Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1908-08-24
.aafilAMA CANAL
FAST NEARING
COMPLETION
MARVELLOUS PROGRESS
ON GIGANTIC PROJECT
Health Conditions in One Time
Plague Spot Compare Well
With Most Favored Portion
of United States,


IBy Morning Journal Special Leased wIreI
Oyster Bay. n. Y, Aug, 2S.--Presi-
dent Roosevelt today made public re-
ports submitted to him on August
by a special commission consisting of
James Bronson Reynolds Samuel b.
Donnelly and Henry Beech Needham,
regarding conditions in Panama The
commission was appointed April 25
last
That the president Is pleased with
the report is shown In a letter which
he sent to each member of the COM
mission on Friday.
He expresses particular pleasure
over the fact that the commission up
holds the administration of Colonel
George Goethals, chairman of the Is
thmian Canal commission, and the
president has had copy mailed to
Colonel Goethals requesting that the
| recommendation made by the commis-
sion be put into effect Immediately so
far as possible. The president will
submit the report to congress with
appropriate recommendations
The commission reports that It I'm
spected the entire line of the canal ex-
cavation from La Boca, the southern
or Pacific terminus, to Cristobal. the
northern or Caribbean terminus. and
! travelled through the excavation sew
eral times, Interviewing the men at
work"
Indicating the scope OF the inspec-
ton the commission reports that 1t
Vicifad tho sgnvarnp,npt ,sart,ebnne
construction plants warehouses, ship
yards, dredges, commissary stores iv-
ing quarters. that is hotels. messes
kitchens, camps. schools. club houses.
courts, police stations and the con-
valescent home at Taboga."
President Roosevelt's letter to the
Investigators says:
81 doubt II there Is any piece OF
work undertaken on behalf 0f the Am
| eric6n people IN recent years of which
the American people have more rea-
son to be proud than of the work hlth-
erto done on the Panama canal
"The success has been astounding.
Five years ago, when we undertook
the task, no sane man would have
dared to hope for the results which
have already been achieved. The work
itself has been advanced more ex-
pedlously than we had ventured to
hope, and the rapidity OF the rate Of
progress has steadily increased
Meanwhile the treatment of hy-
gicnic conditions on the isthmus has
been such as to make 1t literally the
model for all work of the kind in
tropical countries Five years ago.
the isthmus Of Panama was a byword
for unhcalthiness of the most deadly
| kind. AT present the canal zone is
one Of the healthlest places on the
globe, and the work which is being
prosecuted with such tremendous
energy Is being prosecuted under con-
dltions so favorable to the health and
well being of the workers that the
mortality among them is abnormally
small.
Finally. in addition to the extreme
efficiency of the work under Colonel
GOethals and his assistants and the
extraordinary hygienic success achieved
under DR.. Gorgas, there Is the further
and exceedingly gratifying fact that
on the isthmus. the United States gov
ernment has been able to show itself
model employer. There are mat
ters TO correct of course. as your trip
showed but on the other hand II is
true that the United States is look
ing after the welfare, health and com
fort Of those working for II as no 9TH
er government has ever done In work
of like character"
In prefacing It's report, the COM
mission says:
Work on the construction of the
isthmian canal has passed through two
stages, those of planning and OF prepa-
ration. II Is now In the third stage.
I the stage of construction.
Both the earlier stages required the
presence of a large working force,
necessarily quartered In temporary
and makeshift aceommolsti ~. Zee
cause of these conditions, inevitable
at the outset, early critics OF the canal
enterprise mistook the initial and
temporary outfit for the permanent
equipment
"The terrible SOURCE Of yellow
fever against which the French strug-
gled in vain; the filth and pest breed
| Ing state OF the principal Panaman
towns. the rough lumber camps and
other hardships OF the first two eras
! have been eliminated through the brill
liant and persistent work Of the de-
partment Of sanitation, the depart
ment Of municipal engineering and the
building department. Today we lind
yellow fever driven from the lsthmus,
malaria and pneumonia greatly re-
duced and a high average OF health
established
"The governments immediate object
on the lsthmus Is 10 build the canal
and provide living quarters for a tenn
porary enterprise. but II has also cree
ated comfortable homes and well or
ganzed social communities for It's
working forces"
/ or the progress OF the work the
commission says:
"This year over two and one-third
million cubic yards were excavated IN
cnch Of the winter mOntha~-the dry