The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1906-12-22

settled that we should have an S;,-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 contracts are
lei the conditions will be such as to in
sure a constantly increasing amount of
performance.
Sanitation Is Successful.
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. 1t must be remem-
bered that DIR. Gorgas' 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 Pan
ANA and Colon. in addition to the santa
tion 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.
just at present the health showing on
the isthmus is remarkably good-so much
better than in most sections of the Unit
ed States that | do not believe that it
can possibly continue at quite it's present
average. There has been for the past six
months a well-nigh steady decline in the
death rate for the population of the Zone,
this being largely due TO the decrease in
deaths from pneumonia. which has been
the most fatal disease on the isthmus. In
October there were ninety-nine deaths of
every kind among the employees of the
isthmus. There were then on the rolls
$500 whites seven-eighths of them being
Americans. OF these whites but two died
of disease, and as it happened neither
man was an American. OF the G.00O
white Americans, including some LOO
women and children. not single death
has occurred in the past three months,
whereas in an average city in the United
States the number of deaths for SIM
liar number of people in that time would
have been about thirty from disease. This
very remarkable showing cannot of course
permanently obtain, but it certainly goes
to prove that if good care is taken the
isthmus is not a particularly unhealthy
place.
In Panama and Colon the death rate
has also been greatly reduced. this being
directly due 20 the vigorous work of the
special brigade of employees who have
been inspecting houses where the stego-
myla mosquito is to be found and de-
stroying its Larvae and breeding places.
and doing similar work in discriminating
the malarial mosquitOps--in short. in
PERFORMING dlI hluuS Oh HgSlelllC ldDtE
The sanitation work in the cities of
Panama and Colon has been just as i'm
portant as in the Zone itself. aud in
many respects much more difficult.
Criticism IL Unjust.
Care and forethought have been exercised
by the &C mIlission, and nothing has reflect
ed more credit upon them than their re-
fusal either to go ahead too fast or to be
deferred by the fear of criticism from not
going ahead fast enough. 1t Is curious TO
note the fact that many of the most severe
critics of the commission criticise them for
precisely opposite reasons some complaining
bitterly that the work Is not in more ad-
vanced condition, while the others complain
that ii has been rushed with such haste
that there has been insufficient preparation
for the hygiene and comfort of the en-
ployes. AS q matter of fact neither criti-
cism Is just. 1t would have been impossi-
| bic to go more quickly than the commission
| has gone, for such quickness would have
| meant insufficient preparation. On the 9th
| err hand, to refuse to do anything until
every possible future contingency had been
met would have caused wholly unwarranted
delay. The right course to follow was ex-
| actly the course which has been followed.
| Every reasonable preparation was made In
| advance, the hygienic conditions In especial
being made as nearly perfect as possible
while on the other hand there has been no
| timid refusal to push forward the work be-
| cause of inability to anticipate every posi-
| BILE emergency, for, OF course, many defects
! can only be shown by the working of the
| system In actual practice.
| In addition to attending to the health of
| the employees, 1t Is of course necessary to
| provide for policing the Zone. This is done
| by police force which at present numbers
! over 200 men. About one-fifth Of the men
| are white and the others black Inasmuch
| as so many both of the white and colored
| employees have brought their families with
| them, schools have been established. For
| the white pupils white American teachers
are employed for the coiored pupils there
| Spanish teacher, and one colored American
| teacher. most OF them being colored teach
| ers from Jamaica, Barbados and st. Lucia
There seemed to me to be too many sa
| looms In the Zone; but the new high-licenst
| law which goes into effect on January
next will probably close four-fifths of them
| Resolute and successful efforts are being
made to minimize and control of sale OF
| liquor
Next In Importance to the problem Of san
itation, and indeed now of equal Importance
is the problem of securing and caring fol
the mechanics, laborers, and other employee:
| who actually do the work on the canal anC
| the railroad. This great task has been un
der the control of Jackson Smith, and OF
the whole has been well done. At presen
there are some 5000 white employees anC
some 10000 colored employees on the 18th
| mus. I went over the different places
| where the different kinds of employees wer,
working | think / saw representatives o
every type both at their work and In thei
homes and | conversed with probably
couple of hundred of them all told, choosin;
them at random from every class and In
Guiding those who came especially to pre-
sent certain grievances.
Proud OF the Americans.
| Nearly 5000 of the white employees ha,
| come from the United Staes. No man cal
see these young, vigorous men energeticall
doing their duty without thrill of pride Il
| them as Americans. They represent on tn
| average a high class. Doubtless to Congress
the wages paid them will seem high, but a
| matter of fact the only general complain
| which found had any real basis among tn
complaints made to me upon the isthmu
! was that, owing to the peculiar surround
| ings the cost of living and the distanc
| from home, the wages were really not a
high as they should be. In fact, amos