New-York tribune., 1920-11-28
Marines T.lr'1,
POrt-alz-ap
Into Clean City
Squalor and Filth in Evi.
dence Everywhere WE,en
Forces Took Charge Five
Years Ago Disappears
Fear Smallpox Epidemic
Lack Of Tact by Americans,
However, Antaronizes a
Large Number Of I{ayiians
Prom a srec.a. Correspondent

The benefits of Uncle Sans marine
occupation in Hayti are undcniabic and
more evident to those who can com-
pare the Hayti Of to-day with the
little black West Indies republic Of
yesterday. Everywhere the American
soldier goes, his instinct is to clean
up. He found it necessary in the viii
lagos Of France and he found it more
than necessary in both the cities and
villages of Hayt. He found it inpcra
tive in Cuba, where he established
reputation for sanitation.
Luoa accepted sanitation in pas
sive sort of way. French villages
welcomed it, once they had it., but in
Hayti sanitation experts have worked
against dscouraging odds and with
countless vicisstudes. Hayti doesn't
want to be clean. In speaking of
Haytians one must speak with care.
three per cent of Haytians are Of
culture where the bGthtub pays its
daily part. Hayti has drawn on French
has likewise drawn on equatorial
Africa for 81 per cent of primitlvenoss,
which to-day becomes hygiene when
hygiene searches aud finds. And among
1000 900 illiterate blacks unaccustomed
to the ways Of the white man efficient
vigi lance is, Of course, a task winch
New York police force would be more
competent to deal than tse ccrnEara-
lively small American sanitation force
IF Hayti
Rubbish Dumped Into Streets
Eayti knew isolated rudinlents of the
white mans way moro than n century
ag7 1t was the garden spot CT the
Wcst Indies when Trcnchmcn were
slave masters in frances most produc-
tive colony. Regional hebit;tions were
sees in France, with attractive gs rdcns
and architectural piles that wcald have
done credit to picture sqac Touraine.
Tho frcHchncn here surrounded them
selves with every convenience Of the
age. But most all th.t the French le<s
in nayti has been swept away through
more than ten decades Of revolutions
and neglect.
when American marines landed in
liant traces Of the Ilayti that was
Frances garden. Villages were, per-
h&rs, not so clean rs the average settle
m-rt G African tribcsMen. OrgaMica
ticr w-s nil. The cities were little
bettsr or.
ssnalor and Filth Everywhere
1t WAS the convenient custom to dump
ell rucAish- dccayed .ruit and filth
in the streets OF highways and depend
on neturc to do the rest. Tror lcal
rains and blazing SUNG produced odsrs
ana vanars guaranteed to convert all
those without immunity through sur
viv.l OF the fitte-t into feyer patients.
Ep,demics, in which even the strongest
w--e liarle to fE,l. were encouraged TO
40 t;air vcrst. More than 100000 ma
Ives succunrcd to 4 single scourse in
1892. The disease was carried into &
Hsrticn port hy a snip from Jamaica,
ard it found Hsyti ver5ablc incuha-
Tor. Quarantine regulations againat
ships end health regulations generally
were unknown.
Haytians Shiftless
Even to-day sanitation means little
to The rank snd file The ebony hued
masses doubtless would r. more happy
without any attempt in that direction.
The proverbial HABITS OF our own ne
groes who are really ancestral broth
ers OF Haytls prolcte riat-are seen
here, only in more marked degree:
The men are usually the ultimate Of
shif,lessness. preferring to loll under
the palm trees or indulge in idle
amusement. The noed for food is the
main incentive for labor.
Tne women, who outnumber the men
five to one, due to raVages Of revolu-
ton. work more often than their
ragged brothers. When the Haytian
male elects % work he earns from
twenty to thirty cents a day. He is
sometimes worth that wage and often
not.
With the background. one may mag
inc by what effort Americans here have
converted Port rt-au-Prince. Cape Hay
tian, the cities, and other towns into
livable communities. Port-au- Prince
today boasts clean, we'll ordered
streets. except for the constant process
sion OF the populace, which prefers
French fashion. the broader thorough
iares to the narrower sidewalks. Saw
crs are a fact aud not fancy. Inspec
tors cover the ground to see that stag
nant pools do not incubate mosquitoes
Homesteads of the high and low alike
IRE invaded. If necessary, when infrac
ION OF sanitary law is reported
Steamers for two centuries entered
Haytian ports without formality. To
lay all is changed. and. for example
instead Of running directly to dock q
port-au- -Prince-incidentally the onl.
9teamSh,p dock in haytl-steamer
are required TO submit to medical ex
animation off shore and receive bills 0
health.
| Health Service In Chargs
Contrary to the general belief, Unite
states marines have nothing to do viii
Haytian sanitation ut present Thi
junction Is intrusted to public healt
,ervice under the Department Of tn
Interior Of tho Hsytian government
officered, however, By American doc
-ors from the United States Navy
These physicians are loaned by tn
nayy for an indefinite period to Presi
dent Dartiguenave's government ar
they are licensed TO enforce sanitatio
measures, which, though initiated b
themselves, have become Haytian law
The CDR. Rupert Blue" Of Hayti
DR.. W. T.. Eaton, U. S. n.
Dy. Eaton is officially an officer {
me naytian government. He believe
shat despite financial, racial and eve
political hsndicaps, Hayi can
made sanitary-zif the occupation lax'
long enough. The occupation is on!
five years old. The alert little nav
doctors greatest trial is the lassitud
of me iowrr class Haytian, coupled wiz
What might De termed certain tyr
Of Jealous interference On the part
the more elevated class OF the Uaytia
medical class.
To make the situa tion clearer, at tn
beginning, 1t must be stated here tn
certain type Of American here Ia
not been TOO tactful in his dealing