Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1913-02-09

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Work. There is none but special re
pair work done on Sundays.
The quarters provided the employees
are splendid; at all the important
points along the Canal there are beau
titul camps; built by the Commission,
consisting OF various sizes of houses
tor married people and barracks for
bachelors; they are all provided with
sleeping pOrehes all around and are
completely screened in with mosquito
w-re, and painted a dark slate color,
they are also furnished comfortably;
they are built in no conventional or
der but are scattered about. and
there are beautiful driveways all
around lined with flowers and trees.
Any tenant of the Commission can
procure free from the Commissions
nursery at Empire any vines or plants
Kept there, or seeds, to beautify their
homes, and this privilege seems TO be
taken advantage Of. for a large per
centage OF the bungalows are VERT.
able bowers of beauty, and every
where you see the same: in the damn
heat the thick rich green is very re-
freshing.
The water supply is pure and good
anG all the camps are properly
plambed and drained All this is pro
Nided by the Commission which has
spent some eleven million dollars oil
the camps, but the houses are rented
to the employees according to rank.
though the rents are very moderate.
AZ the larger camps the Commission
has built churches and Y. NJ c. A.
club houses, these are a great acquisi,
ton. | had lunch in one of the Club
houses one day aud found il filled
with young fellows. mostly gold en-
plOyes, playing billiards. bowling or
lounging about the reading room.
Electrical companies are engaged to
go the rounds OF the camps. and the
Commission supports several bands.
There are tennis courts and | saw
three groups of colored fellows play
ing cricket. The subscription TO the
no one need consider il a hardship
to live on the Isthmus and work for
the Commission.
The Sanitary department is one of
the great features of the work: 1t may
be said that it has been the key to
success. Here we had the advantage
Of the terrible experience of the
French and also of the 80 years of
advancement in sanitary science since
they began their operation
The Commission started out right
By FIRST of all cleaning up" I men
toned earlier that by treaty with
Panama we secured a zone miles
on each side of the Canal across the
Isthmus. The cities of Colon and Pan
anna are within this zone, however,
and were excluded. but the United
States wisely stipulated that il be
allowed sanitary jurisdiction over
these cities, with authority to ap-
point inspectors, etc. Our government
at once loaned the Panama govern
ment money TO sewer and light these
towns and pave the streets, which up
to then had been a quagmir of 6,th,
ana have since seen that they are kept
clean: also to secure a good water
supply. The climate is not so I'M
healthy; it is the conditions that in
dLce sickness: the air being so warm
and moist, decomposition is very rap
Gus, as are also flies and mosquitoes:
these are the things TO look out for.
The United States has inaugurated
strict quarantine regulations and no
one bearing the germs of disease is
knowingly allowed to enter the zone.
All garbage and rubbish is kept
cleaned up and destroyed. Profiting
by British investigations in India ano
the Gold Coast of Africa into the
causes for malarial fever. and those
of the United States into the yellow
fever plague in Cuba, the mosquito
danger has been largely overcom1
and noxious insects and germs have
not been allowed TO breed.
All along the Canal works and off
around the camps you meet boys with
tanks of crude oil or larvaeide on
their backs, attached TO which are
rubber hoses and pumps, and you see
them spraying any stagnant pools of
water and dark holes where evil
germs may Turk: even away ont In tho
jungle you viii find the marshy
water covered with flu of black
oil. There is small army of these
boys going about all the time who
are working under the Sanitary In
spectors. The Iarvacide is MIXTURE
of carbolic acid. caustic soda and
rosin. in which the larva do mo- APP
pear 10 thrive.
Elsewhere, b. cutting down and
burning the vegetation and allowing
the Sunlight TO enter. disease germs
have been driven out. till now the
zone has been converted into what is
almost a health resort; at least IL is
no more unhealthy than most parts of
the world. People there don't seem
to mind the rain, and they say you
never catch cold; one man told me
he never carried coat or umbrella:
you get to know about when to look
for a shower and get into shelter in
time.
A curious thing about the rainfall
on the Isthmus is that in Panama. on
the Pacific side, the average precip-
itation is 20 inches per year, while in
Colon, on the Atlantic side. only IS
miles away. the rainfall is 1870 inches.
or nearly double.
OF course there are other Depart.
ments that have mentioned, such as
the Auditing and Legal Departments
and the Civil Administration Depart
ment. each under its own head re-
sDOnsible directly Ia Col Goefhats