French. Had there been nothing else, that new conception would have 

 been an ample harvest for the journey. 



Another very deep impression was of the indescribable complexity of 

 the work and the wonderful manner in which all parts of that vast 

 machine were so coordinated that they worked together harmoniously, 

 with very little friction and, to the onlooker, seemingly without effort. 

 The machine seemed almost to run itself. Some friction there was; one 

 could not be long on the Isthmus without discovering that the relations 

 between Colonel Goethals and Colonel Gorgas were somewhat strained. 

 Naturally, each had his zealous partisans, who talked much more un- 

 reservedly than their chiefs. The difficulty, in part due to differences of 

 temperament, was caused chiefly by financial considerations. Colonel 

 Goethals fully appreciated the vital importance of the sanitary work, 

 but thought that it was not conducted as economically as it might 

 and should be. Colonel Gorgas, on the other hand, cared chiefly about 

 results and was said, I don't know how truly, to be rather indifferent to 

 questions of expense. 



However that may be, the work of sanitation was carried out with 

 the astonishing success, over which "all the world wondered." Sur- 

 prising as it sounds, I neither saw, heard, nor was bitten by a mosquito 

 while I was on the Isthmus and only once did I see a fly inside of a 

 house. Colonel Gorgas laughingly told me that, occasionally, he re- 

 ceived complaints from visitors to the Tivoli, that "a mosquito had been 

 seen in the hotel." He also told me that the sick rate among the em- 

 ployes was only lo per i,ooo. The working force consisted chiefly of 

 West Indian Negroes, who were at home in a tropical chmate, but 

 among white Americans and Europeans the results were even better, 

 for the death rate of the whites was much lower. The women and 

 children of the American famiUes looked healthy and rosy and it was 

 currently said that Gorgas had converted the worst pesthole on earth 

 into a health resort. It wasn't that exactly, for many Americans could 

 not endure the life and had to go home. Even of those who contracted 

 no specific disease, many broke down under the unrelenting pressure 

 of the climate. 



I was somewhat surprised to find that Colonel Gorgas' work was so 

 widely and so heartily appreciated in the Canal Zone. One of the most 

 eloquent tributes that I heard there to the value of that work was from 

 the foreman of a gang of labourers, who were excavating for the founda- 

 tions of the north locks at Gatun. I thought it would be interesting to 

 hear his opinion of the sanitary work and asked him what he thought 



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