umbed to the fever. The contractors were responsible
for their men while they were sick and in order to avoid having to pay
hospital expenses the men were often discharged as soon as they showed
signs of sickness. Many of them died along the roadside while
endeavoring to reach some place where they could obtain aid. The
hospitals were usually filled with yellow fever patients, a very large
percentage of whom died.

Not only the day laborers suffered but many of the engineers, doctors,
nurses and others sickened and died of the disease. It is reported that
eighteen young French engineers came over on one vessel and in a month
after their arrival all but one had died of the yellow fever. Out of
thirty-six nurses brought over at one time, twenty-four died of the
fever, and during one month nine members of the medical staff of one of
the hospitals succumbed.

One of the first things that the United States Government did in
beginning work in the canal zone was to take up the fight against the
yellow fever mosquito. In Panama where the water for domestic purposes
was kept in cisterns and water-barrels, inspectors were appointed to see
that all such receptacles and other possible breeding-places for
mosquitoes were kept covered. After the first inspection, 4,000
breeding-places were reported. About six months later there were less
than 400. Similar work was done in all the towns and settlements along
the route of the canal. In addition to this fight against the yellow
fever mosquito considerable attention was paid to the breeding-places of
the malarial mosquito. The results have been remarkable. Cases of yellow
fever are now rare throughout this zone, and there has been a very great
reduction in the extent of the malarial districts. The last case of
yellow fever occurred in May, 1906. Before this work was done a man took
his life in his hands when he went into this region. Now it is regarded
as a perfectly safe place to live. Indeed it is a much safer place than
many sections of our own country where proper sanitary measures have not
been taken to protect the health of the community.

IN RIO DE JANEIRO

In Rio de Janeiro they have as yet been unable to get rid of the
mosquitoes, although thousands of dollars are spent annually in fighting
them. But the non-immunes there protect themselves by doing their
business in Rio during the day and going back at night to Petropolis,
twenty-five miles inland and twenty-five hundred