On Digging Ditches and Battling Mosquitoes

Since other blogs I've looked at seem to be on a literary kick, I thought I'd chime in and enlighten my readers on my most recently conquered volume. Alas, it pales in comparison to the classics discussed elsewhere. And it doesn't quite qualify as "literature." English majors wouldn't ever have to read it. But history majors might. It's David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914. McCullough is a great writer. Anyone who is reluctant to delve into the realm of reading historical monographs might want to start with him. (Stephen Ambrose is another palatable read.) The book, over 600 pages in length, gives about 300 pages more information about the creation of the Panama Canal than normal individuals would ever want. In its attention to detail, I guess it compares to Les Miserables or Hunchback. Yet hidden within the vastness are some fascinating gems well worth digging for.

One of these nuggets revolves around the battles the builders faced in dealing with yellow fever. Hundreds of men died from the disease in the early going. It was only after about 1900 that people first started thinking the mosquito-as-carrier theory might have something to it. Yellow fever is spread by a certain type of mosquito that thrives mainly in human populated areas. So a concerted effort was made to rid every dwelling of anything that had standing water of any sort, which is where the lovely females deposit their eggs. It used to be that legs of hospital beds were placed in pans of water to keep ants from moving up them. Suffice it to say, that only encouraged breeding of mosquitoes. Open containers with water were covered, or oil was poured on the top of them to prevent access to the water. This way mosquitoes were effectively killed off, as they had no place to put their eggs. With the death of the little buggers, yellow fever virtually disappeared.

Another impressive feat was the sheer volume of earth moved in digging the Canal. Over sixty great pyramids worth of dirt was excavated! The project, between the work the French and Americans did on it, cost in excess of 600 million dollars. To give some perspective on that, McCullough informs us this is five times the amount of money spent by the U.S. on all of its territorial acquisitions combined up to that date, including Lousiana Territory, Calfornia, Gadsden Purchase, Alaska, etc.

The engineering information on the building and operation of the locks is another interesting section. Bet you didn't know that five million bags of concrete and sand were shipped to the isthmus. Or that an estimated 40,000 dollars in waste was saved after it was mandated that workers shake out the bags after they empty them! If the largest locks were stood on their ends, they would dominate the NY skyline.

These are just snippets of the book. Overall, it is an informative and well-written account of the entire history of the canal's building. I would recommend it to anyone historically inclined.