Of the work they
did in the CUlebra cut and some of The
/ work they did In digging has been 0t
/ direct and real benefit. This country has
/ never made a better investment than the
/ 100000 which IL paid TO the French
/ company for work and betterments. In
/ GLIDING especially the Panama Railroad
! An inspection on the ground at the
/ height of the rainy season served to con
/ vince me OF the wisdom of Congress in
1 refusing 10 adopt either a high-levcl OF
/ q sea-level canal There seems to be a
/ universal agreement among all people
/ competent 10 judge that the Panama
] all fsfrF L.
/ superior to both the Nicaragua and Da-
rien 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 foundations
Of the work have been laid. To hav,
yielded to the natural impotence Of ill.,
informed outsiders and begun all kinds
/ of experiments in work prior TO a thor.
/ ough sanitation OF the isthmuS. and 20 a
fairly satisfactory working out Of the
problem OF getting and keeping a sufR-
cient labor supply, would have been dis
astrous The various preliminary meas
ureg had to be taken first and these could
not be taken 50 as 20 allow us 10 begiT
the real work of construction prior q
I January / of the present year. It thes
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 when the Con
/ greSS definitely and wisely settled that We
. should have an ghty-five-foOt-leyel ca
nal Immediately after that the work be-
gan in hard earnest and has been con
tinued with increasing vigor ever since
and It Will continue so to progress in TIA,
future. When the contracts are let tn.
conditions viii be such as TO insure
constantly increasing amount of perform
ance.
Successful Sanitation.
The first great problem 10 be solved
upon the solution Of which the success.
of the rest Of the work depended wa.
the problem of sanitation. This was from
b the outset under the direction of Dr. W
c. GoTgas who is to be made a full mem
Der OF the commission. 1t must be re
, membered that his work was not mer
, sanitation as the term is understood in on
ordinary municipal work Throughout IN,
zone and in the two cities of Panama an,
Colon, in addition to the sanitation worI
proper, he has had to do all the w0rl
that the Marine Hospital Service does al
regards the nation, that the health de
partment officers do in the variou
States and cities. and that Col WARM.
d did in New York, when he cleaned it,
! streets. The results have been astound
: ing. The isthmus had been q by-word 70
deadly unhealthfulness. Now, after tw
] years Of our occupation the conditions a
regards sickness and the death rate com
: pare favoTably with reasonably health
} localities in the United States. Especia
care has been devoted to minimizing tn
p risk due to the presence Of those specie
] Of mosquitoes which have been found {
r propagate malarial and yellow fevers. Il
p all the settlements, the little temporar
2 towns or cities composed Of the white an