Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1906-12-20
ed in frst-class hospitals at home
Unjust Criticism.

ed in our frst-class hospitals at home
Unjust Criticism.
Care and ~forthought have bees
exercised by the commission, ane
nothing has rejected more credit up.
on them than their refusal either te
90 ahead too fast or to be deterreS
nv the fear Of criticism from not go.
ing ahead fast enough. It is curious
To note the fact that many OF thu
most severe critics of the commission
criticise them for precisely opposite
reasons some complaining bitterly
that the work is not in a more ad
vanced condition, while the other
complain that it has rushed with such
haste that there has been insufficient
preparation for the hygiene and com
fort of the employees. As a matter
Of fact, neither criticism is just. 1t
would have been impossible to go
quicker than the commission has
gone, for such quiekness would have
meant insufficient preparation. On.
the other hand, to refuse to do any
thing until every possible future con-
tingency had been met would have
caused wholly unwarranted delay.
The right course to follow was ex-.
actly the course which has been fol-
lowed. Every reasonable prepare
ton was made in advance, the hy-
gienic conditions in especial being
made as nearly perfect as pos
sible; while on the other hand there
has been no timid refusal to push
forward: the work because Of inability
&c. anticipate every possible emergen-
cy, for, Of course, masy defects a
only be shown by the working of the
system in actual practice.
Colon Water Supply.
It was not practicable. with the
force at the COMMISSIONS disposal,
and in view Of the need that the
force should be used in the larger
town of Panama, to begin this work
before early last winter. Water mains
were then laid In the town and water
was furnished to the people early III
March from a temporary reservoir.
This reservoir proved to be INSULT
Gent capacity before the end Of the
dry season and the shortage was
made up by hauling water owe the
Panama Railroad, 20 that there was
at all times an ample supply Of the
very best water. Since that time the
new reservoir back of Mount Hope
has been practically completed. !
visited this reservoir. 1t has a lake
over a mile long and half a mile
broad. It now carries some $780,
100000 gallons of frst-class water.
, Care Of Employees.
Next in Importance to the problem
of sanitation, and indeed now of
equal Importance, is the problem of
securing and caring for the mechanics
laborers, and other employees who
actually do the work on the canal
and the railroad. This great task has
been under the control Of Mr.. Jack
son Smith, and on the whole has been
we'll done. At present there are some
5000 white employees and some 49,
600 colored employees on the isthmus,
| went over the different places where
the different kinds Of employees were
working. I think I saw representa-
tives Of every type both at their work
and in their homes; and I conversed
with probably q. couple of hundred OF
them all told, choosing them at ran
dom from every class and including
those who came especially to present
certain grievances. I found thai
those who did not come specifically t.
present grievances almost invariably
expressed far greater content ane
satisfaction with the conditions thar
plant.
Nearly 5000 Of. the white employee.
had come from the United States
No. man can see these young, vigor
Gus men energetically doing thei
duty without a thrill Of pride in then
as Americans. They represent or tn,
average a high class.
Health Showing Remarkably Good.
Just at present the health showing
+ on the lsthmus is remarkably good
20 much better than in most section;
Of the United States that I do no
believe that it can possibly continue
at quite its present average. Thus
carly in the present year a band 0
several hundred Spaniards wer
brought to the isthmus as laborers
and additions to their number hav
been made from time to time; we
since their arrival in February las
but n of those Spaniards thu
brought over to work on the cana
has died. Of disease, and he Of ty
phoid fever. Two others were kill
ed, II in a railroad accident, all,
n by dynamite explosion. Their
has been for the last six months
well-nigh steady decline in the deaf
rate for the population Of the zone
this being largely due to the decreas
in death from pneumonia, which ha
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