The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-01-21


tisan coloring? Less than nothing.
In October, 1905, a great party of
specialists" came to the isthmus with
Chairman Shonts and did pretty much
what the Taft party repeated later.
They were met at the wharf by polit-
zeal populations and a special train,
with d1stnfectants, strong drinks and
mosquito nets. They then ran across
the fifty miles of railway and back
Each of the short five days was oc-
eupled by some short. easy railway ex-
curslon under the most elaborate pre-
cautions lest an insect more or less
should jeOpardize the success of their
inexpensive outing. On Oct. the run
was to the site of the BohiO dam, and
such was the scare in the party that
only one man ventuFed 10 the edge of
the water, Next day another railway
run was made to the site of the pro-
posed Gamboa dam-under similar pre-
cautions.
Each night they were all carefully
lowed out TO sea beyond the range of
Colon smells, alligatOTS, mosquitoes and
other savage beasts, and slept the sleep
or those who sleep while others scratch
Next day COct. . the visit was to the
famous and much exaggerated Culebra
cut, where many of the party declined
ease germ. Sunday was officially Ia
oeled a day Of rest, if we speak of rest
IN the case of those who are weary Of
sitting down.
ON the 9th there was an exchange of
o1f1c1al visits, cigars and drinks at Pam
anna, next day the illustrious commits
sion held a farewell reception on board
the government yacht. and on the day
following, Oct. II, they headed for
nome, having seen the Official 18TH
mus and having carefully avoided the
swamp IN which the majority Of Colon
labor is today forced to congregate.
Ana yet this eminent chairman made
speech in Washington wherein he
said Nov. 81. IF we have not made
the dirt fly we have made the filth
NY adding this cruel joke; If sick
ness could ever be regarded as a boon,
II may be though so in Colon!"
MI TART promised officially that by
Dec. l Colon would have a splendid
water supply! There is today no water
supply in Colon. Mr.. Taft does intus-
tlce to his COuntTymen by treating fin
PANTY questions involving human life
by the thousands. We are not all chill
dren or fools, We do not need reports
which read like the circulars of doubt
fuI land companies.
y
went to see the sewer system of
Panama City. Our political engineer
had put in a single pipe calculated to
carry away both human offaI and rain
water. IN dry weather the human filth
stuck IN the pipes and would not pass
on During the last rain, q few DAYS
ago, the volume of water was 50 great
that 1t backed the sewage up into the
cellars and ruined many houses, to say
nothing of threatening the foundations
of many more.
Who did this job? Has he been dis
missed from the service or has he been
brought to trial?
When 1 looked into matters of this
nature 1 soon learned that So and So
was the protege of Senator this or Sen
atOT that-there was nothing to do but
Keep 1t out Of the papers and lay all
the blame on the climate or the rain.
A plain man naturally asks, Why
was sewerage system undertaken
without first knowing something of To-
cal conditions? Or I might go further
and ask, Why was a sewer built at all?
What we need on the isthmus is not
sewers but common cleaning of the
streets, back yards and cesspOOIs. Sew
ers are things of doubtful utility in
communities that are not trained to
them. Madrid has no sewers. Berlin
had none until after the war With
France. Baltimore is but now talking
about the matter
What we need on the canal zone is
an honest and efficient corps Of SAM
tary police who shall go daily from
house to house, not with medicines and
ridiculous disinfeCtants, but with sbOV-
els and brOOms and carts. doing daiIv
Tor Panama what the japanese or Ma
lay head of a village does in his little
paradise.
That form Of sanitation can be con-
tTolled, and il is, moreover. in harmony
with the traditions Of the people.
An official of the railway called nv
attention to needless waste of time and
money. saying, in substance:
Let US suppose that the chief orders
a certain house repaired-and there is
much of this, for the old French conn
pany has left US q handsome legacy
OF eXcellehtly planned and built houses
extending the whole line Of the canal.
The work begins, and, according
to official rules, the estimate is made
and application filed for a fixed amount
of supplies, calculated according to
such needs as We're apparent at the
time of survey.
The gang of carpenters. etc. are at
WOTk-and let US not again parentheti-
cally that under present conditions it
Is something 10 Drag or When YOU can
hold gang Of negroes long together
to do such a jObi
Well. as you proceed with the repairs
as ordered, YOU may discover certain
defects which We're not apparent on
first inspection. A new estimate must
be made. A new application must be
filed. This application must pass to a
superior bureau-a higher official must
endorse it and pass It on to another
Finally the order is approved and filed
with the railway company. They take
their time, and thus for the sake of a
few feet of planks or a pound of nails.
the chief engineer may be compelled to
hold uP for many days a work invOlv-
ing hundreds of men, all drawing pay
for doing nothing.
The red tape is one reason why the
negroes have to wait 50 long for their
pay-Often more than two weeks. The
accounts have to be audited in so many
different ways that many a. negro. par
ticularly If he is sick and anxious TO
sail for Jamaica, Will sacrifice his pay
rather than lose the number of his
mess on board the steamer.
When the hospital work was consoIi-
dated-that is to say, the republic OF
Panama made 10 work fOoof nor. with