Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-12-17

1
real benefit. This country has never
made better investment than the
| s40,000000 which II paid TO the
! French company for work and better
| ments. including especially the Pana-
ma railroad.
An inspection on the ground at the
| height OF the rainy season served 10
convince me, OF the wisdom OF Com
| gress in refusing to adopt either q
| high-leyel or q sea-leyel canal There
seems TO be a universal agreement
among all people competent TO judge
that the Panama route, the one actual
| ~ chosen, Is much superior TO both
| the Nicaragua and Darien routes.
PRELIMINARY WORK BEING
DONE.
The wisdom OF the canal manage
| mont he been shown In nothing more
| clearly than In the way Ia which tho
| foundations 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 istnmus and to fairly salts
| factory working out OF the problem
| Of getting and keeping a sufficient la
bor supply, would have been disas-
| truus.
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 10 be made
full member Of the commission II the
law as to the composition Of his COM
mission remains unchanged II must be
remembered that his work was not
mere sanitation as the term Is under
stood In our ordinary municipal work
Throughout the zone and In the two
cities Of Panama and Colon, in addi-
ton To the sanitation work proper he
has had to do all tho work that the
marine hospital service does as regards
the nation, that the health department
officers do In the various states ami
cities. and that Col Waring did in
New York when he cleaned it's streets,
The results have been astounding. The
isthmus had been byword for deadly
unhealthfulness. Now, after two years
Of our occupation the conditions as re-
CARDS sickness and the death rate COM
pare favorably with reasonably healthy
localities In the United States.
HOSPITALS AND THEIR TREAT
MENT.
inspected 1he large hospitals at
Ancon and Colon, which are excellent
examples of what tropical hospitals
should be. ] also inspected the re-
ceiving hospitals In various settle
ments. ] went through number of the
wards in which the colored men are
treated number of those in which
the white men are treated--Americans
and Spaniards. Both white men and
black men are treated exactly alike
and their treatment is as good as that
which could be obtained In our first
class hospitals at home.
HEALTH SHOWING.
Just at present the health showing
on the isthmus is remarkably good
so much better than In most sections of
the United States that ] do not believe
that II can possibly continue at quite
its present average. Thus, early In the
present year n band of several hundred
Spaniards we're brought to the isthmus
as laborers. and additions to their num-
Der have been made from time TO time;
yet since their arrival In February last
but one of those Spaniards thus brought
over to work on the canal has died of
disease, and he of typhoid fever. Two
others were killed. one In railroad
accident, and one by dynamite ex-
plosion. There has been for the last
six months 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 sthmus In october there were
80 deaths OF every kind among the en-
ployes of the isthmus. There were
then on the rolls $500 whites severn
cighths of them being Americ.ns. OF
these whites but two died of disease,
and as II happened neither man was
an American. OF the 5000 white Amer
leans, including some 1900 women and
children, not a single death has oc-
CURED I'm the past three months, where
as 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 30 from disease.
DIMINUTIoN OF MOSQUITOES.
In Panama and Colon the death rate
has also been greatly reduced. this be-
ing directly due to the vigorous work OF
the special brigade OF employees who
have been inspecting houses where the
stegomyia mosquito is to be found, and
destroying its larvae and breeding
places, and doing similar work in ex-
terminating the malarial mosquitoes
In short, In performing all kinds OF
hygienic labor. A little over q year
ago all kinds of mosquitoes, including
the two fatal species. were numerous
about the Culebra cut. In this cut
during last October every room Of every
house was carefully examined, and on
ly two mosquitoes, neither of them Of
the two fatal species, were found.
PANAMA AND COLON.
The sanitation work In the cities of
Panama and Colon has been just as
important as In the zone itself, and i'm
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 long time not
able to perceive. In Colon the popu-
lation consists largely Of colored labor
ers who, having come over from the
West Indies 10 work on the canal,
abandon the work and either take TO
the brush or lie idle In Colon itself;
thus peopllng Colon with the least de-
sirable among the imported laborers,
for the good and steady men OF course
continue at the work. Yet astonishing
progress has been made In both cities.
In Panama 50 per cent OF the streets
that are to be paved at all are already
paved with an excellent brick pave
ment laid In heavy concrete. few OF
the streets being still In process OF
paving. The sewer and water services
In the city are OF the most modern
hygienic type, some OF the service hav-
ing Just been completed.
COLON WATER SUPPLY.
1t was not practicable, with the force |
at the commissions disposal, and in |
view OF the need that tho 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 In March from q tenn /
porary reservoir. This reservoir proved |
to be OF insufficient capacity before the |
end OF the dry season and the shortage /
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