1 if (SB & BJ& & fi& & ti&l ]& l3& iSEk l3Cl lIKl flESl fl&l fid fiE( flfi i^D fl& Ob flQ 2B B SEfc ^D a& . 5 ^B OS l&D QD QD' iSD 39 Q9 39 BD 5P 99 Q9 Q9 OS 3S 99 QD *9S CD 99 99 99 99 99 99 ' sae m m * m * * * * m m * m jHemorial ^erbtces m m Held in Honor of m m * * Jflajor (general m m 9 m l^tUtam Cratoforti (orgas m m m m m By the SOUTHERN SOCIETY m m OF WASHINGTON, D. C. m m Pan American Building, January 16, 1921 m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m so /f\ m m as m %\$ m m ^Kfir m m fP m OS m m i m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m . GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE m m WASHINGTON m m 1921 m 88 u m * m m . SB m m m * m * * * * m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m mm MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM C. GORGAS 66th Congress, 3d Session Senate Document No. 390 jilemortal g>ertoice$ Held in Honor of fHajor General l^iUtam Cratoforb ' ;' ' /^, \ \ :-.";'' i\i :x '-, :'*, PAN AMERICAN BUILDING JANUARY 16, 1921 PRESENTED BY MR. HEFLIN . . FMRCAKT 14, 1921 Ordered to be printed FEBRUARY 24 (calendar day MARCH 2), 1921 Illustration ordered printed GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1921 124.5 ial ^crimes for burgeon General [From the proceedings of the Senate, Monday, February 14, 1921] Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, on the night of January 16, 1921, at the Pan American Building in this city, memorial services in honor of the late General Gorgas were held under the auspices of the Southern Society of Washington, D. C. The eloquent and splendid tributes paid to General Gorgas by Cabinet officers, other officials of the Government, and others, as well as by officials and diplomats of foreign countries, are worthy to be published and preserved in the archives of the Nation that he served so faithfully and well. It was his splendid skill and genius that freed the American Continent from the scourge and curse of yellow fever. He led in driving this yellow plague from the lakes and lagoons of Louisiana, and he destroyed it in the swamps and marshes of the Panama Canal Zone. He has rendered signal service not only to the people of America but to mankind the world over. This great man, born at Mobile, Ala., became not only a national but an international character. Mr. President, to the end that the speeches and messages to which I have referred may be printed and preserved, I ask unanimous consent that they be ordered printed in the form of a public document. The VICE PRESIDENT. Without objection, it is so ordered. 467035 Ucttcr from tfic Cbatrman of tfje orga* IN THE HALL OF THE AMERICAS, PAN AMERICAN UNION WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY EVENING, JANUARY 16, 1921 of WUtam 1$. haunter* President Southern Society of Washington LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : It is most appropriate that the Southern Society of Washington should wish to come here and, in this beautiful hall, in this building of international import, do honor to the memory of its late member and former president, General William C. Gorgas. The Society is grateful that it has been so eagerly joined in this memorial by the distinguished men and women of the United States and from abroad, who best know the perpetual value of his services to mankind. He left us in the serene Indian Summer of his life, at the meridian of his fame ; a life replete with humanitarian effort and accomplishment; a fame, born of those con- tinuing attributes, which shall make it endure until time has ceased to carry its record of human achievement. It is fitting that one bound to him by ties of relation- ship, who was his warm personal friend, his companion in arms, a native of the South, a member of this Society, should have been chosen to preside at this meeting. Ladies and gentlemen: I have the honor to present Major General Peter C. Harris, The Adjutant General of the United States Army. 7 MEMORIAL SERVICES Opening &bbre&* of fflaj. &en. Jeter C. 77i Adjutant Central, United States Army, Presiding LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : The Southern Society of Wash- ington has invited you here this evening to pay tribute to one of the most distinguished sons of the South distinguished not only in the South, but throughout the Union and over all the World. Every civilized nation has been benefited, either directly or indirectly, by his work, and when fatally stricken in London last summer, he was on his way to Africa to study yellow fever among savage tribes and to make recommendation for the elimi- nation of the disease from the west coast of that con- tinent, where it has prevailed intermittently for three hundred years. William Crawford Gorgas was the son of Josiah Gorgas and Amelia Gayle, the talented and beautiful daughter of Judge John Gayle, an eminent jurist and statesman of Mobile, Alabama. Josiah Gorgas, the father of William Crawford, was graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, in 1841, standing No. 6 in his class, and was appointed Second Lieutenant of the Ordnance Depart- ment, at that time and still one of the scientific depart- ments of the Army. While yet a young officer he was granted leave of absence in order that he might go to Europe and make a study of foreign arms and arsenals. In the War with Mexico he rendered distinguished service during the siege and capture of Vera Cruz. After the close of that war he served at Watervliet Arsenal and other arsenals in the United States as Assistant Ordnance Officer until 1853, when he was placed in command of Mount Vernon Arsenal, near Mobile, Alabama. Here occurred the first of a series of coincidences connected with the life of William Crawford Gorgas. I am not so 8 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS sure that it was simply a coincidence. It may have been a controlling factor in the son's life, for no doubt as a child he often heard stories of yellow fever epidemics, and very probably began early in life to search for some means of combating the disease. The surgeon at Mount Vernon Arsenal was a young Dr. Gayle, son of Judge John Gayle, who had served his State as justice of the supreme court, speaker of the State house of representatives, and governor, and the United States as Member of Congress and district judge. Soon after the arrival of Lieutenant Josiah Gorgas at Mount Vernon, the city of Mobile was visited by a terrible epi- demic of yellow fever, forcing many to flee. Miss Amelia Gayle, with a little niece and a little nephew, sought safety in the home of her brother, Dr. Gayle, at Mount Vernon Arsenal, which was, at the time, free from the terrible disease. There she became acquainted with young Gorgas, an acquaintanceship which soon ripened into love, resulting in their marriage in December, 1853. It thus transpired that yellow fever, the disease he so successfully combated, was responsible for bringing together the mother and father of William Crawford Gorgas. In 1855 Josiah Gorgas was promoted to the grade of captain and in 1856 he was transferred to the command of Kennebec Arsenal, Maine. In 1858 he was ordered to command the arsenal at Charleston, South Carolina, serving there until 1860, when he was transferred to the command of Frankford Arsenal, near Philadelphia. In April, i '86 1, he resigned from the Regular Army of the United States and moved with his wife and children to Alabama. Soon afterwards he was appointed by President Davis Chief of Ordnance of the Confederacy, a position which he filled with credit and distinction during the entire period of the Civil War. Speaking of General Josiah Gorgas, General Joseph E. Johnston said: "He 9 MEMORIAL SERVICES created the Ordnance Department out of nothing." General Bragg said: "I have always asserted that you, General Gorgas, organized the only successful Military Bureau during our National existence, and this is the more surprising, as you had less foundation to go on than any other." Soon after the close of the Civil War, General Josiah Gorgas was appointed head master, and afterwards vice chancellor of the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, where he exhibited the same administrative ability which had characterized his control of the Ord- nance Department of the Confederacy. In 1877 he was elected president of the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but, his health failing, he resigned shortly afterwards and the trustees, with great delicacy, made him librarian and his wife matron and provided a house for them. He died May 15, 1883, at Tuscaloosa, surrounded by his family and friends. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Amelia Gayle Gorgas was elected librarian and for 30 years thereafter her services to the University and her influence in the community and State were such as to win for her the admiration and affection, not only of the faculty, the students, and alumni of the University, but of citizens throughout the State. Added to her genius for friendship and instinct for service, Mrs. Gorgas possessed, in a rare degree, the distinctive charm and grace that characterized the best social life of her generation. Her death, at a ripe old age in 1913, was deeply mourned and her memory is still cherished by all who knew her or came in contact with her. William Crawford Gorgas inherited from his parents not only genius but that courteous and gracious manner and sympathetic nature which won for him the admiration and even affection of all who knew him. William Crawford Gorgas was born October 3, 1854, at the home of his maternal grandfather in Mobile, Alabama, 10 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS and spent his early boyhood, from 7 to n, at Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy, where he attended a private school. His education was continued at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and later at the Belle vue Hospital Medical College, now part of New York University, where he received his degree in 1879. After another year at Bellevue as an interne, he was, on June 16, 1880, appointed Assistant Surgeon with the rank of First Lieutenant in the United States Army, and assigned to station at Fort Clark, Texas. On August 3, 1882, this young medical officer was ordered to Fort Brown, Texas, adjacent to the town of Brownsville, where an epidemic of yellow fever was raging, though he himself, at the time, had never had the disease. A few nights after his arrival at Fort Brown he was called to the bedside of Miss Marie Doughty, who had been suddenly stricken with yellow fever, Miss Doughty being at the time a guest in the home of her brother-in-law, Captain William J. Lyster. She rapidly grew worse and all hope of her recovery was abandoned. Her grave had actually been dug, and, there being no chaplain at the post, Dr. Gorgas was selected to read the services at her funeral. Fortunately, under the treatment of Dr. Gorgas, Miss Doughty rallied, but before she had completely re- covered, Dr. Gorgas himself was stricken with the terrible disease. Dr.Gorgas's quarters were adjacent to those of Captain Lyster, and during the period of their convales- cence a friendship between Dr. Gorgas and the attractive Miss Doughty began, which three years later culminated in their marriage. Thus yellow fever, which in 1853 had driven the beau- tiful Amelia Gayle from her home in Mobile, Alabama, to the near-by military station where she first met Lieutenant Josiah Gorgas, 29 years later called the son of this couple to Fort Brown, where he met and saved from that scourge MEMORIAL SERVICES the young girl who was to share his life and who now mourns his loss. The life work of the man to whom we pay tribute this evening will be eloquently portrayed by other speakers, including the Honorable Secretary of War, and the dis- tinguished representatives of foreign countries he person- ally served. Born and reared in the South and of distinguished Southern lineage, it is not surprising that General Gorgas, upon taking up his residence in this city, became an active member of the Southern Society of Washington, of which he was later elected president. Another distinguished Southerner and Past President of this Society is vice chairman and has been the moving spirit of the committee in charge of the services to-night in memory of General Gorgas. It is fitting that he should tell us something of General Gorgas's life and of his con- nection with the Southern Society. It affords me much pleasure to present Dr. Clarence J. Owens. of Dr. Clarence 3J. Otoens William Crawford Gorgas, an Alabamian, a son of the South, an American, known and beloved by many nations of the earth; as gallant as his heroic father; as gentle as his southern mother; he became a citizen of the Empire of Humanity and the Kingdom of Man. Now, since from the field of service he has reported to the Commander in Chief of the Universe and is now a citizen of the Kingdom of God, his spirit lingers and his life is a benediction and an inspiration not only to his friends but also to his South- land and the Nation that he loved and to the peoples of the earth that had been healed by his ministrations. May we visualize the young surgeon in the United States Army reporting for duty at the risk of his life at the MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS yellow-fever-stricken Army post on the Texas frontier; ministering not only as physician but in giving spiritual comfort to the dying ; pronouncing the funeral ritual over their bodies and finally himself stricken with the dread disease? During this period, Mrs. Gorgas, then Miss Doughty, visiting her sister, the wife of an Army officer at the post, was herself believed to be dying of yellow fever. Her grave was selected with tender care by the then Captain Gorgas and he was to read the funeral ritual over her body. She lived; they were convalescent in the same hospital; were married and through life moved side by side in the great service of mankind. I heard this romance from the lips of Mrs. Gorgas as I sat with her one afternoon in Panama looking out upon the Bay of Panama on the Pacific. Contrast, if you will, with this experience from the sun- rise hour of the professional career of General Gorgas that other hour of "sunset and evening star," when with the highest honors of his native land and the decorations of the great Governments of the world, he was on a mission of humanity at the call of the British Government; his death in London; the memorial service in historic St. Paul's; the voyage across the Atlantic on an American transport; the interment with highest military honors at Arlington; and through it all the tender presence of his noble wife, sad in her loss but proud, no doubt, that her own had wrought so well and had so honorably won his Nation's plaudit: "He is one of my jewels." In paying tribute to the memory of the dead we join in honoring Mrs. Gorgas, the gentle colaborer in the achievements that will be the theme of statesmen and diplomats in this memorial service. The Southern Society takes a just pride in the fact that General Gorgas was a faithful member and officer, having served as an active member of the Executive Committee MEMORIAL SERVICES during the administration of President Claude N. Bennett and for two years as President of the Society. The Society in simple loyalty, following the purest dictates of the heart, has conferred upon a committee under the chairmanship of Major General Peter C. Harris, The Adjutant General of the United States Army, himself a son of the South, the threefold plan of honoring the name of Gorgas. The first is fulfilled in this memorial service. The second will be carried out on the afternoon of March 3, during the annual convention of the Southern Com- mercial Congress, when a painting of General Gorgas by Mr. Alexander Robertson James, appointed for the service by Director C. P. Minnigerode, of the Corcoran School of Art, will be presented to the library of the Surgeon Gen- eral's office of the War Department by the Southern Society and officially received by the Government. The committee, in the name of the Society, will memorialize the Congress of the United States to select a site and make adequate appropriation for the erection of a monument to General Gorgas in the city of Washington interpreting his service to the United States and to the cause of humanity. Tennyson in his " In Memoriam" sang: Strong Son of God, immortal Love, Whom we, that have not seen thy face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace, Believing where we can not prove; Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou modest Life in man and brute; Thou modest Death; and lo, thy foot Is on the skull which thou hast made. Thou wilt not leave us in the dust; Thou modest man, he knows not why, He thinks he was not made to die; And thou hast made him: thou art just. MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS Among the names " not made to die " is that of Gorgas. Fame herself might have risen from her throne and placed the laurel with her own hands upon the immortal brow of William Crawford Gorgas. General HARRIS. No international tribute to an Ameri- can officer would be complete without some remarks from the representative of our ally and supporter in our infancy and our companion in arms during the World War which threatened the destruction not only of the Republic France assisted us to establish, but of all other existing democracies throughout the world. We are honored by the presence this evening of the eminent Ambassador of the French Republic, whom I now have the pleasure of introducing to you, His Excel- lency, Mr. J. J. Jusserand. Stibrcss of tfje Jfrend) 3mfaa*sabor MADAM, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I consider it a high privilege to bring the homage of France to a great memory. France, whose contribution to medical sciences goes back to the very Middle Ages, has ever known how to appre- ciate merit in this line, not only that of her own sons, but that also of the sons of other countries. Our admiration for Gorgas was profound, and I bring here the expression of it. Men of note who perform during their lives great tasks are of two sorts, those who, in the span of their existence, have wanted to serve their country and also themselves, and those who have desired to serve nothing but their country and mankind. Those of the first category usually draw more attention in their lifetime; they have, to be sure, like the others, much merit, but their merit MEMORIAL SERVICES is better advertised. The others have only merit without advertising. When death overtakes both sorts, then it infallibly happens that the fame of the first dwindles and that of the others increases. Of the latter category was among us French Pasteur and is among you American Gorgas. He had, throughout life, no thought but to serve. The intensity of his desire to help and the magnitude of his work left him no time for personal consideration. That work was of immense import. The discoveries which made it possible began with a son of France, Laveran, and his studies on paludism in 1880 and with those of Finlay in Cuba on yellow fever, in 1881. It seemed an impossible battle to wage, that fight against the innumerable, ever- increasing, omnipresent, intangible enemy, the mosquito. How could one get rid of an inaccessible pest? That means was found by Gorgas. Where there had been pestilence, after he came there was health and prosperity. Where so many Frenchmen died in their effort to dig the Panama Canal, Americans lived in health and security after Gorgas had established his wise regulations. His firm and gentle hand acted as if endowed with a magical power, the magic of good will, kindness, warm-heartedness. When his public task was finished, his life's task was not, for his duties were not dictated to him by any power abave him, but from a power within himself, his ever- exacting conscience. He told me so when I saw him in that city of Panama, which he had caused to be what it now is, the beautiful, radiant capital of the recently born Republic. One of the worst plague spots remaining in the world was Guayaquil, and I remember an enter- tainment given when we were on the Isthmus, in which took part the handsome young officers of an American destroyer. The ship was ordered, the next day, to 16 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS Guayaquil, and we heard, three days later, that the commander and several of his men were dead of yellow fever. Gorgas has been there since, and provided his regulations are well observed, no one will any more die of yellow fever in those parts. He died in full activity, tended by the one who was throughout his life his devoted companion and mainstay, and when he closed his eyes on the world, of which he had been such a useful citizen, he could, with a serene heart, say the Nunc dimittis servum tuum; and think, my day is passed, but, to the best of my ability, it has been well filled. General HARRIS. Upon the organization of the Rocke- feller Foundation, General Gorgas was made a permanent member of its Board of Directors and served in an advisory capacity to the Foundation on all matters pertaining to health and sanitation. On his retirement from the Army he was appointed director of the Yellow Fever Commis- sion of the International Health Board of the Foundation, which had for its object the elimination from the world of this disease. While serving in this capacity he visited Peru, where yellow fever was epidemic in several centers. The President of Peru, appreciating the great benefits to be derived from improvement in the health conditions of his country, requested General Gorgas to accept the position of sanitary advisor to the Government and to supervise all sanitary and health work to be undertaken in that Republic. He accepted the offer and would have assumed the duties on January i, 1921, but for his untimely death. The eminent Ambassador of Peru is here this evening to deliver the tribute of his country to the memory of General Gorgas. I have the honor of introducing to you, His Excellency, Senor Don Federico Alfonso PezeL 17 MEMORIAL SERVICES of 3>enor lion Jf . 3. Ambassador of Peru "To live in the hearts of those we leave behind, is not to die." "A servant of Mankind and a benefactor to Humanity. 1 ' The first quotation expresses the veneration for the memory of the man to whom at this moment we are paying the homage of respect and admiration. It shows that death is not the end and that a great and useful life can not be forgotten, for the goodness it has accom- plished lives forever in the hearts of those who remain, while the effect of its goodness endures for all time. The second quotation could in all accuracy be inscribed as a fitting epitaph to the man whose memory we are honoring to-night. Perhaps more than any other it would embrace in a single expression the life of William Crawford Gorgas; for verily this man was a servant of mankind, and his work has proved him to be a benefactor to humanity. It was my privilege to become acquainted with this man shortly after he arrived in Panama to undertake the cleaning up of the Isthmus as a first step to make the cutting of the great waterway feasible, and the great undertaking a positive success. Fresh from his achieve- ments in Cuba Dr. Gorgas brought to the Isthmus of Panama some of his associates and collaborators in the great work, and with the modesty that ever remained his great outstanding virtue he organized his forces and set himself to the task of duplicating what had been done in Cuba, but on a larger scale and under conditions more strenuous because of the increased difficulties and obstacles to be encountered and of the grave responsibility that the enterprise in hand created. The sanitation of the Canal Zone and of the terminal cities of Panama and Colon was the preliminary step 18 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS towards the building of the maritime canal. And I ven- ture to say and I feel that I am well qualified to so declare it because without undue presumption on my part or desire for notoriety, I may safely claim to be one of the very few persons in this city who lived in official life in Panama both during the years when de Lesseps, the great but much misunderstood French engineer, was directing the cutting of the Isthmus and years after when the work of the American engineers was successfully executed and so I venture to say and can attest to the fact that one of the most insurmountable obstacles the French canal company had to contend with was the unhealthfulness of the territory in which the great work was being done. In those terrible days during the eighties, man, with all his intelligence and learning, all his skill, all his courage, was as a frail boat tossed upon the waves of the mighty ocean with but very small chance of reaching in safety the distant shore. From 1 884 to 1 889 I saw men arrive from France full of energy, enthused with the desire to accom- plish even the impossible, impregnated with the national trait of a courage that knows no fear, with a pride of nation and race, having a long tradition of achievements legendary in its character but in effect positive and real, I saw these men, many of them young engineers, doctors, and service men, arrive one day to become stricken on the next and but a few days later to be laid in their resting place. And notwithstanding this most terrible toll I saw each succeeding steamer from France bring in a new con- tingent eager to take up the work where their unfortunate brothers had left off. Of my own colleagues in the con- sular service I accompanied to their resting places about a score. Yellow fever, black-water fever, and every possible tropical disease was rampant and no one knew in those days how to fight against the terrible unknown MEMORIAL SERVICES enemy of mankind. The scourge of the Tropics more than any other cause served to defeat the French in their attempts to construct the canal. And as an eyewitness of these facts, as a chronicler in a way of what happened on the Isthmus in the two epochs and under the two administrations, I wish to testify here to the fact that the failure of France was the incentive that made possible the victory of America. While the conditions existing during the French days were per- mitted there was no human possibility of carrying on the work successfully. Therefore it became imperative to first attend to the proper sanitation of the Isthmus. But even the practical American mind did not grasp all the value of this until the effects of the neglect to properly safeguard the lives of the workers was brought to the attention of the American people by the sudden recru- descence of the tropical scourge, as a result of the influx to the Isthmus of a great number of unacclimated peoples of the white race. It was then that the genius of the man to whose memory we are tendering this tribute of respect and admiration revealed itself. For while his work in Cuba had been noteworthy, it was in Panama that he reached the pinnacle of greatness because of the marvelous man- ner in which he accomplished what had before seemed to be an impossibility. Not only did he eradicate yellow fever and the other scourges of the Tropics, but he actually gave to the forces under him an efficient organization so as to obtain results in the shortest time and make possible the great engineering feat that this country had obligated herself to carry out for the good of the world. I have already given testimony to the manner in which William Crawford Gorgas did his work. May I be permitted to add that it was done with true modesty, as only a man of his temperament could do it ; always giving MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS credit to his collaborators, stimulating and encouraging his subordinates, utilizing brains and energy wherever he found them, and thereby proving himself to be a true leader, a conscientious guide, and wise administrator. This trait of modesty and. his conscientious acknowledg- ment of the worth of others is manifest in the pages of his book, Sanitation in Panama. In it he reveals his true nature, and in doing this he leaves to posterity the hall mark of his undeniable right to be classed among the world's truly great men. Speaking in this book of the discovery of the prop- agation of yellow fever by the stegomyia mosquito he says, with characteristic loyalty : There has been a great deal of discussion as to who deserves the credit for this great discovery. Undoubtedly Reed and his board brought all the threads together and actually made the great discovery, but Finley, Stern- berg, Carter, and others started the spinning of many of these threads. Like all great discoveries everywhere it was gradually led up to by many workers. But if others made the discovery it was Dr. Gorgas who gave it the first practical application in his work as health officer of Habana, and to this Dr. Walter Reed has given public testimony in his correspondence with Dr. Gorgas. Writing from Washington on July 29, 1901, he says: That you have succeeded in throttling the epidemic appears to be beyond question, and it is to your everlasting credit as an energetic health officer who saw his opportunity and grasped it. A man of less discretion, enthu- siasm, and energy would have made a fiasco of it, whereas you, my dear Gorgas, availing yourself of the results of the work at Camp Lazear, have rid that pesthole, Habana, of her yellow plague. All honor to you, my dear boy. To which Gorgas replied later as follows: I think this yellow-fever work will reflect great credit on our corps. Certainly the work of proving the mosquito to be the transmitter of yellow fever is as important a piece of work as has been done since Jenner's time, and as far as the United States is concerned, probably of more importance; and as yours was the guiding hand in the whole matter, I hope that some suitable reward will come to you more substantial than the general pro- MEMORIAL SERVICES fessional recognition which you are now getting from all quarters. I am very happy to shine in the more humble r61e of being the first to put your discovery to extensive practical application. After Cuba and Panama other nations invited Gorgas to give them the assistance of his genius in fighting against endemic diseases, in establishing sanitary conditions, in making whole regions suitable to the white man as he had done in the tropical jungle of Panama. Among these nations my country, Peru, was one, and at the instance of President Leguia, General Gorgas was invited to come there and he was consulted on a general and broad plan of sanitation. He made recommendations and his counsels were followed to the extent that the Government of Peru contracted with American firms for the thorough sanita- tion of 32 principal cities and arranged the enforcement of a regular sanitary and hygienic program, realizing that nothing could be more helpful to the development of the country than the making habitable to the white man all of its extensive territory. It was while in the service of my country that General Gorgas's end came. He was to have returned to Peru after his visit abroad and there to have taken up his residence to carry out his all-important work. President Leguia in his annual message to Congress paid tribute to the memory of General Gorgas and gave expression to the grief of the Peruvian nation. And to-day the President sends me the following cablegram, which he asks me to embody in my tribute to the memory of one who in Peru we learned to love, admire, and re- spect: Please express in my name at the memorial service in honor of General Gorgas the profound sorrow with which I share in the mourning over the death of the man who, during his exemplary life, filled the world with ad- miration for his unparalleled work in favor of humanity. Peru, who had the fortune of securing his services to carry out the sanitation of its principal thirty-two cities, has been moved to the heart by his sad loss and joins me in reverencing the memory of the greatest benefactor the suffering world has ever had. MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS In conclusion, may I say that mine has been a personal acquaintance of the most intimate nature with this great man, that I have known him not only as a worker but in his home, in his everyday life, and I can give testimony to the fact that no more lovable nature, no more sym- pathetic friend, no more true man and perfect gentleman ever graced a high position and shed around him such a light of kindliness and fellow-feeling toward his neighbor as did our departed friend. A noble life well lived, which has enriched the world with deeds and examples well worthy of imitation, was that of William Crawford Gorgas: "Servant of mankind and benefactor of humanity." "To live in the hearts of those we leave behind, is not to die." General HARRIS. In 1898 our Army under Shafter, with the assistance of the Cuban troops, defeated and forced the surrender of the Spanish Army in Cuba, while our Navy, under Dewey, Sampson, and Schley, destroyed the Spanish fleets on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. There remained, however, in Cuba, an enemy more to be dreaded than the Spanish troops, firmly entrenched across the path of progress of the new Republic. How the forces under Major Gorgas met and destroyed this insidious enemy of humanity will be related to you by the dis- tinguished Minister of Cuba. For his work in Cuba Major Gorgas was made a Colonel and Assistant Surgeon General of the Regular Army by a special act of Congress in March, 1903. I have the honor of presenting the Hon. Dr. Carlos Manuel de C6spedes. MEMORIAL SERVICES of Br. Carlo* iHanuel tie Mrs. GORGAS, Mr. CHAIRMAN, YOUR EXCELLENCIES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The Republic of Cuba that I have the honor of representing here to-night is united in history to the world- wide fame of General William Craw- ford Gorgas, and fulfills a duty by taking part in these solemn ceremonies in honor of her great benefactor. It was in Cuba where his brilliant career, so full of notable and useful achievements, reached that high point at which he ceased merely to be a distinguished servant of his own beloved country to become a benefactor of all the human race. General Gorgas, with whom it was my privilege to maintain for many years the best personal friendship, came to us with the glorious legions of the United States of America that with the Cuban Army of Independence struck the last, decisive blow for the freedom of Cuba. While he was performing his great work among us, we had numerous opportunities of admiring the many beau- tiful aspects of his splendid character which his innate modesty and unfailing kindness enhanced to such a super- lative degree. It is very pleasant to remember that one of his most remarkable qualities, so equally shared with him by his good wife, was the enviable power to make sincere friends and to bind them to his life by the irresistible charm of rare virtues. When he bade us farewell, he went forth as a knight- errant, to continue his task of sanitation in many other countries that also are indebted to him, like Cuba, for their liberation from yellow fever made possible by Dr. Finlay's, a Cuban doctor's, theory and the sacrifice, to prove it, of a few young and generous Americans offered up for the welfare of humanity. 24 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS We may say, without any exaggeration whatever, that on his departure he took away with him not only the official recognition of his exalted services, but also the real affection and everlasting gratitude of the entire Cuban people. Though he marched in an army and, therefore, with those whose stern mission it is to destroy human life, and may it always be as then for the triumph of right and justice, his part was to save and guard and multiply the days of his fellow creatures. No more gallant and brave commander than he ever defied and vanquished the foe under the form of pain or plague or suffering. In the highest and noblest sense General Gorgas was a great warrior and a great liberator. Wherever he went his vast general knowledge of men and things, as also his sci- entific skill, always at the bidding of his generous heart, gave aid and hope to the afflicted and alms and Christian comfort to the poor. The consequences of his great life's work in opening up to the sunlight of health and to the blessings of intercourse with the world many erstwhile infected, though rich and beautiful, regions, can never be overestimated nor for- gotten. Gorgas honored the United States of America; but his fame and his work now belong to the world, and his living soul may well look down upon them with serene contentment. His untimely death called forth the deepest manifestations of universal sorrow. Assuming to express, in part, my country's debt of gratitude to General Gorgas in this modest manner, once again I shall say to-night that his memory is dearly cher- ished by the Cuban people and his name revered even as those of our own great national heroes and liberators. Blessed be that name for all time, for General Gorgas was in truth a most noble and glorious emancipator. 2 5 MEMORIAL SERVICES General HARRIS. Colonel Gorgas's achievements in com- bating yellow fever in Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone attracted the attention and won the admiration of the civilized world, placing him foremost in the ranks of leading sanitarians. In 1913 he received an invitation from the Ecuadorian Government to visit Guayaquil, for the purpose of inves- tigating health conditions, submitting plans, and making recommendations for improvements. After having ob- tained the authority of the Congress of the United States to do so, he accepted the invitation and spent about two months in Guayaquil studying the situation. He sub- mitted his plans and recommendations, which were adopted, and as a result of the work that was done imme- diately afterwards, and the anti-yellow fever campaign in 1919 conducted under his personal supervision, Guaya- quil to-day is free of yellow fever and has a death rate comparable to that of other cities of South America. The distinguished Minister of Ecuador has kindly con- sented to describe the work of Colonel Gorgas in the great seaport and metropolis of that Republic. I have the honor of introducing to you the Hon. Senor Dr. Don Rafael H. Elizalde. 3bbre* of )r. Rafael ft) Minister of Ecuador Mr. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The Southern Society of Washington has honored me with a place on this program and has requested me to add a few words to the many eloquent tributes already pronounced in homage of the great human benefactor in whose memory we are gathered here to-night. I first met Major General William Crawford Gorgas in Chile, at the First Pan American Scientific Congress, in 1908. He had visited Ecuador before that date, and was 36 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS interested in conditions there. When we met the next time I was Minister of Foreign Relations in my country and General Gorgas arrived as the head of an expedition sent by the Rockefeller Foundation to survey the ground in order to formulate a plan of action for eradicating yellow fever from our beautiful seaport, Guayaquil. This was about the middle of 1916. It is a well-known matter of history how he sketched out the plan and mapped out the campaign which was carried into effect in 1918-19 under the joint direction of his disciple, Dr. M. E. Connor, and Dr. Becerra, of Ecuador's Public Health Department. In some four months after the work began actively the ancient scourge, which had held Guayaquil captive for several centuries and made her name a terror to travelers and commerce, had been exterminated, and now, since May, 1919, this city is as safe for human life as any on the American Continent. I shall not attempt to adequately state the magnitude of the debt which Ecuador owes to the scientific achieve- ments of General Gorgas, under the beneficent Rockefeller Foundation. Words would fail to tell the story. But if General Gorgas had never accomplished any other work besides that, he would have merited the grateful tribute of the world as having brought about a wonderful humani- tarian relief. Our Government has voiced its recognition of all this in official manner and the record is inscribed in the annals of our nation. But standing here to-night, as I recall the success of the work done by General Gorgas, I can not think of the celebrated hero of science or the famous military figure who won the plaudits of the world. For the true secret of it all is borne in on me, and I can think only of William Cra*wford Gorgas the man. That quiet, sympathetic, noble gentleman, whose sincerity and crystal honesty MEMORIAL SERVICES inspired admiration in all who met him. He came among us with outstretched hand and purity of purpose, winning our hearts. We are proud to owe a great national debt to him. And so I bring no massive crown of laurel to deck the hero's tomb. Many others can do that. From the Republic of Ecuador, where his work lives after him, I bring a simple wreath of blue forget-me-nots to place around the name of the friend we love, knowing that " we shall not look upon the like again," William Crawford Gorgas. General HARRIS. His father having been graduated with distinction from the United States Military Academy and having served with credit as an officer of the Regular Army for twenty years, it was natural for young Dr. Gorgas to select the Army as his life profession. He entered the Army as a Lieutenant and had attained the grade of Major General and Surgeon General of the Army, the highest position in his Department, before reaching the statutory age for retirement. We are fortunate in having with us the head of our Military Establishment, the Secretary of War, to relate the military career of General Gorgas. It is with great pleasure that I present the Hon. Newton D. Baker. 3tobre*0 of ?&on. Jletoton B. JBafeer Secretary of War Two sons of ^Ssculapius were renowned alike as soldiers and surgeons. Throughout the ages which have inter- vened military medicine has struggled for recognition, reaching its great triumphs only in modern times and under modern conditions. 8 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS Both the art of war and the science of medicine have changed the art of war by the substitution of long-range weapons for hand-to-hand conflict, thus affording an op- portunity for surgical relief to the wounded which was not present on a field of battle where of each two com- batants one not only wounded but slew the other. The science of medicine has changed from an empirical appli- cation of simples and herbs to a great and systematic science with prevention as its motto and a body of knowl- edge about the human body and the possibilities of sur- gical and medical relief undreamed of even in the early years of men now living. In the history of war deaths from disease have always greatly outnumbered the casual- ties of battle, and as armies in close contact moved swiftly in pursuit or in flight care for the wounded was too great a handicap; they were left to shift for themselves with such chance ministrations as the compassion of civilians might supply when their companions had passed on with- out them. No really effective system for the evacuation of wounded from the battle field antedates that of our own Colonel Letterman in the Civil War, while really ade- quate field and hospital service to marching and fighting armies can not be said to have been fully installed until the World War. There is not time, however tempting the subject, to illustrate these statements, but those who have read Tolstoi's War and Peace and remember the condition of the sick and wounded after the battle of Borodino, or who remember Florence Nightingale's description of the hospitals at Sebastopol, and at the same time are even casually familiar with the amazing triumphs of the medi- cal profession in the American Army in France, will need no further evidence of the fact that both in war and in medicine we are the children of a new age, and that, ter- rible as has been the increase in the effectiveness of the 29 MEMORIAL SERVICES lethal instruments of war, a more than corresponding compensation has been effected by the medical profession in the protective agencies whereby they have stamped out plague and contagion and in the curative procedures which they have devised to relieve and restore the stricken soldier. The conditions under which armies live present a pe- culiarly favorable environment both for the development and spread of disease and for its prevention. They are made up of large numbers of men in close contact, under- going exposure to the elements and often debilitated by severe exertion. On the other hand, they are for the most part men in the prime of life with resistance to dis- ease at its best, and living a disciplined life which brings them under the observation and, if necessary, the control of medical officers who can enforce measures necessary for their protection. It is not singular, therefore, that as both the military and medical arts developed and generated an atmosphere congenial to research and discovery great ad- vances should be made in the sum of human knowledge available for the relief not only of the Army but of mankind everywhere as well. It was into this period of the development of military medicine that William Crawford Gorgas was born, and it was singularly fortunate that his scientific tastes and education were superimposed upon a character which was by birth and instinct that of a soldier. His father was an officer of distinction in the Confederate Army; he was, as it were, born under the sound of the bugle; his youth and young manhood were spent among the veterans of a great war in a country devastated by the wastes of war. He told me in France, in 1918, that throughout his whole life he had been fascinated and thrilled by mili- tary things, and that his favorite reading was of the ex- ploits of great military men. He was able, therefore, 30 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS always to understand the soldier and adapt himself to the disciplinary coordinations which Army life entails and which, otherwise, might have made impatient and less fruitful his genius as a man of science and research. General Gorgas entered the Army on the isth day of June, 1880. He passed through the various subordinate grades until the i6th of January, 1914, when he became Surgeon General with the rank of Brigadier General, which was increased to Major General by the provision of the Act of March 4, 1915. He retired from active service on the 3d of October, 1918, but was recalled and remained in active service until the ist of December, 1918. In September, 1918, he accompanied me on a visit to our Army in France, and on his sixty-fourth birthday was actually under shell fire at the front with the American Army, to the interests of which he had devoted practi- cally his entire professional life and upon which and through which he had conferred services of inestimable value. In 1898, during the American Occupation of Cuba, Major Gorgas was sent to Habana in charge of the sani- tation of that city. For more than a century the island had been scourged by yellow fever, which broke out in frequent, violent, and deadly epidemics, and which never really wholly abated. This plague at that time affected the whole archipelago and littoral of the Caribbean Sea, and every now and then crept north into the United States with dreadful mortality, as in 1878, when I my- self remember its ravages as far north as Memphis. At about the time General Gorgas went to Cuba, the sug- gestion originating with Dr. Carlos Finlay that yellow fever was carried by mosquitoes had been taken up for serious investigation, and the heroic demonstration made, which cost the life of Lazear and placed his name, with that of Walter Reed and Carroll, high on the scroll of 37023 21 3 3 1 MEMORIAL SERVICES those who have offered their lives for their fellow men. The response which General Gorgas made to this dis- covery seems so simple to us that its daring is not easy to realize. Instead of protecting persons against mos- quitoes, he at once started out to exterminate the pest, perfecting methods and procedures to such an extent that in 1904 he was sent to the Canal Zone to protect those undertaking the construction of the Canal. Pos- session of the Zone was taken in May, 1904. The last case of yellow fever there occurred in December, 1905. Thus in sixteen months yellow fever was eradicated from the swamps and jungles of the Isthmus; the native population freed from its decimating attacks ; the workers of the Canal Zone protected; and the actual building of the Canal made possible. As one looks at the Panama Canal now, and sees the ships of the world steaming in stately procession through the continental divide, making in eight hours a journey which saves the rounding of the Horn in forty-eight days, he both marvels at and rejoices in the superb industrial triumph with which the genius of man has imposed this economy upon the pro- visions of nature. The great engineers who carried this work to a successful conclusion will doubtless be honored as long as the memory of man retains the names of the great constructing geniuses of the race, and with them surely will be recalled the name of the great doctor who made the building possible and saved its construction from being marred by having along its banks the graves of tens of thousands of victims to the pestilence of the jungle, which for ages had imposed the sentence of death upon those who sought to join the two oceans. These triumphs of course made General Gorgas a marked man in the scientific world. He was called upon by learned societies, and even by nations, to supervise their efforts to eradicate yellow fever. In 1918, as he MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS and I were crossing the ocean, he described to me one day, with an impersonal enthusiasm which delighted in the result and seemed to forget his own great part in its accomplishment, that there were only two or three remaining places in the world where the yellow-fever germ still lived, that he was in process of extinguishing it in those places, and that when he had succeeded, this dread destroyer, which had levied tolls of millions of human lives, would be extinct and would be unknown except as works of medical history described the viru- lence with which it used to rage. After the cessation of hostilities, in association with the Rockefeller Founda- tion General Gorgas went to South America in the interest of his plan for the complete extinction of yellow fever. In 1913 General Gorgas went to South Africa at the request of the British Government to supervise the sani- tation of the diamond mines and to protect the Kaffir employees in those great industrial properties. In 1920, again with the cooperation of the British Government, he started on a visit to the west coast of Africa, but died in London on the way. I have not the technical knowledge which would be needed to describe the ingenuity or even the success of the activity of this great physician. I had the high privilege of daily association with him from 1916 through 1918; I saw him summon the men of mark in the medical profession and organize them into a great agency to min- ister to young America, which we were then collecting into training camps and sending overseas to fight our battles. With him, I had the high privilege of visiting the installations on the other side and noting not only the adequate material provision for the sick and wounded soldiers, but the eminent professional skill and the tender- ness with which the sick soldiers were surrounded. He remained to the last hospitable to new ideas and patient 33 MEMORIAL SERVICES of suggestions from inexpert persons, always willing to weigh a new idea, and as little trammeled by precon- ceived ideas or traditions as any man I have ever known. Those who are to speak of General Gorgas in a personal way will doubtless describe his genial and gracious man- ners, his courtesy and considerate treatment of all with whom he came in contact. I prefer to dwell upon the youthf ulness of his spirit. If indeed, as was the fact, he was born in one age and lived into another, he became the adopted child of the younger age and was as elastic as any youth in it, both in his appreciation of the things that were new and practical and his acceptance of the better for the things with which he had once been ac- customed. It was appropriate that he should die on foreign soil, for he had become a citizen of the world. It is appropriate that his remains shall lie here, for this was his country; and in all this country there is not a fitter place to set up his final tent than Arlington, once the home of the com- mander under whom his father fought, now the West- minster Abbey of America's heroic military dead, over- looking the Capital of the Nation which he served. I like to think that his death was as he would have wished it to be on the battle field; not, it is true, in a shell-torn no man's land, but pressing fonvard with his face to the front, seeking still to pursue and conquer the enemies of human happiness and health ; retired, but not resting; full of years, but still full of energy; almost unaware of the laurels he had won, in his eager impatience to render further service to his fellow men. Physician and Soldier he fought a good fight and won the only kind of victory that counts; he added years to the length of human life; he freed countless multitudes from sickness and premature death; he served his generation and won a place in the lasting memory of all mankind; and withal, he was a modest gentleman this Physician, this Soldier. 34 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS General HARRIS. It has been truly said that the open- ing of the Panama Canal has doubled the effective strength of our Navy by making it possible for the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to concentrate on either ocean. Colonel Gorgas's work in Panama made possible the completion of the Panama Canal. The Navy is represented this evening by the distin- guished Secretary of the Navy, whom I now have the pleasure of introducing to you, the Hon. Josephus Daniels. Extract from Sfofcrcss of &on. fosepfjus' Daniel* Secretary of the Navy The battles of physicians are won in the quiet sick chamber against disease and death. For them no martial music, no glamor, no glory of battle, no inspiration of the elbow-to-elbow touch of comrade, no public applause, no national honor, no monument, no memorial. And yet in the hearts of all children and all women and many men there is erected a heart altar where gratitude and affection minister. The visitor to Washington is attracted by many monu- ments and statues to men who won glory in war, a few to distinguished statesmen, and fewer to scientists and scholars. But, great as is our debt to the medical pro- fession, the American people through their Congress have provided no bronze figure, no memorial of the skilled surgeon in our National Capital. A ride through the miles of streets and avenues and parks and visits to Capitol and galleries will show the figure of only three men of this noblest of professions Dr. John Gome, in Statuary Hall, erected by the State of Florida; Dr. Samuel D. Gross, in Smithsonian Grounds, erected by American phy- sicians and surgeons; and Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, at Scott Circle, erected by the American Institute of Home- 35 MEMORIAL SERVICES opathy. It remains for Congress, the representatives of the American people, to give suitable honor to a surgeon of world repute, the same honor given to general and admiral and President. An isthmian canal was the dream of centuries. Its construction awaited a medical triumph where engineering skill had failed. We can not honor Gen. Goethals and the other able engineers too highly. But the world recognizes the truth that if De Lesseps had been preceded by a Gorgas the canal might have been dug by France instead of America. Important as engineering skill and modern machinery were in this enterprise, the genius and skill of Gorgas were essential to drive out the disease which had made all previous workers its victims. We have in Washington the Walter Reed Hospital, a living memorial of an eminent surgeon who defeated the scourge of yellow fever. Our next privilege and high duty is for all the people, through Congress, to erect a monument or memorial in commemoration of the victory of Dr. Gorgas over the enemies of man in Panama and all other tropical countries. He was indeed the forerunner of canal builders. He was more than that; he was the preserver of life and the pioneer in preventive medicine which will save millions unborn. There are two notable tombs in Paris one of Napoleon, one of Pasteur. The one is seen by all visitors, royally placed and lighted as seems to become a conqueror who rides to fame on the chariot of death. The other must be looked for in a by street, simple and dignified and modest as becomes the scientist who made impotent the jaws of destruction. On the same day I visited both tombs, and my solemn reflection was that one day France would give first place to Pasteur and second place to Napoleon. When the world thinks more of the genius of science which saves life than the military genius who 36 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS regards humans as pawns in his dream of imperialism when that hour comes, Pasteur and Gorgas and their fellow preservers of health and life will tower above all who gained fame by the sword. A monument to Gorgas in the National Capital will lead the way to national appreciation of science and medicine. General HARRIS. It was not engineering difficulties that ultimately baffled the indomitable De Lesseps and his coworkers from France in the early efforts to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The French found the Isthmus a veritable death trap, and during the nine years of then* occupancy they lost 22,819 laborers from disease, with the result that Panama came to be known as "The White Man's Grave." After his success in Cuba, our country turned naturally to Colonel Gorgas to blaze the way for our engineers and laborers when we undertook the completion of that canal in 1907. He was made a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission and as such remained in charge of the sani- tation of the Canal Zone until the winter of 1913, when he was called to other fields. The honorable Charge" d'Affaires ad interim of Panama has kindly consented to tell us something of Colonel Gorgas's work on the Isthmus. It affords me great pleasure to present the Hon. Senor Don T. E. Lefevre. * m \ gfobresg of g>eitor Bon 3f. C. Hefebre Charge D'Affaires of the Republic of Panama LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : It will be a difficult task for me to pay an adequate public tribute to the memory of my beloved friend, the illustrious scientist, the great American, the perfect gentleman, whom we are honoring here to-night. 37 MEMORIAL SERVICES His famous and unblemished name is forever linked with that of my country, which considers itself under so great an obligation to him, that his death was declared a national loss; so that during the three days of official mourning the emblem of our small nation floated at half- mast from the top of every public building throughout the whole Republic, showing thus the sincere grief of a grateful people for the loss of its noble benefactor. Were his remains not buried at Arlington, I can affirm that, with the exception of his native land, Panama would never have waived its legitimate claim to that sacred guardianship, feeling sure that he could not rest among better friends than he would right there in the Isthmus, where he could be so near to the Panama Canal that wonderful achievement of American genius and enter- prise, made possible by the conquest of yellow fever by William Crawford Gorgas, a nobler man than whom never was. I mentioned before three days of official mourning declared by my Government on the sad occasion of the untimely death of General Gorgas. I used the word official, referring to the specific time of three de,ys, to emphasize that the real national mourning, the one within our souls, has never ended. We of the present generation can not and will not forget him. I speak for the President of our Republic, Dr. Porras, and for myself when I assure you that although we are earnestly endeavoring to further honor the memory of our illustrious friend by the establishment of the Gorgas Tropical Institute for Research at Panama, we are doing it as a national tribute, as a fitting monument complimen- tary of his wonderful work in the Tropics, as an oppor- tunity to all Americans and to Humanity to erect a temple to science and a shrine to the great sanitarian right in the center of the field of his victories in the realms of peace, 38 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS for his triumphs were not in the cause of war. He fought malaria and yellow fever instead of men ; he saved count- less human lives instead of destroying a single one. We intend to create that memorial to remind the future generations of the brilliant General who never knew what it was to retreat; who did not subdue nations but won their hearts; who was a conqueror, although he did not conquer peoples but disease; and whose character was so sterling and so pure that it was pictured in his noble face, full of personal charm as well as radiant with the intelligence of his genius. We do not need such a memo- rial to remind us of the work he did for civilization and for the world, which he made better by the mere fact that he lived. Deep in our hearts -we have in Panama, each one of us, the sweet memories that he left therein through many years' association; through his unlimited kindness; through his unbounded gentleness; through his brilliant mind; and through the greatness of his noble soul which, it seems to us, is still floating over the Isthmus as a Guardian Angel to the Panama Canal and to the Republic of Panama. General HARRIS. Upon his return to London in March, 1914, after serving the British people in South Africa, General (then Colonel) Gorgas was entertained by the medical profession of Great Britain at a banquet at Hotel Cecil. It has been stated that this was the most notable gathering of British professional men ever assembled on such an occasion. On his way to West Africa in 1920, to serve again the British people, His Majesty the King of England ap- pointed a day on which to invest General Gorgas with the Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. The General having been stricken and un- able to present himself at Buckingham Palace on the 39 MEMORIAL SERVICES date set, it was suggested that a later date be designated to which His Majesty replied: " If General Gorgas can not come to me I will go to him." Accordingly, the King went to the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital at Mill- bank, and there invested General Gorgas with the honor- ary order of knighthood. His Majesty talked for some time with the General, and thereafter took personal interest in his condition, receiving daily reports and send- ing messages of cheer. After his death on July 4 the Royal Society of Medicine made plans for the funeral services at St. Paul's on July 9. The King, however, ordered a State funeral with the Life Guards as escort. The remains of no other American have ever been so signally honored by the British Government as were those of General Gorgas. The services were the first ever held in St. Paul for an American, or, so far as I am aware, for any other non-British subject. Great Britain's tribute this evening will be delivered by the distinguished Military Attach^ to her Embassy in Washington. I have the honor to present to you Major General H. K. Bethell. Stress of fflajor General ft. &. Military Attacht of the British Embassy Mrs. Gorgas, I have to express to you the ambassa- dor's profound regret that he was unavoidably prevented from being present with you here this evening. Your Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, the finished orators that have preceded me have left but little, if anything, to say. This evening we honor the memory of a man whose work, whose fame are destined to be remembered and to grow with the years. His is the glory of the saver, not of the destroyer. As a scientist adding to human knowledge, as an administrator making knowl- 40 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS edge serve mankind, he stands apart unrivaled and un- approached. As a man, his was the engaging simplicity of the truly great. It was my fortune to know him, and to have known him I count one of my privileges. I saw him in Panama, and there I realized that Panama was his memorial and his monument. There he had achieved what no other man in any other place had had the high courage and constructive imagination to do. There is a glory and a fame of high service on beaten paths; there is a greater glory and a greater fame of high service where no path has been made and no trail blazed. This is the glory and fame of General Gorgas. But his services were not limited to a nation. They were given to mankind. To us who are British they were of peculiar value, for we have many tropical possessions which present diffi- culties of health maintenance not dissimilar to those he faced and conquered in Panama. It was a sad privilege, but one that His Majesty the King was proud to seize when on the occasion of General Gorgas's death he was enabled first to honor his memory by arranging to attend in the old cathedral of St. Paul's a service such as he would have accorded to a victorious British general. Again, on this occasion, in the capital of his own country, it is a privilege to me, a Briton, to testify to the high esteem and admiration in which we hold the life work and the memory of General Gorgas as scientist and man. General HARRIS. Another of our Allies decorating Gen- eral Gorgas is His Majesty the King of Italy, who made him a grand officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy in recognition of his distinguished services in behalf of mili- tary sanitation. 41 MEMORIAL SERVICES His Majesty has sent a personal tribute which will be read to you by the distinguished Military Attach^ to the Italian Embassy in Washington. I have the honor of presenting to you Colonel Marquis Vittorio Asinari di Bernezzo. {Tribute of &i* JOajetftp tfje lUng of IJtalp Against the miseries caused by the Great War, there stands out as a shining light the noble task undertaken by those who, sparing themselves no trouble, devoted every effort to alleviate the sufferings of humanity. Amongst them General Gorgas occupied a leading place, and whilst the slaughter was going on countless precious lives were saved by his endeavors. I consider it a great privilege and honor to be called upon to pay a tribute of recognition to his memory on behalf of my King and of my countrymen. General HARRIS. While all civilized nations of the world have been benefited either directly or indirectly by the work of General Gorgas, the United States and Latin America are his principal beneficiaries. It is thus peculiarly appropriate that these memorial services should be held in this beautiful classic Hall of the Americas. It is also fitting that our host, the distinguished Director General of the Pan American Union, should deliver the tributes of all the Americas to the memory of General Gorgas. It gives me great pleasure to present the Hon. Dr. L. S. Rowe. 4* MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS Abstract of gbbre** of )on. U. >. &otoe Director General of the Pan American Union It is most fitting that this international organization, representing the free nations of America, should to-night bring its tribute to the memory of a great servant of humanity, and it is no less appropriate that these solemn services should be held in the building which typifies the idea of international service. General Gorgas was, in the highest sense, a typical American. I use the word American in its broadest continental connotation, for, if the test of citizenship is service to the community, General Gorgas deserves to be regarded as a citizen of the American Continent. His readiness to respond to any call to serve humanity sets a standard which should serve as the keynote of American policy. The spirit of mutual helpfulness, for which he labored throughout his great career, is to-day the guiding principle of the Re- publics of this continent. gfcbrcss anb Pcncbtction tfje &eberenb IWocrt Cbang 2@rotoning Of Stajff of Associate Clergy of the Church of the Epiphany, of which General Gorgas was a member Will you pardon me if I ask our honored chairman for the privilege of saying but a word? I came here, in response to the request of the committee, simply to pro- nounce the benediction. But when I heard, as we all have, such inspiring tributes to the memory of this great and good man, eulogies than which I have never heard any more eloquent or more richly deserved, I feel called upon to say that without which this memorable occasion would be incomplete. We have seen take shape in these noble tributes, stone upon stone, a beautiful arch, symbol- 43 MEMORIAL SERVICES izing the life and works of General Gorgas. Sitting in the presence, as it were, of the League of Nations, we have listened to the tributes of men, but shall we not also hear God speak ? He alone can complete that arch by placing therein the keystone, completing the whole. As we listen in the stillness, we fancy we can hear the divine approbation: "Well done, good and faithful soldier and servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. " Great as General Gorgas was in all the ways in wihch men have eloquently portrayed him here to-night, still I feel that he was still greater as a man and a Christian. It is as such that I would speak of him a man of God, who believed in and followed his Christ. He lived near to the church he loved, and before passing on to higher service, there was placed to his lips by a British chaplain the bread of life. This his widow will, I am sure, treasure in her heart, for out of her heart she revealed it to me as the most precious memory of her honored and distinguished husband. Rev. Dr. McKim, to whom General Gorgas was bound by warm and affectionate ties as a friend and pastor, said of him: I regard General Gorgas as America's most distinguished citizen. Jesus said : " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. " It was of men of the character of William Crawford Gorgas that the Master spoke. He gave himself unselfishly, with love and zeal, to the cause of mankind. As the world's greatest physician, he laid down his life for humanity, that through all the ages humanity might be the legatee, the beneficiary, of his character and work. Jicncbtctton Grant, O God, that the memory of this sacred hour may be grafted inwardly in our hearts and bring forth in us the fruit of good living; and may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rest upon us and fill us with all spiritual benediction and grace, that we may so live in this life in faith, hope, and love that in the world to come we may have life everlasting. 44 letter* anb Cablegram* U. S. S. "FLORIDA," Pernambuco, January 14, 1921. SECRETARY OF STATE, Washington, D. C. One can not contemplate the career of General Gorgas without a sense of enrichment. The beneficence of his labors reached the confines of the world. His field was humanity. Not this generation alone, but the countless generations of posterity will call his name. blessed. He enriched science. He enriched life. He made his country proud. COLBY. [Translation] QUITO, ECUADOR, January 75, MINISTER OF ECUADOR, Washington. Please express to Southern Society, in the name of the President of the Republic, adherence of the Govern- ment to the honors being paid in the Memorial Service to the eminent General Gorgas, whose sanitary work in this country made the Ecuadorean Government and people his grateful debtors forever. MINISTER OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. 45 MEMORIAL SERVICES LEGATION OP COLOMBIA, Washington, January 10, 1921. Dr. CLARENCE J. OWENS, Vice Chairman, The Southern Society of Washington City. DEAR SIR: Having transmitted to my Government, as I intimated to you, the notice of the homage in memory of the late General William Crawford Gorgas, proposed by your Society to be held on the i6th of this month, I have duly received from my Government the following cable, which I have the pleasure to quote, translated into Eng- lish, as follows: In the name of the Government and on the occasion of the ceremony which will be dedicated to the memory of General Gorgas, please express the gratitude of Colombia for the great work which General Gorgas rendered in the service of these countries. I have the honor to remain, Yours, very sincerely, C. A. URUETA. LEGATION OF HONDURAS, Tegucigalpa, January /j (-via New Orleans, La., 15). R. CAMILO DIAZ, Charge d' Affaires of Honduras, Washington, D. C. Please convey to the Committee of the Southern Society of Washington my feelings of sympathy on the occasion of the memorial service in honor of the late Major General William Crawford Gorgas, that great benefactor of hu- manity, who devoted so much of his life and of his talents to the betterment of the peoples of Central and South America. RAFAEL LOPEZ GUTIERREZ, President of Honduras. 4 6 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS [Copy of cablegram] MONTEVIDEO, January 8 t PAN AMERICAN UNION, Washington. La iniciativa de la Sociedad del Sur al decidir la con memoraci6n del Cirujano General Gorgas implica realizar un acto alentador de reconocimiento justiciero al que adhiero sin reservas. BALTASAR BRUM, Presidente de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay. B B [Free translation] LEGATION OF COSTA RICA, Washington, January 8, 1921. MY DEAR SIR: I have the honor to state that I have received a cablegram from my Government, in which it particularly charges me, on the occasion of the sacred services to be held on the i6th of this month in memory of Surgeon General William Crawford Gorgas, to convey to your Society the profound gratitude which obtains in the Republic of Costa Rica for the great services rendered to the cause of humanity by that eminent citizen, whose memory it is fitting to perpetuate, in order that his beneficent acts may serve as an example and be conserved in the memory of grateful peoples. On communicating to you the foregoing, I have the honor to reiterate to you the assurances of my distin- guished consideration. OCTAVIO BEECHE, Minister of Costa Rica. Dr. CLARENCE J. OWENS, Vice President of the Southern Society of Washington. 47 MEMORIAL SERVICES [Cablegram Free translation] GUATEMALA, January 16, 1921. PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN SOCIETY, Pan American Building, Washington, D. C. The Government and the people of Guatemala esteem it a just duty to join in the ceremonies in honor of General Gorgas. It is. a great honor for me to make known the gratitude of this country toward the eminent man of science and action who always used his great knowledge in favor of suffering humanity, and whom Guatemala will always gratefully remember for his beneficent labors in favor of its public health. I beg your Society to note that the memory of General Gorgas is guarded with imperishable love in this Republic. It gives me great pleasure to present to your Society the assurances of my high esteem. R. HERRERA, President of the Republic. MANAGUA, NICARAGUA, January 14, 1921. Dr. ALEJANDRO CESAR, Minister de Nicaragua, Washington, D. C. On the occasion of the Memorial Service in honor of Major General Gorgas you will please express the deep admiration which the people of Nicaragua feel for the eminent services performed by this great lover of humanity and at the same time to express the appreciation of the Government of Nicaragua as well as my personal tribute to his splendid Pan American achievements. DIEGO M. CHAMORRO, President of Nicaragua. MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS [Free translation] PANAMA, January 16, 1921. PANALEGA, Washington. I beg you to convey to the members of the Pan American Union my full and earnest cooperation in the celebration in honor of the memory of General Gorgas. The work of the Canal, considered as a new marvel of modern times, was made possible by the disciplinary and energetic efforts, and the firmness and uprightness of General Goethals. But the accomplishment of such a great monument of wonderful engineering would not have been possible if the Canal Zone and the cities of Panama and Colon had not been sanitated, and this was rendered possible because of the vast personal experience which General Gorgas acquired in Cuba. Thanks to General Gorgas the swampy lands and islands were made habitable and permitted men of science and workmen to begin and complete the great undertaking. I shall always retain happy recollections and genuine veneration for Dr. Gorgas, who was full of energy, firmness, goodness, and exquisite accomplishments. In acknowledgment of his noble character and his meritorious work on Isthmian soil, Panama has begun, under my Government, the establishment of an Institute of Tropical Medicine which will be called "Gorgas Institute," and which we hope to carry to successful conclusion with the aid of men of science and American philanthropists which I hope to obtain, because I know the veneration of Americans for their great men. BEUSARIO PORRAS, President of Panama. 49 MEMORIAL SERVICES [Translated] BLANCHET, Legation d'Haiti, Washington, D. C. The Government of the Republic is happy to be asso- ciated in paying homage to the memory of Major General Gorgas. By their general character and their practical utility, the scientific works of this great citizen of the United States have placed him in the highest rank of the bene- factors of humanity. His name will merit all respect and universal admiration. Honor and glory to Major General Gorgas. DARTIGUENAVE, President of Haiti. m m BRAZILIAN EMBASSY, Washington, January n, 1921. MY DEAR SIR. It gives me much pleasure to accept your invitation for Sunday evening, January 16, and to join with you in the solemn service in commemoration of General Gorgas. His place in history is unique. It does not often happen that a soldier is distinguished for the saving of life rather than for its destruction, or that his conquests consist in the mastery of natural forces which are hostile to mankind. Such a man places the whole world in his debt. No country has greater reason than Brazil to be gratified for the achievements of General Gorgas. Lying in the Tropics, as much of it does, my country is obliged to combat all those diseases which are peculiar to equatorial regions, and every advance made by General Gorgas in his war upon them contributed to the wealth and prosperity of Brazil. It was the opinion of Humboldt that the valley of the Amazon will sometime become the seat of a great civilization. By showing how the diseases which infect the Tropics can be overcome and the riches of such regions can be made available for the service of mankind, General Gorgas did much to hasten 50 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS the fulfillment of Humboldt's prophecy. Brazil gladly acknowledges the debt which she owes to him, and I shall be gratified to join with you in doing homage to a life of such beneficence and distinction. Sincerely, yours, A. DE ALENCAR, Brazilian Ambassador. Dr. CLARENCE J. OWENS, The Southern Society of Washington, uoo Vermont Avenue, Washington, D. C. THE HIGHLANDS, Washington, D. C. Mr. WILLIAM H. SAUNDERS, President Southern Society of Washington, Washington, D.C. MY DEAR MR. SAUNDERS: I am so very glad to have your letter in which you speak so feelingly of Dr. Gorgas, and pay him such wonderful tribute. It was my inten- tion to write you to-day and try to express something of the gratitude that I feel to you and the members of the Southern Society for the very beautiful and impressive memorial service in honor of Dr. Gorgas. Nothing could have been more beautifully carried out, and the whole service from beginning to end was most dignified and inspiring. I am filled with pride. Such splendid tributes and the great affection and esteem manifested on all sides for Dr. Gorgas do much to console me in my great desolation. Accept my profound thanks, and kindly express to the members of the Southern Society my very keen apprecia- tion of the beautiful memorial service. Your letter will always be treasured. Very sincerely, yours, MARIE D. GORGAS. JANUARY 20, 1921. 51 Ceremonies; At the presentation of tf)e Portrait of tije Hate frlaior General OTiUtam Cratoforb TO THE LIBRARY OF THE SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE WAR DEPARTMENT, MARCH 3, 1921 In the Library of the Surgeon General's Office of the War Department a painting of the late Major General William Crawford Gorgas was presented to the War Department by the Southern Society of Washington, the ceremonies participated in by representatives of the diplo- matic corps, the officers and committees of the Southern Society, and by the officers and delegates attending the Twelfth Annual Convention of the Southern Commercial Congress. The ceremonies were under the direction of a committee under the chairmanship of Major General Peter C. Harris, The Adjutant General of the United States Army. His associates on the committee were Dr. Clar- ence J. Owens, vice chairman; Hon. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy; Mr. Claude N. Bennett and Mr. Clarence C. Calhoun, past presidents of the society. Mr. William H. Saunders, president of the Southern Society of Washington, presided. The painting was pre- sented on behalf of the committee and society by Dr. Clarence J. Owens, past president. Upon the request of Major General Harris, chairman of the committee, the painting was unveiled by Miss Edna B. Saunders, daughter of President Saunders, and Miss Marie Louise Owens, daughter of Past President Owens. S3 PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT Stress of fflr. Mlltam %). gaunter* President of the Southern Society of Washington The Southern Society of Washington has again the distinguished honor of showing its reverence for the memory of its valued friend and member, General William Crawford Gorgas, by presenting his portrait to the Sur- geon General's Office of the War Department. As we look around this room and see the likenesses of many distinguished men who have served their country, and serving it well, they not only served their country but all mankind, we recognize their influence as they look down to us from the generations that are past, for they still "rule our spirits from their urns." If there is any one who more than another deserves the tribute of his fellow men, it is he who has warred against invisible forces that are more deadly than all the destruc- tive contrivances of man. When pestilence, ghostlike, walks abroad, then does the King of Terrors reign supreme. In the language of Sargent S. Prentiss (and no one so fully realizes it as the soldier), " In the battle, in the full- ness of his pride and strength, little recks the soldier whether the hissing bullet sings his sudden requiem, or the chords of life are severed by the sharp steel " ; and may I add to this, that the man who struggles against fatal disease wrestles with an enemy that recognizes no armi- stice, accepts no surrender, and gives no quarter. It is against this subtle, silent enemy of mankind that General William Crawford Gorgas fought, and where before there was unequal and unsuccessful warfare, he drew courage from despair and victory for mankind. A committee of the Southern Society, under the chair- manship of The Adjutant General, Peter C. Harris, has selected Dr. Clarence J. Owens, a former president of the Southern Society of Washington, to make the presentation to the department. I call upon Dr. Owens. 54 MAJOR GENERAL GURGAS of 29r. Clarence 3T. President of the Southern Society of Washington No words nor eloquence can add to the name and fame of William Crawford Gorgas. His greatest monument is in the emotions, enshrined literally in millions of hearts in both hemispheres and around the seven seas. An Alabamian by birth, he became a citizen of the world by the grace of God. The Southern Society planned a threefold tribute to honor the name of Gorgas. The first was carried out on the evening of January 16 when a memorial ceremony was conducted in the Hall of the Americas of the Pan American Union Building. The addresses on that occa- sion were delivered by Mr. William H. Saunders, presi- dent of the Southern Society; Major General Peter C. Harris, chairman of the memorial committee; Clarence J. Owens, past president of the Southern Society; Mr. J. J. Jusserand, ambassador of France; Sefior Don Federico A. Pezet, ambassador of Peru; Dr. Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, minister of Cuba; Sefior Dr. Don Rafael H. Elizalde, minister of Ecuador; Hon. Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War; Hon. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy; Sefior Don J. E. Lefevre, charge" d'affaires of Panama; Major General H. K. Bethell, representing the ambassador of Great Britain; Colonel Marquis Vittorio Asineri di Bernezzo, military attache of Italy; Dr. L. S. Rowe, Director General of the Pan American Union. Messages were read from the chief magistrates of many countries of the world in tribute to the achievements of General Gorgas and the benefits of his life work that had gone beyond the limits of his own land. The addresses and messages have been ordered printed by the Senate of the United States by unanimous consent and this memorial volume will be placed in libraries throughout 55 PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT the United States and will be available for a wide dis- tribution for private libraries. To-day the second part of the program of the Southern Society is realized. The painting is by Alexander Robert- son James, an artist who has attained high distinction in his profession and who entered upon the task with enthu- siasm after being commended for the service by Dr. C. P. Minnigerode of the Corcoran School of Art. No higher tribute to his work could be paid than that embodied in the letter addressed to General Harris by Mrs. Gorgas in which she said: "Yesterday by appointment I went to the Corcoran Art Gallery to see Dr. Gorgas's portrait. It pleases me more than I can say. Mr. James has suc- ceeded admirably and the profile is so like Dr. Gorgas and so lifelike that it startled me. I want to thank the mem- bers of the Southern Society most heartily for the thought that resulted in this beautiful and artistic portrait of Dr. Gorgas." The flag used in the unveiling of his portrait is the first United States flag to fly over an organization in Europe after we entered the war, it being the official flag of Base Hospital No. 4, Lakeside Unit, Medical Department, United States Army. This organization sailed from New York May 8, 1917. The flag was carried at the head of this organization as it marched through the city of Liver- pool, England, May 18, 1917, and waved alongside the British flag at Base Hospital No. 9, British Expeditionary Forces in France, from May 25, 1917, to November 25, 1917. It is considered fitting that this flag should be used in the unveiling of this portrait as the organization over which it waved was organized and sent into service during General Gorgas's term of service as Surgeon Gen- eral of the United States Army. The society plans to promptly carry forward the last part of its program and will, upon the reconvening of the 56 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS Congress of the United States during the coming admin- istration, memorialize Congress to select a site and make adequate appropriation for the erection of an enduring monument in bronze or marble to be placed in the Fed eral Capital. It was but natural that not only the poet's breath but the brush and chisel should be consecrated in interpreting the life and character of so great a man. There is a legend to the effect that when God, in his eternal council, conceived the thought of man's creation, He called to his assistance the three ministers who con- stantly wait upon the throne, Justice, Truth, and Mercy, and thus addressed them: "Shall we make man?" Then answered Justice, "O God, make him not, for he will trample upon the laws." And Truth answered, "O God, make him not, for he will pollute the sanctu- ary." But Mercy, falling upon her knees and looking up through her tears, earnestly exclaimed "O God, make him, and I will watch over him through all the paths he may have to tread." Then God made him and said to him, "O Man, thou art the child of Mercy, go and deal with thy fellows." The life of Dr. Gorgas was one of mercy and ministra- tion. A great physician, he followed in the footprints of "The Great Physician," the Man of Galilee. He rests in the narrow tenement of the dead in Arlington, but his spirit continues a benediction to humanity. The temple of civilization has been building through the ages, constructed of the faith, force, sentiment, and love of man, its foundations built of convictions, its pillars of faith, its windows of hope, its cement the blood of suffering, its decoration the love of heroes. In this temple the name and fame of Gorgas is secure from the attacks of time and circumstances. With tenderest emotions and following the purest dic- tates of the heart, the Southern Society presents this 57 PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT painting to the library of the Surgeon General's Office of the War Department. Now, therefore, on behalf of the Southern Society, commissioned by the committee appointed by the Southern Society under the chairman- ship of Major General Peter C. Harris and by direction of the president of the Southern Society, Mr. William H. Saunders, I have the honor to formally make the pres- entation of the painting of the late Major General William Crawford Gorgas to the War Department of the United States. of ZDr. &icarbo 3f . Hfaro Secretary of the Interior of Panama The very unpleasant situation in which my country is at present has kept me so constantly busy and worried that I have not had the time to prepare in an adequate manner a speech of eulogy of the great American in whose honor this presentation takes place. But an in- vitation to make a few remarks about the illustrious personality of William Crawford Gorgas is one that I, as a Panamanian, would never decline, and I hope that you will consider my poor words not from the stand- point of their literary value but only as words coming from the very bottom of my heart and inspired in the admiration and love which that great man deserved. Hero worship is something similar to a religion with men. It is a beautiful and noble impulse of human nature. But that impulse becomes a duty when it is a question of honoring those men who have brought re- nown upon their names and glory upon their country and who, moreover, have showered down on mankind the incalculable benefits of their science, their energies, or their virtues. There are the heroes of war and there are the heroes of peace. The former shine with the 58 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS dazzling brilliancy of steel and gold glittering under the rays of the sun and their names resound amidst the thunder of guns and cannon. But how dear we have to pay for military glory; blood and tears, misery and mourning are its forced companions. However, honor is due and is justly 'given to the brave who fight and suffer and die for their country. The heroes of peace are not so brilliant. Their names do not reach the multitudes so easily. Their work is known and appre- ciated mostly by the few. But how much greater is their intrinsic merit. Those men who silently and con- stantly strive and labor in the solitude of their labora- tories or cabinets; those who do not fight men but who struggle against the unknown, against nature, against ignorance, against prejudices, and who, armed with microscopes, win against an invisible foe the wonderful battles between science and disease; those men who sacrifice everything to a duty that they alone have im- posed upon themselves, those are men whose memory should always be an object of reverence and worship. Bronze and marble and paintings, prose and verse should be for them. Art is or should always be the outburst of a great and deep sentiment. And it is only proper that all the beauties of art and inspiration be devoted to glorify those men, so that their image may find a tangible tribute in pictures and statues and an ever- lasting altar in the heart of every good citizep. William Crawford Gorgas has gone down to history as the man who stamped out of the civilized world that dreadful disease, yellow fever. And he was also the man who made possible the quick and efficient termination of that titanic work, wonder of the present century, the Panama Canal. It is only just to say that other men had achieved glory for their work of research in the same field ; but Gorgas was the man who after having proved by 59 PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT experiment the theory of transmission of the disease by the mosquito, jumped from mere experimentation to the practical problem of stamping out the deadly evil, through the annihilation of the mosquito and the destruction of its breeding places. This great problem of sanitation was undertaken and solved by Gorgas in a most efficient and thorough manner. At the same time he was so careful, so considerate, and so gentle in his methods that notwithstanding being obliged to damage to a certain extent the people's interests, to destroy customs and prejudices that had existed for generations, he succeeded in carrying out without friction his stupendous task. And as the ship crossing the seas leaves behind as a silvery ribbon her beautiful wake of bubbling foam, he left behind his work the love and admiration of everyone who came in touch with him. Suavity was the predominant trait of his personality. He did not belong to that class of men who believe it is necessary to be rough and harsh for the performance of a great duty. Courtesy was the means that paved the way for the easy going on of his work. His voice was soft; his manners were gracious and dignified, and a kind smile gave a touch of light to the severe regularity of his fea- tures. When one looked at that noble head, covered with snow-white hair, and met his eyes blue as the purest sky of the southern lands one could not help being irre- sistibly attracted by the pleasing magnetism of his wonderful personality. The Republic of Panama was the theater of General Gorgas's greatest achievement, and his memory will be an everlasting one for all of us Panamanians who had the good fortune of knowing him. We propose to have erected in his honor in the city of Panama a fitting memorial to be called the Gorgas Institute of Tropical Diseases, an institution of medical research and experi- 60 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS ment, proposed by our distinguished President, Dr. Belisario Porras, who has succeeded in enlisting the valuable aid of every eminent official and citizen of the United States to carry out the project. I am most thankful for the privilege accorded me in requesting me to talk on this occcasion. As time passes on, men like Gorgas become greater and greater. Let us all who knew him have in his life and career, in his private and his public virtues, the finest example and inspiration ; and if we want to cause in a name all that is pure and noble and kind on the face of the earth, let us go deep, very deep into the bottom of our hearts, find out our most delicate and gentle sentiments, dip our pen in the gold of those sentiments and then write in glittering characters the name of the great patriot, great scientist, and great man of heart, William Crawford Gorgas. of >urgeon General jH. 3H. Ifrelanb There is no story in preventive medicine so entrancingly interesting as is the story of the eradication of yellow fever from the Western Hemisphere. What makes it so real to us is the fact that it has been accomplished within our own time. It was but a few years ago that yellow fever was claiming an enormous toll in human life every year and was costing the governments of the western world millions of dollars annually. It may be interesting to recount the conditions that surrounded us when the Army was to go to Cuba in 1898. We assembled at Tampa and Port Tampa, and the medical men of the country who were supposed to be experts in handling yellow fever through years of experience were sent there. Dr. John Guiteras, of Habana, Cuba, was the leader of these men and instructed us by lectures in the 61 PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT history and vagaries of this disease and the methods which had sometimes proved effective in handling it. We were told that it appeared to be a place infection, and to substantiate this theory it was cited how certain epidemics had been stopped by removing the inhabitants but a short distance to new camps. It all seems strange now that we had not learned that it was the mosquito which carried this trouble, but you must remember that it was only the year before that Ronald Ross proved the transmission of malaria by the mosquito. Indeed, for many many years, even as early as 1848, the belief had been advanced that yellow fever did not exist except where mosquitoes were in abundance. When we landed in Cuba our plans for protecting the command from yellow fever were soon annihilated, for the first night on the island thousands of our troops were compelled to sleep in marshy places where mosquitoes were in abundance and within 10 days we had many cases of the disease in our hospitals. You all know the story of the Fifth Army Corps, how it was almost dis- organized, after it had completed its campaign, by the inroads made on its personnel by yellow fever and perni- cious malaria. It was in this campaign that I first met Major Gorgas. He landed at Siboney from the hospital ship Relief on the afternoon of July 7, 1898, and had the advantage of the rest of us in being an immune to yellow fever and in having seen a great deal of this disease during his career in the Army. He immediately took charge of the yellow- fever hospital just above Siboney and at a later date he came to Siboney and assumed charge of the hospital there, for we had learned there was no necessity of isolating patients with yellow fever, as those at Siboney were com- ing down with this disease. It was here that Major Gorgas showed to me that gentleness and consideration which was one of his marked characteristics. 62 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS As you recall, the type of yellow fever our troops had in Cuba was very mild, but during the first few days of August a man died of a virulent form of the disease, and it was decided to hold an autopsy to ascertain if anything could be learned from the conditions found. I had pro- ceeded a short distance with the officers who were to attend the autopsy when Major Gorgas asked me if I thought I ought to be present. He reminded me that I was not an immune and, as we did not know the method of transmitting the disease, I might be in danger of con- tracting it, and then, in his very kindly way, suggested that if I would go back he would personally inform me if anything out of the ordinary was discovered. The little town of Siboney was destroyed by fire, by order of the commanding general, and when the place was abandoned by the Medical Department vast quan- tities of medical and quartermaster supplies were burned to prevent spreading yellow fever. This shows how far afield we were as to the transmission of the disease at the very dawn of the day when the truth was to be revealed to us. The great activities of the Army were soon transferred to Habana, where yellow fever had been endemic for several centuries. Tremendous efforts were made to eradicate the disease, or at least to minimize its incidence, by every sanitary measure known to the profession at that time. The results were not in any way successful. The disease continued as usual. In 1900 a large per cent of the Governor General's staff suffered with yellow fever, and several of them died. For many years a vast amount of work we might say negative work had been done to ascertain the cause of this disease. The work of Sternberg, Sanarelli, Finlay, Wasdin, and Geddings, with a host of others, might be mentioned. While these efforts proved nothing, they did 37023 21 S 63 PRESENTATION OF PORTRAIT clear the way for the work of Walter Reed in Cuba, which proved conclusively that the Stegomyia mosquito only transmitted yellow fever, and thus gave to man control of this dreadful scourge. Major Gorgas was at that time the health officer of Habana and followed the work of his friend Walter Reed and his associates from day to day. I have no doubt he had visions of exactly what he would do if the experiments with mosquitoes proved successful. As soon as the result of this work was made known, he put into operation the necessary methods for eradicating mosquitoes from Habana, or at least for reducing, them to the safety level. The doubting Thomases watched his work with keen interest and predicted the disease would return with its usual virulence as the hot season of 1901 came on. But in this they were mistaken, for the number of cases became less and less and at the time yellow fever should have been at its height, it disappeared from the island of Cuba and has only appeared once since that time, in 1906, when another officer of the Medical Corps became chief sanitary officer of Cuba, and again eradicated the disease from the island. Shortly after the Army left Cuba Colonel Gorgas became the chief sanitary officer of the Canal Zone. The history of the work there is well known to the world. It is the culmination of this interesting story in preventive medicine, and just as long as that story is told, the name of William Crawford Gorgas will be a household name in the Western Hemisphere. Mr. Chairman, the Medical Department of the Army now has a history which covers a period of more than a hundred years. During these years it not only has per- formed its mission in the Army, but its members, by their scientific work, have contributed immensely to the alleviation of suffering in the world and to the protection 64 MAJOR GENERAL GORGAS of humanity from disease. The department has many proud traditions which it is just as essential for it to per- petuate as it is necessary for a nation to glorify the epoch- marking events of its history. The department has many heroes and General Gorgas is one of them whose accomplishments will live for generations. The action of your society in having a great artist produce the likeness of General Gorgas on canvas to hang here in this, the largest and most complete medical library in the world, is an admirable way to keep in the minds of the coming generation the accomplishments of this eminent member of the Medical Department. In the name of and with the individual grateful acknowledgment of each member of the Medical Department of the Army I accept this portrait from the Southern Society of the District of Columbia. :*