The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-08-17
Visitor in Chanute Tells of Hap
penings at the Canal.
Says the Government Has Aided
the Sanitary Conditions.
QUININE ON TABLES.
Homes Are Being Built Right
Along for the Men.
Meals Cost $27 a Month While
Wages Run About $500.

Chanute. Aug. 1.-THE Tribune
says:
The men are contented, general
conditions are as good as they are in
the states, and the government has
worked wonders. considering the
short time that it has had CONTROL
is the way that Charles Jones sums
up the situation in Panama Mr..
Jones is the guest of ]. w. Martin.
Jr., and family. He is directly from
the place where the big canal is be-
ing dug and his observations throw
interesting light on what has been
done and what is being done there.
The government has brought about
q wonderful improvement in the sani-
tary conditions of the canal zone. L
do not know what your percentage of
sickness and death is here in Cha
nute,' said Mr.. Jones, but L will VEN
ture the assertion that it is greater
than it is in the canal zone, and 1 am
sure that if you would compile the
statistics and compare them you would
find that I am right.
ut was not always SO. though, and
the change has been brought about
by the work done since the United
States took control. The first thing
that you see when you go to the din
ing table in a hotel there, will remind
you of the days that are gone. Every
bottle. and newcomers are much
alarmed at the sight
THE bottle, however, is a relic left
over from the past. I have been in
the zone a year or so and during that
time I did not take a grain of quinine.
1 do not mean to say, of course, that
there is no malaria there. 1t is not
general, however, and If person
takes care of himself he is not likely
to be troubled by it.
Ia c
we'll informed in this regard as the
Americans, and to counteract the re-
suits of their method of living they
are given what is known as the zone
and quinine. Each man is given a
dose at regular times, whether he
wants 1t or not. The trouble with
them Is that they will quit work in
the evening, go home ana sleep
through the night in the clothing
which they wore through the day, re-
CARELESS of whether it is damp with
perspiration or rain.
1.-The work being done by the sani-
tary department covers all parts of
the zone. The dwellings in which the
men are Quartered are all fitted with
sanitary plumbing, garbage gatherers
make the rounds of the cities regular
1y. and other squads work In the rura!
districts, covering the surface of
ponds with a coating of crude oil to
kill off the mosquitoes and keep them
from breeding.
80 far as the men are concerned,
they are well satisfied and show
much appreciation of what is being
done for them. There is a good esprit
de corps. and things are now on
permanent basis. As an instance, 1
might cite the fact that in one settle
ment, forty dwellings for married men |
were built last month. Every one was
taken and there are still thirty-f1ve |
men on the waiting list. Married men
are bringing their families there with |
the intention of making the isthmus |
their home, for some time, at least.
THE government furnishes quarters |
for all its men at no cost to them. |
The buildings are equipped with fuel. |
light and water. The married men
and their families are furnished with |
one-story dwellings or with four-room
suites in apartment houses.
THE single men are Quartered in |
dormitories. each containing |
forty rooms. Two men occupy each |
room, making 80 men to each dormi-
tory.
1.-The single men get their meals at |
hotels conducted by the government, /
and the married men buy their pro- |
visions from commissaries established |
and conducted by the government. The |
cost of living there is less than it is [
here For instance, sugar sells at Az
cents pound. The government buys
the provisions in large quantities and
sells them so as to make 10 per cent |
profit to cover the cost of transporta-
ion and handling. The wholesale pur-
chases are made at the best possible
Squire, bids being called for.
"a refrigerator train runs the length
Of the canal every day, carrying meats
and other perishable provisions, thus
a fresh supply. Ice is sold
1t 40 cents a 100 pounds.
1.-THE men get their meals at the
ate of 80 cents a meal, or $27 a
month These hotels are located
wherever there are enough single men
stationed to make it worth while From