Its title, “The Panama Canal,” with an early imprint, did not seem to be a book I would ever need or…
By Joan Brown Wettingfeld
The other day as I was culling through the excess of books on my library shelves, I picked out what appeared to be a likely candidate for weeding out.
Its title, “The Panama Canal,” with an early imprint, did not seem to be a book I would ever need or wish to read. However, when I opened to the material between its covers I was fascinated by what I found. The introduction revealed that its contents had been read and corrected by none other than George Washington Goethals, chairman and chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Born in Brooklyn in 1858, he was known for taking a personal interest in his men and for creating an atmosphere of cooperation which got the work done on time. He later served as the governor of the Canal Zone from 1914 to 1916.
All of the illustrations, which were numerous, were taken by the official photographer of the Commission, and the index was prepared by a member of the Library of Congress. As well, the official maps of the Canal Zone were made under the direction of the National Geographic Society. Indeed I had stumbled upon a gem of a book.
What particularly interested me was its connection with the story of the “yellow peril” or yellow fever, and the impact of the disease not only from the point of view of public health, but also its impact on one of the most significant engineering feats of the time.
New York City and many of the colonies had suffered epidemics of yellow fever over the years. In the yellow fever epidemic of 1702 in New York City the English governor, Lord Cornbury, moved the seat of his government to Jamaica in Queens. New York City was to have more than one outbreak that was a peril to its inhabitants and it was to Queens County with its clean “country air” that many who could afford to, came to stay.
Yellow fever was feared because it was a very contagious, viral disease so often fatal. It was a special concern to a port city like New York because shipping to our port had always been an important economic priority. Ships came to our shores and harbors from locales in the West Indies and South America where yellow fever was endemic.
The 1702 outtbreak was the first recorded epidemic of yellow fever in the city, but more severe were the outbreaks in 1731, 1742 and 1743. And, it is known that almost annually the city was plagued by outbreaks between 1791 and 1821. The most severe yellow fever epidemic ever recorded was in 1798. At the time physicians blamed foul, polluted, or “tainted” air. The epidemic prompted clean-up efforts on a massive scale, as critics blamed filthy conditions of the streets and tenement districts. Some degree of success was achieved. Massive efforts during the early 19th century empowered the Board of Health to oversee strict quarantine regulations and force evacuations. Because of the economic interests of the Port of New York in addition to fear of the epidemic, strong emergency powers evolved.
By 1825 yellow fever was under control in much of the Northeast, but continued to affect the Gulf and South Atlantic ports. The Staten Island Quarantine Station continued to isolate and disinfect ships arriving with even an occasional case, but the station was destroyed in 1858 by angry residents. It was rebuilt the following year.
A Yellow Fever Commission led by Dr. Walter Reed of the U.S. Army in 1898-1900. led to discoveries on the cause and treatment of the dreaded disease. (At one time Dr. Reed was stationed at Fort Totten.)
For centuries mariners — including Columbus — dreamed of a Northwest Passage. Magellan sought a southward route while others attempted a Northwest route, which only Amundsen achieved in the 20th century. The idea of a canal across the isthmus was thought of as far back as the 16th century, but as the 19th century began with the introduction of steam navigation, the demand for a canal increased.
The French attempted a canal in 1880 and failed. Their ill-fated effort was exacerbated by the diseases of the tropics. The science of preventive medicine had not been developed sufficiently to keep their hospitals from becoming centers of infection for yellow fever. Hospital beds were set in pans of water which, doctors didn’t know then, served as breeding grounds for the death-bearing stegomyia mosquito.
During the Spanish-American War of 1898, medicine took a step forward in the prevention and control of tropical diseases. A Cuban physician, Dr. Carlos Finley and an English physician, Major Roland Ross showed that malaria was conveyed by mosquitoes, but it was the American Army surgeon who demonstrated in Cuba that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes of the stegomyia variety. In Cuba, the Yellow Fever Commission concluded that yellow fever was transmitted only through the bite of a mosquito
It was Dr. William Gorgas, under the guidance of General Leonard Wood, a physician well-versed in the investigation of yellow fever, who would implement the doctrine of yellow fever prevention set out by the commission. He achieved a brilliant success which enabled the Americans to complete the building of the Canal on time.
Controlling the chief enemy of man in tropic climes enabled American engineers to accomplish what the French could not. In the early years, however, the public and Congress were not sufficiently convinced of the truth of the new discoveries to provide for the means to put them in effect. Even the Isthmian Canal Commission refused to honor requisitions for mosquito-proof screens, believing they were a “luxury” for quarters rather than protection from disease.
But in 1905 an outbreak of yellow fever led to furnishing all necessary funds and the epidemic was quickly stamped out. From then on there was no question about the importance of sanitation.
History in general owes much to the history of medicine.
