The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-02-10
tCoy righted, 1914, by Frank G.
Carpenter.)

ado. 1t is the chief port Of the
country. 1t has an export and import
trade of more than $4,000 ,00O q
year, and this will be quadrupled IL
Nh place can be made healthy. 1t Is
important to us that it should be so,
FOR 1t Is the first port south OF Pana
ma. Ii is not as far from Panama az
is New York from Chicago, and when
the canal is completed it will be near
er Boston than from Boston to Liver
pool. The town lies about sixty miles
from the ocean. 1t is on the WIDE
and deep Guayas river, up winch
boats can go during the rainy season
for 200 or 300 miles. The town hes
almost on the equator. 1t Is under
the shadow Of the snowy peaks OF
Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, but 1t is
surrounded by jungle. Just now 1t is
a<icted with bubonic plague and yell
low fever and these conditions Will
have to be wiped out before Ecuador
can be allowed the free use OF the
Panama Canal.
The Ecuadorans have come to real
lie the seriousness Of their situation
They know that their ports must be
- made clean or they Will block the
%country's development. The Govern
ment has been discussing the question
for several years and foreign experts
have been called in to make plans for
the clean of Guayaquil. DR.. Gorgas
has been here and given suggestions.
and scheme after scheme has been
proposed to remedy the evil. Just now
a contract with J. G. White & Co., OF
New York and London, is under a
That firm has had its engineers on
the ground and it is ready to enter
into q contract for a series Of public
improvements that will cost 10000
coo. This sum will be enough to do
tho thtn~c i'm rnndiata1v nacaSSQrV 1t
will pave the streets, put in sewers,
increase the water supply and inaugu-
rate a systematic upbuilding and rem
ovation that will make the port safe
for the traveller and trader.
AT present G~Uayaquil is SO danger
Gus thai no one stops here Who can
help il. The new cases OF bubOniC
plague now number ten or more every
day, and there have been seventy new
cases of yellow fever reported within
the past two weeks. The officials have
begun to vaccinate for the plague
and the the traveller lands
ne is grabbed by the doctor and thu
plague serum is injected INTO his arm
He then gets q certificate proving tina
he has been ~vaccinated, and he has (
show this before he is alloewd to E,
into the interior. There are two kind
Of vaccination given for the plague
lllt III uStd iCtt - III
process. 1t consists in injecting tn
dead cultures of the plague baCiHI
The needle hurts as ii goes into you
arm. and you have at the end a littl
pouch of juice containing some mil
lions OF bacilli-under the skin. TIL
arm is sore a short while, but the vac
cine does not make you sick. Til
is uppoS to render one immun
from the plague for several month
The other form of vaccination is l.
the Yersin antitoxin. IL is given on
to those who have caught the plaGu
and is supposed to neutralize the poi
on in the system.
During my stay AT Panama | had
long chat with DR.. y. G. Perry. Il
chief health officer. who is in chars
of the sanitary conditions at the istl
mus with regard to the ports alor
The west coast. lie has visited eve
port from Gallo TO Panama, and h;
spent much time in studying the ST
uation at ~Guaya quii. He tells me tn
the only way in which this city CO
be leaned is by practically rebuildil
it. The town of TO-DAY is swarmil
with the rats and the fleas fro
which carry the plague. The m1
of its houses stand close to the grour
and many of them have wooden foo
under which the rats car hurroW. 7
walls have wooden posts, upon viii
are nailed iathS IF split bamboo. II
framework is covered with stucco
the outside. and plaSted or boards
the inside. 1t makes a beautiful W
20 look at. but the rats can crawl
side the walls and walk up the LAT
ing.
Many Of the poorer houses are bl
right on the ground. DR.. Perry So
that they should ne lacked up a
placed on posts Sc high that the +
could not jump To the first floor.
saws that the floors of the hotter Ct
~ houses should be Of cement. &
that all houses should have CEN,
foundations. as the rats will burr
under any ordinary floor.
As il is now. according 20
Perry. G~uayaauil has rats every Wh'
and al, of it's rats have neas.
hubonic plague Us transmitted by IL
Neas biting such rats IS rave