The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1906-12-20

houses are now getting out of repair and
are being 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 dig
cling has been of direct and real benefit.
This country has never made a better
Investment than the a0OOO,0OO which i
paid to the French company for work
and betterments, including 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
refusing to adopt either a high-level or
o sea-level canal. There seems to be a
universal agreement among all people
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-
tons Of the work have been laid To
have yielded to the natural Impotence
Of ill-informed outsiders and begun all
kinds Of experiments in work prior to a
thorough sanitation of the isthmus, and
to fairly satisfactory working out Of
the problem Of getting and keeping
sufficient labor supply, would have been
disastrous. The various preliminary
measures ndu TO De taken 1lfSt, ana
these could not be taken so as 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 2Sth day Of June, the date
when the congress definitely and wisely
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 it will continue so to
progress in the future. When the con-
tracts are let the conditions will be such
as to insure a constantly increasing
amount of performance.
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 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 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
the health department officers do in the
various states and cities, and that Col
Waring did in New York when he
been astounding. The isthmus had been
Q bywOrd for deadly unhealthfulness
Now, after two years of our occupation
the conditions as regards sickness and
the death rate compare fayorably 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 feyers. In all the
settlements, the little temporary towns
or cities composed Of the white and black
employees which grow up here and
there in the tropc 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 water
have removed the breeding places of the
mosquitoes, while the whole j.ngle is
cut away for n considerable spa e around
the habtations, thus destl lying the
places in which the mosquito6 j, take shell
ter. These drainage bitches 2 I'd clearings
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 fumigation that has
gone on in all infected houses, doubtless
explain the extraordinary absence of
mosquitoes As a matter of fact, but
single mosquito, and this not of the
dangerous species, was seen by any
member of our party during my three
days on the isthmus. Equal care 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
20 water-closets, both those used by the
white employees and those used by the
colored laborers. In almost every case !
found the conditions perfect. In but one
ease did l find them really bad. In this
case, affecting a settlement of unmar-
ried white employees, ] found them very
bad indeed but the buildings were all
inherited from the French company and
were being used temporarily while other
buildings were in the course of construc-
ton; and right near the defective water
closet a new and excellent closet with
good sewer pipe was in process of con-
struction and nearly finished. NeYerthe-
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
In the field, should have been provided.
Orders to this effect were issued. | APP
pend the report of DR.. Gorgas on the in
cident | was struck, however, by the
fact that in this instance, as in almost
every other where complaint was maze
which proved to have any Justihcaton
whatever, it appeared that steps had al
ready been taken to remedy the evll
mainly due to the extreme difficulty, and
often impossiblity, of providing in. every
Alace for the constant increase in the
numbers of employees Generally the pro-
Vision Is made in advance, but 1t Is not
possible that this should always be the
case; when it Is not there ensues a
period Of time during which the condi-
lions are unsatisfactory, until remedy
can be provided; but l never found
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 as
Important as in the zone itself and In
many respects much more difficult, be-
cause 1t was necessary to deal with
the already existing population, which
naturally had scant sympathy with
revolutionary changes, the value OF
which they were for a long time not
able TO perceive. In Colon the popula-
ten consists largely Of colored labor
ers who, having come over from the
West indies to work on the. canal,
abandon the work and either take 70
Sks brush or lie idle in Colon itself;
ikns pAopling Colon with the least DE-
airabfs among the imported LaDorers'