Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-08-08

of Panama. originated the idea Of this practical
and suitable memorial to honor General Gorgas,
associates that the Provisional Board was estab-
lished to begin and carry on the work. Great
interest in the memorial has been evinced In an
parts of the world. DIR. Franklin Martin, VINO
has Just returned from a tour OF the central
and South American countries, says that the
presidents and other representatives In THESE
countries seem especially interested in the
project. Word also has been received from
educational institutions such as the London
School of Tropical Medicine. indicating extensive
interest in the development of the memorial
plans.
"While much has been done in our largest
and best educational institutions to endeavor to
carry on research work and to acquire knowl-
edge of tropical diseases, and a great zeal ac-
complished by many special institutions ana
departments, such as the London and Liverpool
Schools of Tropical Medicine. and the work OF
institutions such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins
the University of California, and many otner
organizations of this kind, nevertheless, all TINS
work has been limited and hampered by the
dearth of material for such study and research
and on account Of the distance from the trop!-
cal %centers." SO spoke Admiral Bralsted IN IN
discussing the location of the institute IN
Panama. He continued:
Panama offers the ideal situation in almost
every respect for the successful lnvestlsatlon
of these diseases, which have in the past proved
to be an insuperable obstacle to the development
of some of the most splendid sections of the
earth. What has been done in Panama proves
that hitherto uninhabitable and undeveloped
countries of the greatest possibilities for success
tul human naDltallOH, Will eiu
and well-being, in the most attractive ano
desirable parts of the earth are easily within
our reach if We can apply in their development
the knowledge that will come from this great
Until the Gorgas Memorial Building can be
COMPLETED the laboratories and equipment of
the new Santo Tomas Hospital in Panama City
have been offered for this special research work.
1t is hoped that active work along these lines
may be begun by next January.
William c. Gorgas, who succeeded in turning
one of he deadliest pest-holes o hearth into
a place as safe as a health resort as the late
Theodore Roosevelt put it, was of historic
southern parentage. His grandfather was one
of the early governors of Alabama and ms
father, General Josiah Gorgas, was a West Point
bred officer of the Confederate army. William
c. Gorgas was born in Mobile. Alabama, In 1924.
and received his education at the university Oh
the South and Bellevue Hospital Medical Col
lege. He received his doctors degree IN 1917
at the latter school. The next year he was
army. He saw both active field service and
service in the hospital tent in Florida, the
west, and on the Mexican border. After the
Santiago expedition he was made CHER sani-
tation officer in Havana.
He Could Change His Mind.
1t is a peculiar fact that General Gorgas
originally opposed the theory that yellow fever
was transmitted by mosquitoes. He spent long
hours trying to argue DR.. Carlos j. Finlay, the
chief advocate of this theory out OF such an
the firmly assertive DIR. Findlay and, eventually,
the correctness of their views was proved
beyond doubt. General Gorgas demonstrated
his greatness in that he did not think that he
could not err. He frantly ~knowledg his
mistake and entered the fight against the mos
quito in Cuba with splendid energy and vigor.
In the twenty years following that fight in
Havana against yellow fever and the mosquito,
not one case has occurred there.
General Gorgas was sent to Panama March
4, 1904. He was then a colonel and hao
received appointment as assistant surgeon gen
eral in recognition of his accomplishments In
Havana. In Panama he found conditions so
bad that there averaged 5000 deaths a year
from tropical diseases. Having had a. rev
~,,-Ir ,,,t1 this ny me hnnGt tho MOSQUITO,
the general was at least familiar with the most
successful line of tactics to pursue in tackling
the Job in Panama. There is no need to repeat
details of the fight, but it is beyond doubt true
that the enterprise of building the Panama
Canal could never have been accomplished with
out the solution of the sanitation problem by
General Gorgas. The mosquito. yellow fever
and malaria left the Canal Zone for parts I'M
known.
Again. prior to the World War, General
Corgas performed similar miraculous deeds in
Graduating pneumonia among the kafr dia-
mond mine workers of Africa. And yet again.
he went to South America, on the western coast,
to stamp out yellow fever in it's most formidable
fort, the port of Guayaquil, where this disease
had ragged for forty years. In January, 19I4, ne
became Surgeon General of the United states
army, with the rank of brigadier general. the
next year he became a major general. Then
with the American Expeditionary Forces in
France he developed that great system for the
reconstruction of crippled soldiers which mas
meant so much to thousands of men.
He retired from active service and became
permanent director of the International Health
Board of the Rocketeller Foundatlon. IL became
q byword all over the world wherever a great
number of men were stricken with a disease
for governments to cry, Lets send Tor
Gorgas." He was In London on his way TO
investigate sanitary conditions in West Africa
on behalf of the British government, when the
illness overlook him which resulted in his death
in July, 1920. Both the kings of England ana
Belgium had arranged to honor him with dec
orations. Nations consulted him. He was really
Doctor to the World and has been called by
many the wholesale life-saver." Without
doubt he is one of the Americans who have
gone far in establishing our country favorably
in the eyes of older nations. 1t is surely fitting
that so beautiful and useful a building should
be dedicated to his memory to carry on the
great work he began.
~ 2or>rn T ONO nnO yvETT