The San Francisco call., 1908-05-31

gated again and again Tons and tons
of paper We're used to close crevices in
the walls of houses. The fumes of sui
phur and pyretheum were In constant
ascent TO the upper air. Those were
trying days for the patient housewife.
Shed barely recover from her last dose
before men with ladders. buckets and
rolls of paper were again besieging
her premises Toward the end OF 1905
results began to be apparent. and the
officials state tho last known case of
yellow fever at Panama was In No
.vember of that year, while at Colon the
last case is said to have been found In
May. 1906.
Although dry at times. figures in this
case are eloquent and speak for them
selves In October 1884. when the
French had 1924 men on the isthmus.
they lost ISL In 1905. under tho
American regime. when 1855 were en-
ployed, the deaths were but SO. The
death rate of the general population OF
the canal zone and the cities of Pana-
ma and Colon in 1907 was 42.0S per
thousand. The total deaths from all
causes among employees in 1907 num-
bered 1.273. of which 1e4 were due TO
accident.
The negro employe death rate. COM
pared 10 the white. is to I. 1t is ap-
. parent from this that the white man
stands the conditions on the isthmus
just three times as we'll as the negro
The department of sanitation has a
magnificently equipped hospital plant
on the zone The two main hospitals
at Ancon and Colon are fortified by
line hospitals at all the principal set
Elements along the canal route. In
addition, at all these points q dispen-
sary. district physician and sanitary
inspection force are maintained. Now
at all the points one sees we'll ordered
villages. with draining bitches run
ming in every direction. sidewalks, and
in many cases electric lights. where IN
the French campaign we're Jungle
thickets on every hand.
Splendid School System
While the primal object OF all these
operations on the isthmus is TO pro-
vide a shorter route between the east
and the far west for commercial pur-
poses. the American youth has not been
forgotten. In 1904 the canal commits
sion authorized the establishment OF a
public school system. A superintend-
ent of schools for the canal zone was
appointed in 1906. The first free public
school in the canal zone was opened at
Corozal on January .. 1906. At the
close OF the term in September, 1906,
there were so schools. with an enroll
ment of 1876 pupils. and average
daily attendance of 123I. In March,
1907. there We're 2S>schools in opera
tion The total enrolment was 1.12f.
and the average daily attendance 1.22I.
The public school term extends from
September so 10 June I. with the fol-
lowing intermissions; Saturday and
sunday OF each week. Thanksgiving
day and the Friday following. December
81 to January inclusive. Washing
tons birthday. the week preceding
Easter Sunday and Decoration day.
May so. Separate schools arc provided
for white and colored children. All
teachers with one exception. are fe-
males. and come from the states. The
salaries of teachers are $50. $50 and $40
per month. The colored schools are
in charge OF native and West Indian
teachers.
The schools are divided into eight
grades. in conformity with the similar
organization of elementary schools in
the United States. The curriculum In
cludes reading. writing. spelling. gram
mar. geography. elementary physiol-
ogy and free hand drawing. In addl-
tion. English speaking children are
taught Spanish. and Spanish speaking
children are taught English High
schools are about to be organized Chill
dren who reside at stations where there
is no school are provided with free
transportation on the Panama railroad
to the nearest school. and all books.
pencils paper. etc.. that are Eeces-
sary are furnished free or charge.
The police department OF the canal
zone was orga nizef in 1904 and has
jurisdiction over and cOver> tho ensire
zone from Cristobal TO Aacon and La
Boca. as well the Islands belonging
TO the zone.
The headquarters OF the zone poilce
IS located at Nneon. when Is the on
ciaI residence of the chief of police.
who is also warden of the penitentiary.
Tho strength of the force is 200 men
who are about equally distributed
throughout the zone Each settlement
is supplied with a jail and magis-
trate and all stations and outp0sts
are Immediately connected by telegraph
and telephone
The granting OF liquor licenses in
the zone is directly under the control
OF the canal commission. and saloons
are only allowed at certaiE points. The
annual license is S1.200. Thirty-four
saloons are now operating within the
limits of the zone.