The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-12-21
Preliminary Work Being Done.

The wisdom of the canal management
than in the way in which the founda-
tons of the work have been laid To
have yielded to the natural Impotence
of ill-informed outsiders and begun all
kinds of experiments in work prior to a
thorough sanitation of the isthmus, and
to a fairly satisfactory working out of
the problem Of getting and keeping a
disastrous. The various preliminary
measures had to be taken first; and
these could not be taken SO as to allow
us to begin the real work of construc-
ton prior to January 1 OF the present
year. 1t then became necessary to have
the type of the canal decided, and the
only delay has been the necessary delay
until the 18th day of June, the date
when the congress definitely and wisely
settled that we should have an S5-foot
level canal. mmediately after that the
work began in hard earnest and has
been continued with increasing vigor
ever since; and it will continue SO to
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
the outset under the direction of DR.
w. G. Gorgas, who is to be made a full
member of the commission. 1t must be
sanitation as the term Is understood in
our ordinary municipal work. Through
out the zone and in the two cities of
Panama and Colon, in addition to the
sanitation 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, and that Col.
Warning did in New York when he
Seen m Tn, sthm resp had beee
a byword for deadly unhealthfulness
Now, after two years of our occupation
the conditions as regards sickness and
reasonably healthy localities in the
United States. Especial care has been
presence of those species of mosquitoes
which have been found to propagate
malarial and yellow fevers. In all the
settlements, the little temporary towns
or cities composed of the white and black
employees, which grow up here and
there in the tropic jungle as the needs
exercised to keep the conditions healthy
Everywhere are to be seen the drainage
bitches which in removing the water
have removed the breeding places of the
mosquitoes, while the whole jungle is
cut away for considerable space around
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
mosquitoes. AS 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
taken by the inspectors of the health de-
partment to secure cleanliness in the
houses and proper hygienic conditions of
every kind. inspected between 20 and
80 water-closets, both those used by the
colored laborers. In almost every case /
found the conditions perfect. In but one
case did find them really bad. In this
case, affecting a settlement Of unmar-
ried white employees, / found them very
bad indeed, but the buildings were all
inherited from the French company and
buildings were in the course of construc-
ton; and right near the defective water
closet a new and excellent closet with
struction and nearly finished Neverthe-
less this did not excuse the fact that the
bad condition had been allowed to pre-
IL only such as soldiers use when camped
in the field, should have been provided.
Orders to this effect were issued. APP
cident was struck, however, by the
fact that in this instance, as In almost
every 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
often impossibility. of providing in every
place for the constant increase in the
numbers of employees. Generally the pro.
vision is made in advance, but 1t Is not
possible that this should always be the
case; when it is not there ensues a
period of time during which the condl-
tons are unsatisfactory, until a remedy
can be provided; but I never found a
case 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-
cause it was necessary to deal with
the already existing population, which
naturally had scant sympathy with
Revolutionary changes. the value Of
which they were for a long time not
able to perceive. In Colon the popula-
ton, consists largely of colored labor
ers who. having come over from the
West Indies to work on the canal.
abandon the work and either take to
the brush or lie Idle in Colon itself:
thus peopliEs Colon with the least de-
.l.ahla among the imported laborers.