FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



cated to Phillips. On inquiry I found that Phillips, after his 

 seemingly butterfly life in Washington during the winter, went 

 every year into the North Woods or some other far place and 

 hunted and fished. Furthermore, he was interested in ethnology 

 and had made a study of the American Indian. Of course this 

 accounted for his acquaintance with Roosevelt. 



When Roosevelt became President in September, 1901, he was 

 forty-three years old, younger than I. Then for the first time 

 I felt that I was growing old. At least two rather remarkable 

 incidents during his administration stand out in my recollection. 



The Panama Canal was about to be built, and the question 

 of the health of the employees was a vital one. A committee 

 consisting of Doctors Osier and Welch, of the Johns Hopkins 

 Medical School; Dr. John R. Musser of Philadelphia, who was 

 then President of the American Medical Association; Dr. Bryant 

 of New York (then President of the New York Academy of 

 Medicine) ; and I (representing the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science) called on the President to urge 

 him to appoint a distinguished sanitarian as a member of the 

 Panama Commission. Dr. Welch, in his usual happy and force- 

 ful way, began to state the argument, but was interrupted before 

 he had said more than a sentence or two by the President, who, 

 as I recall, spoke about as follows: 



"Dr. Welch and gentlemen, I appreciate as fully and strongly 

 as you can possibly put it the importance of sanitation in the 

 digging of the Canal. I realize that the sanitary problem is quite 

 as great as the engineering problem. If I could, I would follow 

 your advice and would appoint a man who would meet with 

 your approval, but I can not. My hands are tied. I remember 

 that once, when I was hunting in the Dakotas — just my guide 

 and myself — the weather was distinctly bad. The thermometer 

 was an incredible number of degrees below zero; and the wind 



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