The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-21

or q sea-level canal. There seems ( o
be a universal agreement among ali
people competent TO judge thai 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 manage
has been shown in nothing more
clearly than in the way IN which the
foundations OF the work lave been
laid. To have yielded TO the natural
impotence of ill-informed outsiders
and begun all kinds Of experiments in
work prior to a thorO sanitation OF the
Isthmus, and to a fairly satisfactory
working out of the problem of getting
and keeping a sufficient labor supply,
would have been disastrous. The va
rious preliminary measures had TO be
taken first; and these could NOT be
taken so as to allow Us TO begin the
real work of construction prior tn
January l of the present year. l. then
became necessary to have the type Of
the canal decided, and the only delay
has been the necessary delay until the
29th day Of June, the date when
the congress definitely and wisely set
tied that We should have an 83-fOOt
level canal. Immediately after that
work began in hard earnest and has
been continued with increasing vigOr
ever since; and it will continue So -
progress i'll the future. When the IN
tracts are let the conditions viii be
such as to insure a constantly incIeAa-
ing 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 w3s
from the outset under the direction d
Dr.. ". c. GOrgas, who is to be ma.!e
q; full member Of the commission. f
the law us to the composition OF
the commission remains unchanged. L
must be remembered hat his work
was not mere sanitation rs the
term is understood in our 1rdi-
nary municipal work. ThruOgG-
out the zone and i'll the two cities Of
Panama and Colon, in addition to the
sanitation work proper he has had to
do all the work hat the Marine-HospiI-
al Service does rs regards the nation,
that the health department officers Go
in the various states and cities, and
that Colonel Warning did in New YORK
when he cleaned its streets. The re-
suits have been astounding. The 18th
mus had been a by-word for unhealth-
fulness. Now, afted two years Of cur
occupation the conditions as regards
sickness and the death rate compare
favorably with reasonably healthy 10
-, liz ~, -, ~ IT~,{oI C+a+nr Etcrnni1l
care has been devoted 70 minimizing
the risk due to the presence OF those
species OF mosquitoes which have been
found to propagate malarlal and vel
low feyers. In all the settlements, The
little temporary towns or cities COM
posed Of the white and black employ
ees, which grow up here and there
in the trOpfc jungle as the needs Of tie
work dictates, the utmost care Is eN-
erciSed to keep the conditions healthy.
Everywhere are to be seen the drain
age bitches which in removing the
| water have removed the breeding
places of the mosquitoes, while the
whole jungle is cut away for a consid-
cradle space around the habitation~,
thus destroying the places in which The
mosquitoes take shelter. These drain
age bitches and clearingS are in evil
dence in every settlement, and, tOgeth-
er with the invartable presence of mos
quito screens around the piazzas, and
of mosquito doors to the houses, n tn
speak Of the careful fumigatlon that
has gone ON in all infected houses,
doubtless explain the extraOrdinarE
absence of mosquitoes. AS a matter
of fact, but a single mosquito. ana
this not of the dangerous species, Was
| seen by any member OF IL party dir
ing my three days on the iSthilus
Equal care is taken by the inspectors OF
| the health department to secure clean
illness in the houses II proper by
| genie conditions of every kind. | 10
spected between twenty and thirty
water-closets, both those used by he
, white employees and those used by the
! colored laborers. In almost every cas-:
found the conditions perfect. In bll
| one case did l find them really ba6
In his case, affecting a Settlemelli
| Of unmarried white employees, | foun'
them very bad indeed, but the ouild-
ings were all inherited from the FrPn n
! company and were being used temE0r-
| arily while other buildings were in Ihe
! CO1ISS O1 tOI1SLi uNuoI, LII llSA1l 'N.''
| the defective water closet a new aIC
| excellent closet with 4 good pi1s
was in process Of construction ana
nearly finished. Nevertheless this die
not excuse the fact that the bad condi-
| ton had been allowed to prevail. TEN,
| pOrary accommodations, even il only
such as soldiers use when camped il
the field, should have been provided
Orders to this effect were issued.
J append the report of DR.. Gorgas on tht
incident. / was struck, however. ~
the fact that in this instance. as in al
most every other where a complain
was made which proved to have any
justification whatever, it appeared tha'
steps had already been taken TO remedy
the evil complained Of, and that th'
trouble was mainly due to the extreme
difficulty. and often impossibility, o
providing in every place for the con
| slant increase In the numbers Of en-
plOveeS. Generally the provision !