Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-06-14
plague place to comparatively health

| a plague place to comparatively a health
resort.
| Col. William c. Gorgas, a leader in
the sanitary redemption Of Havana, a
member Of the !sthmian canal commission
and chief sanitary officer OF the Canal
Zone, made the prediction while the 18TH
milan canal construction was in its early
stages that:
Localities in the tropics will become
the centefs Of as powerful and as cul-
tured white civilization as any that will
then exist in temperate zones. /, there
fore. expect in the course OF years to see
q very large and wealthy population grow
up at the isthmus In the neighborhood of
the canal In other words. I expect to see
this Panama canal become one of the
greatest commercial successes that man
has ever brought about"
Ten years ago the Isthmus Of Panama
had a more evil reputation than the
Roman campagna. When the French
were making their efforts to put through
the canal nearly every worker contracted
yellow fever and about every other one
died. The mosquito theory was not
known Nobody suspected that the
stegomyia caused more deaths than all
the cobras. rattlesnakes and other SER
penis in the world.
Charles Francis Adams. In a recent
paper before the Massachusetts Histor-
ical Society. telling OF trip to the
Canal Zone and back. is authority for
the statement that the fly. mosquito. flea.
bug and rat have been eradicated In the
Zone, and that the moth and gnat have
been virtually disposed of. This condi-
ton has been brought about by system
attic drainage use Of oils, disinfectants,
policing and inspection.
Mr.. Adams. in his paper. says he was
struck with the good health of the canal
workers. He saw no mosquitoes, no
flies no disease. no anemic listlessness,
no evidence Of undermined morality, none
of the disabilities TO be expected in an
erstwhile pestilential district" Continu-
ing, he writes:
From the moment I reached the 18TH
mus till the day l left it what most i'm
pressed me was not the magnitude of the
undertaking. the engineering and material
difficulties encountered In carrying 1t to
successful issue. nor yet the admins
trative ability displayed in overcoming
these difficulties, but the morale apparent
in those / encountered. the high standard
of their physical condition and the en-
ergy, alertness and zeal with which amid
tropical surroundings all from highest
to lowest went at their work.
The thought must come that II sani-
tation can rid a stretch Of tropic jungle
and swamp of mosquitoes and flies and
make of it a country where despite YER
teal sun white men and women from
northern zones may live in peace. con-
tent and good health, what may not be
done for the swampy and unhealthful
parts of the northern world. where few
insect-born diseases carry millions Of
people to too early grave?
The work OF Americans In Cuba. and
especially their work in the Canal Zone.
ought to be an object lesson that correct
sanitation is of incalcuiable benefit TO the
human race. The medical triumph at
Panama will be great as the engineer
Ing triumph. The sanitary engineer and
the civil engineer are building at Panama
the greatest monument to progress the
world has ever had.