The Grenada sentinel., 1906-12-22
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-
tionS of the work have been laid TIC
have yielded to the natural impatience
of ill-informed outsiders and begun all
kinds of experiments III work prior to a
thorough 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 various preliminary
these could not be taken So as to allow
us to begin the real work of construc-
year. 1t 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
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
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. G. 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
bur ordinary municipal work. Through
out the zone and in the two cities of
sanitation work proper, The 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
Cleaned Ssen its streets The results have
4. byword for deadly unhealthfuness
Now after two years of our occupation
the conditions as regards sickness and
the death rate compare favorabIy with
reasonably healthy localities in the
United States. Especial care has been
devoted to minimizing the risk due to the
which have, been found to propagate
hlalarial and yellow fevers. In all the
settlements, the little temporary towns
or cities composed of the white and black
there in the tropic jungle as the needs
oC the work dictate, the utmost care is
Everywhere. are to be seen the drainage
bitches which in removing the water
have removed the breeding places of the
while the whole Jungle is
the habitatiOns, thus destroying the
places in which the mosquitoes take shell |
ter. These drainage bitches and 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 |
AS n matter of fact, but |
a 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
partment TO secure cleanliness in the !
houses and proper hygienic conditions of |
every kind. l inspected between 20 and
30 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
case did 1 find them really bad. In this
case, affecting a settlement of unmar-
ried white employees, l 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 new and excellent closet with
good sewer pipe was in process of con-
struction and nearly finished. Neverthe
less this did not excuse the fact that the
bad condition had been allowed to pre-
L only such as soldiers use when camped
N the field should have been provided.
Orders to this effect were issued. l ap-
pend the report of DR.. Gorgas on the in
,ident. l was struck. however. by the
TACT that in this instance, in almost
svery other where complaint was made
whatever, it-appeared that steps had al
ready been taken to remedy the evil |
complained of, and that the trouble was
mainly due to the extreme difficulty, and
,ften impossibiity, of providing in every
olace for the constant increase In the |
numbers of employees. Generally the pro-
Vision is made in advance, bat 1T Is not
possible that this should always be the
,ase; when it is not there ensues a
period of time during which the condi-
ions are unsatisfactory, until remedy
,an be provided; but l never found a
,ase 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-
,ause it was necessary to deal with
he already existing population, which
had scant sympathy With
changes, the value of
which they were for a long time not
lble to perceive. In Colon the popula-
ion consists largely of colored labor
,rs who, having come over from the |
West Indies to work on. the canal
.bandon the work and either take to
he brush or lie idle in Colon itself; |
hus peopling Colon with the least de-
hrabIf, among. the imported 'aborers.