THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA. 825 



as has at times been apprehended, is actuall}^ a gracious feature of the 

 canal environment, and by that automatic control it has been chang-ed 

 from a sinister agent to a friendly power. Furthermore, while the 

 average discharge of the Chagres River is nearly three times the 

 quantity required for feeding the canal, there are times in the dry 

 seasons when the discharge of the river is not more than two-thirds of 

 the quantity required for that purpose. This deficiency is abundantly 

 made up by the storage in Lake Bohio until the traffic exceeds 

 10,000,000 ton« annually' At that time the storage in the Alhajuela 

 reserv^oir Avill give an additional supply for an increase of traffic three 

 or four times as great as the volume whicli can be accommodated ))v 

 the storage in Lake Bohio. 



ABOMINABLE SANITARY CONDITIONS. 



The sanitary conditions of the Isthmus are at the present time 

 wretchedly bad. Neither Colon nor Panama has either a system of 

 water supply or a sewer systeuL The water used in ranania for 

 potable purposes is brought into the city in casks mounted on wheels 

 and drawn by mules from some more or less polluted source outside 

 of but near the city, or caught in cisterns from the rain water flowing 

 from roofs during the wet season, or in some other crude and usually 

 insanitary way. 



There are a few drains in the cit}^ of Panama, constructed innue- 

 diatelv under the surface of the streets, with little or no regard to 

 grades. The water or sewage and decaying matter collecting in the 

 low portions of these drains and remaining there under the high tem- 

 perature of the climate make them far worse than no drains at all. 

 The lack of care and proper disposal of household and other refuse 

 creates the most unsanitary conditions imaginable. Those observations 

 ma}" be emphasized for the smaller towns and villages between Colon 

 and Panama. As a consequence, yellow fever is probably always 

 present, and at times assumes epidemic form. Malarial fevers and 

 other similar diseases are also continually present under aggravated 

 forms. These conditions, however, are completely remedialjle by 

 means well known and available at the present time. 



The entire Isthmus can be placed in a completely sanitary condition 

 so that its healthfulness shall be assured by resorting to methods and 

 means which have now become practically standard in the sanitation 

 of cities and towns. It is absolutel}' essential that waterworks, sup- 

 plying potable and wholesome water, be established for the cities and 

 larger towns, and concurrently therewith there nuist be established 

 suitably sewer systems with rational and sanitarx' disposal of sewage. 

 All these results are now perfectly practicable of attairmient without 

 unreasonable cost or material difl^iculty. It will l)e imperative, how- 

 ever, that sanitary regulations be created, enforced, and maintained 



