El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-07
UAYAQUIL, Ecuador, FeL Z.

UAYAQUL, Ecuador, FeE T.
Guayaqu1 is the New York o
~ Ecuador. It is the chief port
of the country. It has an ex-
port and IMPORT trade Of more than
$2O,O0O,OOO a year, and this will be
Quadrupled If the place can be made
healthy It is not as far from Pam
ANA as is New York from Chicago,
and when the canal is completed it
viii be nearer Boston than from BOs-
ton to Liverpool.
The town lies about 90 miles from the
ocean. 1t is on the wide and deep Guayas
river. up which boats can go during the
rainy season for 200 or 800 miles The
town lies almost on the equator 1t is un-
der the shadow Of the snowy peaks of CHM
borazo and COtOpaxi, but it is surrounded by
bubonic plague and yellow fever and
these conditions will have to be wiped
out before Ecuador can be allowed
the free use Of the Panama canal
Realize Their Danger.
The Ecuadorans have come to realize the
seriousness of their situation. They know
that their ports must be made clean or they
viii block the countrys development. The
government has been discussing the oues-
ton for several years and foreign experts
have been called in to make plans for the
cleaning Of Guayaqun
DR.. Gorgas has been here and given sug-
gestons. and scheme after scheme has been
proposed 70 remedy the evil Just now
contract with J. G. White & Co, Of New
York and London is under way That firm
his had its engineers on the ground and 1t is
ready 70 enter into a contract for series
OF public improvements that will cost S10.-
900, O00- This sum will be enough to do the
things Immediately necessary. 1t viii pave
the streets, put in sewers increase
systematic upbuilding and renovation that
VIII make the port safe for the traveller and
Is Now a Plague Spot.
At present GuayaquiI is so dangerous that
no one stops here who can help it. The new
cases OF DuDonlc plague now number 10 or
new cases OF yellow fever reported within
the past two weeks The officials have be-
gun to vaccinate for the plague, and the
moment the traveller lands he is grabbed BY
the doctor and the plague serum is Injected
INTO ms arm he then gets certificate
he has TO show this before ne is allowed to
90 into the interior.
There are two kinds Of vaccination give-
1or Lne plague The one used here is the
Haf1kine process. It consists in injecting The
dead cultures Of the plague bacflH The
needle hurts as it goes into your arm and
You nave at the end little pouch of Juice
containing some millions Of baciIlf under the
skin The arm is sore a short while but
the vaccine does not make you sick This is
sgpposeQ 20 render one immune from the
plague for several months The other form
Of vaccination is by the Yersfn antftoxin
II is given only to those who have caught
the plague, and is supposed to neutraiize
the poison in the system
SWarms With Rats.
During my stay at Panama / met DR.
C. Perry the chief health officer who Is in
charge Of the sanitary conditions AT The
isrhInus win regard to the ports along the
west coast lie mas visited every port from
Callao to Panama, and has spent much time
In studying the situation at Guayaoul He
tells me IhaI the only way in which this
city can be cleaned is by practically re-
building it. The town Of today is sVarr,iner {
with the rats the fleas from which carr[5
the plague The most Of its houses stand .
close to the ground, and many Of them have
wooden floors. under which the rats -
burrOw. The walls have wooden posts un01 /
which are nailed laths OF split bamboo Tbfs (
framework is covered with stucco on the /