The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1921-08-18


canal possible; it also puts the institute closely in
touch with its work
The memorial will be of international character.
This Is as it should be, since the fame Of General
Gorgas is world wide 1t may be doubted if the
work of any single man has meant more to civil
lzation. 1t was his sanitary work that demon
strated to the world that the white man can live
and work in the tropics and maintain good health.
And the end is not yet, since when the time comes
that the North American continent is crowded the
next great migration of the white man will be to
Central and South America. In fact it is no eX-
Rggeraton to say that the settling of the tropics
by the Caucasian dates from the completion of the
Panama canal.
Anyone who has seen the old Panama at the
time of the abandonment of the work of the first
canal involving so much wasted energy life, and
money! with its abandoned equipment and the evil
denCes of unsuccessful labor, and the thousands
of unknown and unnumberod graves of its work
ers. cannot help but be struck with the present
aspect of Panama its splendid sanitation, its beau
tful cities, its fine hospitals, and the magnificent
accomplishment of the completion of the work OF
the canal, making it of the most beautiful and
saubrous spots in the world writes Rear Admiral
w. G. BREASTED, U. S, n, Netired) in the Pan
American Union.
The accomplishment Of this great work and the
sanitary regeneration of Panama are due to the
efforts of the late William G. Gorgas, United
States army ana to his EFFORTS more IMAM TO any
other the success of this work must be accredited
His earlier work in the southern states and the
West Indies, and particularly Cuba, and his later
efforts in Ecuador and Peru and his projected
work in Africa give one idea of the vast field
of splendid endeavor which he accomplished ana
would have continued had his life been prolonged
His reputation has gone forth to all the world
and he is loved and revered in every household
Perhaps no single life has made possible so
much for the good and well-being of humanity as
has that of General Gorgas There can be- there
fore no question to the desrability of erecting
some memorial which will do honor to this great
man.
Many types of memorials have been considered
in this connection, but feel sure that the estab-
Iishment of this memorial, The Institute for Re
search in Tropical Diseases and the Study of Pre-
ventve Medicine, carrying with it not only per-
manent monument to his memory, but one that
will continue his work and be of the greatest value
10 the welfare of the entire world, would be bis
ideal of this commemorative effort. Panama sit
uaed in the heart of the Tropics and in the midst
of the Central and South American states which Of
fer splendid field for work of this kind would
seem TO be the ideal location, furnishing a wealth
of material for the institution which is being
brought into existence
Tie honor for the conception of this Idea ana
Of bringing it into actual existence must be given
to DR. BelisarO Porras, the president of the re-
public Of Panama. II was owing to his efforts and
those associated with him, such as the Hon. Jo-
spph Lefeyre the representative of the panaman
government in Washington, that a provisional
board has been established to begin and carry ON
this work. Deep interest has been evinced in the
success Of this undertaking by all who have been