The Washington herald., 1906-12-18

To the Senate and House OfRepreseHiaiiVes:
In the month Of November / visited the
Isthmus of Panama. going over the Ca
nal zone with considerable care; and also
visited the cities of Panama and Colon,
which are not in the zone or under the
United States flag. but as to which the
United States government, through its
agents. exercises control for certain san
itary purposes
The L. 5. s. Louisiana, on which 1 was
anchored off Colon about half past . on
Wednesday afternoon, November H. /
came aboard her. after my stay on shore,
at about half past on Saturday even
ing, November i. on Wednesday after
noon and evening 1 received the Presi-
dent Of Panama and his suite, and saw
members of the Canal Commission, ana
various other gentlemen, perfecting the
arrangement fer my visit, so that every
hour that I was ashore could be en-
ployed to advantage. 1 was three days
ashOre-nOt d sufficient length of time 20
allow of an exhaustive investigation Of
the minutiae of the work of any single
department still less to pass judgment
on the engineering problems, but enough
to enable me to get a clear idea of the
salient features of the great work and
OF the progress that has been made as re-
CARDS the sanitation OF the zone, Colon,
and Panama. the caring for and housing
of the employees, and the actual digging
of the canal The zone is a narrow strip
of land. and it can be inspected much as
one can inspect fifty or sixty miles of q
great railroad, al the point where it runs
through mountains or overcomes other
natural obstacles.
I chose the month of November for my
visit partly because it is the rainiest
month of the year, the month in which
the work goes forward at the greatest dis
advantage, and one of the two months
which the medical department of the
French Canal Company found most I'M
healthy.
Immediately after anchoring on the af-
ternoOn of Wednesday there was a viO-
lent storm of wind and rain. From that
time We did not again see the sun until
Saturday morning, the rain continuing al
most steadily. but varying from a fine
drlzZle 10 a tOTrential dOwnpOUr During
that time in fifteen minutes AT CristObal
Los inches Of rain fell; from I to 8 a. M
November Is, 81 inches fell; for tho
twenty-four hours ending noon, Novem-
Der is, 4.6S inches fell, and for the six days
titt4AllE istDl NOfEilADEA To- III Inches ItLl
The Chagres rose iTr food to a greater
height than It had attained during the
last fifteen years tearing out the track
In one place 1t would have been imp0s
sible 10 see the work going on under NOR,
unfavorable weather conditions. On Sat
urday, November II, the sun shone nov
and then for a few minutes, although tn,
day was generally overcast and Their,
were heavy showers at intervals
First Day Ashore,
On Thursday morning we landed a
about half past seven and went SLOWLY
over the line of the Panama Railway
ending with an expedition in tug a
the Pacific entrance of the canal out t,
the islands where the dredging for tn,
canal will cease. We took our dinner a
one of the eating houses furnished by thi
commission for the use of the government
enploves-no warning of our coming be
ing given. 7 inspected the Ancon Hos
pitai going through various wards boil
for white patients and for, colored pa
tients. I inspected portions of the con
stabulary zone police) examining tn
men individually I also examined Ger
tain Of the schools and saw the schoo
children, both white and cOlOred. speak
ing with certain OF the teachers. In tn
afternoon of~this day I was formally re
ceived in Panama by President AmadOr