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National Geographic Adventures Panama Canal The Mountain and the Mosquito
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1914. |
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The Panama Canal is completed. |
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The Atlantic and the Pacific are joined. |
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The most ambitious construction project |
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The work has spanned nearly |
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and claimed the lives of |
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Now it is finished and the world |
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But behind this epic tale, |
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there is another story |
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One is an engineer from the Rockies |
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The other, a soft-spoken |
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whose enemies are ignorance, |
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Together, they take on a wilderness |
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Without either one, |
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And yet, one of these visionaries |
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will suddenly and mysteriously |
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before the canal is finished. |
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And take the secret of his departure |
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The Republic of Panama, |
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A barricade between two oceans. |
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With a blanket of jungle. |
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Today, 14,000 ships sail through |
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Their miracle highway |
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50 miles long. |
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A miracle that, |
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no one in Panama would |
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At the port of Colon, |
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arrived to take control |
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At age 52, John Stevens has built |
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any other engineer in the world. |
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The Rocky Mountains |
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And spanning them his |
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In Panama, yellow fever has killed |
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most of them from the West Indies, |
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The men call it The Great Scare. |
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But his orders come directly |
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In his first address to Congress |
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Roosevelt vows to chop |
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and complete The Big Ditch. |
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"We must build the Isthmian Canal... |
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No single great material work |
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on this continent |
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to the American people." |
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Roosevelt's motives are patriotic, |
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A canal would trim nearly a month |
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between New York and San Francisco. |
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Making the shortest path |
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of American commerce |
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and the lifeline of |
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Roosevelt inspires thousands of |
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to set off for Panama. |
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But they disembark in |
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Soaring heat... |
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punishing rains... |
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ancient jungles. |
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Temperatures top 130° and it can |
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In the unbroken forests, |
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lethal predators await the |
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But the most mortal dangers |
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Confused, chaotic, and deadly. |
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Teddy Roosevelt's Big Ditch Project |
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sucking up millions of dollars, |
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To slice through the |
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Roosevelt authorizes John Stevens |
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that do not come directly |
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Stevens agrees. |
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And he advises the |
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to keep his promise. |
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I'm to have a free hand. |
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I'm not to be hampered |
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And I'm to stay on the Isthmus |
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It is no accident that |
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For the Canal to succeed, |
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through the mountains |
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the backbone connecting |
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Roosevelt hopes America's |
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can save his Canal |
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Stevens is a railroad man, |
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Day after day he tramps |
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focused on every detail of the job. |
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His cigars are so enormous |
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But they respect him immediately. |
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Finally, they have a boss |
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"Mr. Stevens did not talk much |
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and could that man ask questions! |
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He found out everything I knew. |
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He turned me inside out and shook out |
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Frank Maltby, Division Head |
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After decades of back-breaking labor, |
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through the jungle |
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By 1905, excavation is concentrated |
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in a mountainous area |
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Stevens is appalled at what he finds. |
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Trains lie rusting off their tracks. |
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Workers have no blueprints, |
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"I believe I faced about |
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as was ever presented |
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I found no organization... |
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Nobody was working |
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In Panama, it has been this way |
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For the Americans now; |
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Having succeeded at linking Europe |
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the great Suez canal in Egypt, |
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the French try to repeat their success |
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They believe that slender Panama |
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It is a fatal miscalculation. |
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Disease, accidents, and exhaustion |
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One man must succeed |
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Workers tell The Big Smoke |
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is the treacherous Culebra Cut, |
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the mountain pass where the French |
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At Culebra, they must dig out |
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A twisting, nine mile, |
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water-filled chasm as deep as a |
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Like the French, the Americans |
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with the staggering amount of dirt |
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It is simply dumped |
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Creating unstable mountains of debris |
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At Culebra, |
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John Stevens, |
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Here, the French finally surrendered. |
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Here, John Stevens must |
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Topography is only half the problem. |
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In the work camps, |
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where three quarters of the work force |
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the human toll is appalling. |
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Even Roosevelt's eager |
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in their segregated barracks, |
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are barely surviving on rations of |
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Crammed into hovels |
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Tormented by dysentery, |
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parasites and fear of yellow fever |
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Desperate to defeat The Great Scare - |
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to restore the spirits of |
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Stevens visits Dr. William Gorgas, |
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In the yellow fever ward of the |
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Dr. Gorgas introduces the victims |
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Like Stevens, Gorgas has been |
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At 49 years-old, |
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plunged into a nightmare |
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In Cuba, newly freed from Spanish rule |
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Gorgas has succeeded in virtually |
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Panama has proved to be a far |
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"When the United States |
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the Isthmus was generally looked on as |
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Probably it would not be extreme to say |
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that there is no other place |
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He has been in Panama for |
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when John Stevens joins him. |
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For Dr. William Crawford Gorgas, |
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At Ancon, he relates the toll - |
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47 men dead of yellow fever |
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Hundreds of other lives claimed by |
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and, even, Bubonic plague. |
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John Stevens knows that his canal |
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Stevens has to act quickly. |
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He has come to build a canal |
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In Panama less than a week, |
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It is a decision |
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With undiminished energy |
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John Stevens spends seven grueling days |
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inspecting every inch of |
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The men expect Stevens to order them |
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to speed up their work |
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Instead, he commands them |
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Hundreds of workers and technicians |
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John Stevens tells them |
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that the Panama Canal is unfit |
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In Washington, the new President |
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from his new chief engineer. |
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But the news from Panama is stunning. |
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The project has been shut down! |
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"Regardless of the clamor |
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as long as I am in charge of |
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and I am confident that |
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the future will |
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Stevens understands that the canal's |
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is not the mountains, but the men. |
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Disease and fear sap their souls |
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Stevens turns to Dr. William Gorgas |
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Like the French before them, |
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the Americans live in morbid terror |
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they call Yellow Eyes, Yellow Jack, |
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A horrifying disease. |
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Delirium and death can follow within |
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Yellow fever patients first complain |
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As the aches intensify, |
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The skin and eyes turn yellow, |
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thirst becomes unquenchable |
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and patients lose consciousness. |
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Spasms of black vomit |
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Fewer than 50 percent of |
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Gorgas believes in a new theory |
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that explains the cause of |
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In 1901, scientists have discovered |
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that the Stegomyia mosquito carries |
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from person to person. |
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In Panama, only Gorgas understands |
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Dr. Gorgas finds that yellow fever |
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To destroy them, |
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he will need to fumigate every puddle |
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He envisions the largest, most costly |
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the world has ever seen. |
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It is not a vision shared |
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For eighteen months, |
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officials scoff at the mosquito theory |
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and turn down all of Dr. Gorgas's |
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But John Stevens listens. |
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Only a healthy work force can rescue |
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He will withdraw his men |
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and send them to war |
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But Stevens does not |
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The battle against Panama's |
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Somehow, he must find |
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Through the jagged jungles |
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He studies the French plans |
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the millions of tons of dirt |
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must be not only excavated, |
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Simply piling the spoil |
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is an invitation to landslides |
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"Efficient transportation |
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is nearly always the key to success |
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If dirt is to fly, |
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there must be a smooth and |
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Stevens conceives a radical new plan |
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He draws on his experience with |
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Instead of hauling men, in Panama, |
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the trains will be used |
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But to do it, the entire rail system |
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must be revamped to handle |
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exactly the kind of thing |
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"There is no element of |
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The most important stage in any great |
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The digging is the least thing |
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While Stevens attacks |
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Dr. Gorgas sends out |
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Fumigation brigades burn sulfur, |
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"It would be impossible to fumigate |
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We had about 400 men |
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and they went over the whole town |
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fumigating every house in the town, |
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each time a case of yellow fever |
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Screens are installed and water |
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Ditches where mosquitoes breed |
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Quarantined clinics treat |
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and keep them in mandatory isolation. |
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Stylish, sleepless and impervious |
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Gorgas works around the clock. |
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He stretches Roosevelt's promise |
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to the breaking point, importing |
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America's entire output for a year. |
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He orders $90,000 dollars |
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in a single shipment. |
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Nearly double his previous |
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It is the largest |
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ever waged against |
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Meanwhile, John Stevens |
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He dismisses the existing |
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"two streaks of rust |
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Using his legendary status |
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Stevens lures the best railroad men |
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Within six months of his arrival, |
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Stevens constructs the most durable |
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Double-sided tracks of the heaviest |
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allow the world's heaviest freight |
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24 hours a day. |
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Track-shifting machinery moves huge |
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A telegraph system, new bridges and |
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Stevens thinks big, and buys big. |
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He has decided that the French suffered |
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He will not repeat their mistake. |
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Every weapon in his arsenal |
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His coal-burning steam shovels weigh |
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Mechanical dinosaurs. |
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Three times larger than anything |
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"Now I would like that |
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to a modern one as baby |
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This is no reflection of the French, |
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how they did the work they did |
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But Stevens has learned another |
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That morale is more valuable |
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And the best way to restore morale |
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There are three diseases in Panama. |
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They are yellow fever, malaria, |
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and the greatest of these |
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The labor camps built |
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have tumbled into misery. |
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Unpaved streets are ankle-deep in mud. |
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Waste is emptied onto passerby |
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Stevens wades in like |
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Closing brothels, |
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building a new city of paved streets |
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The Canal line begins to look like |
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under construction from one end |
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As 1906 begins, |
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he feels he has made Panama livable. |
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He is ready to begin digging |
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A few months later, |
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Dr. William Gorgas declares victory |
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"Take a good look at this man, boys. |
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For it's the last case of yellow fever |
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There will never be any more deaths |
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Panama is busy again |
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Along the entire length |
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the racket of hammers and saws |
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President Roosevelt's dream |
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is being brought to life again. |
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As a new railway is pushed through the |
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John Stevens rarely rests. |
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It is the summer of 1906, |
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and expects his men to do the same. |
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"I gauge everybody by myself. |
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I work from 14 to 18 hours. |
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You may make mistakes |
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but there is only one mistake you can |
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and that is to do nothing." |
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Stevens believes his workers are safe |
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But yellow fever has been |
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Now a far more formidable enemy |
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"If we can control malaria, |
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I feel very little anxiety |
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If we do not control malaria |
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The Anopheles mosquito |
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is not the same insect |
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It is an entirely different species |
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She lives longer, flies further, |
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and thrives in the stagnant waters |
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Right where John Stevens's |
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The latest arrivals from North America |
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and the West Indies are in gravest |
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Most Panamanians, as Gorgas knows, |
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develop a natural immunity |
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But nearly every new comer-including |
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become infected within months- |
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fever, chills, depression, |
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Gorgas warns Stevens that |
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he is building along his railway |
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are placing thousands of |
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"I suppose it is no exaggeration |
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who spends a night in one of |
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John Stevens knows the danger |
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But also knows that work must continue |
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All along the line, the pace of |
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Laborers from North America, Europe, |
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Many bring their families, |
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Feeding the masses is an enormous job. |
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Bakeries turn out 40,000 loaves |
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Stevens builds laundries, |
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and recreation halls for the men |
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An amazing ice house brings |
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The very idea of ice-cream |
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Music fills the air. |
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They begin to call Culebra |
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But the deadly plague of malaria |
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Dr. Gorgas and his fumigation brigades |
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Cleansing the new villages. |
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Pushing deep into the wilderness. |
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They drain swamps and spray oil |
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to prevent eggs from hatching. |
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Stagnant water is routinely tested |
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A modern running-water system |
| 00:31:46 |
is installed and acres |
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Daily doses of quinine- |
| 00:31:59 |
are part of each man's diet. |
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They call the bitter-tasting |
| 00:32:10 |
As Dr. Gorgas battles the mosquito, |
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This is the ultimate roadblock- |
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Stevens calculates that he must |
| 00:32:32 |
and 272 feet deep through |
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It will require that man |
| 00:32:44 |
to build the Great Pyramids |
| 00:32:50 |
John Stevens has been given command |
| 00:32:52 |
of the grandest construction project |
| 00:33:04 |
"Even with the finances of the most |
| 00:33:07 |
we are contending with |
| 00:33:12 |
When we speak of a hundred |
| 00:33:14 |
of a single cut not to exceed |
| 00:33:17 |
we are facing a proposition |
| 00:33:19 |
was ever undertaken in the engineering |
| 00:33:26 |
Making a sea-level canal |
| 00:33:30 |
means cutting deep into |
| 00:33:33 |
The French spent nine years trying, |
| 00:33:41 |
Now Stevens wonders |
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The problem is water. |
| 00:33:52 |
The tropical rainy season |
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Massive flooding, daily down pours |
| 00:33:58 |
and the constant risk |
| 00:34:04 |
Stevens has never faced anything like |
| 00:34:11 |
He realizes that to build a sea-level |
| 00:34:15 |
that could take twice |
| 00:34:21 |
And there is another enemy. |
| 00:34:22 |
When the rain comes, the placid |
| 00:34:26 |
rising 20 feet in just one day. |
| 00:34:32 |
The floods will inundate any canal |
| 00:34:39 |
Even if he moves the mountains, |
| 00:34:48 |
"The one great problem in the |
| 00:34:50 |
is the control of the Chagres River. |
| 00:34:53 |
That overshadows everything else." |
| 00:34:56 |
Stevens now realizes that a sea-level |
| 00:35:01 |
The mountain is too big. |
| 00:35:06 |
To dig it all the way down |
| 00:35:08 |
and transport it away is beyond their |
| 00:35:16 |
There is, however, another way, |
| 00:35:19 |
one that will use the geography |
| 00:35:23 |
It is a plan that will change |
| 00:35:27 |
But first he needs to |
| 00:35:38 |
To sell his revolutionary new plan |
| 00:35:42 |
John Stevens must sail to Washington. |
| 00:35:49 |
For a man who is chronically sea-sick, |
| 00:35:51 |
the voyage is as forbidding |
| 00:35:58 |
At the White House, Stevens unveils |
| 00:36:07 |
He intends to lift the world's |
| 00:36:10 |
up one side of the Continental Divide, |
| 00:36:12 |
then down the other. |
| 00:36:15 |
He will dam the Chagres River to |
| 00:36:19 |
And build a series of mammoth locks |
| 00:36:32 |
In essence, the mountain won't be |
| 00:36:35 |
The ships will be floated up |
| 00:36:38 |
and sailed across a bridge of water. |
| 00:36:43 |
It is an audacious plan. |
| 00:36:46 |
A clear statement that Stevens |
| 00:36:49 |
the French struggled for nine years |
| 00:36:51 |
and lost the lives of 16,000 men |
| 00:37:00 |
But in 1906 no-one knows if Stevens's |
| 00:37:09 |
Theodore Roosevelt has promised |
| 00:37:14 |
Now he proves it. |
| 00:37:17 |
In February of 1906, Roosevelt signs |
| 00:37:22 |
authorizing the construction of |
| 00:37:30 |
Fifteen months after taking charge |
| 00:37:32 |
Stevens is finally ready to build |
| 00:37:39 |
Roosevelt must convince Americans |
| 00:37:41 |
that John Stevens and William Gorgas |
| 00:37:46 |
Convince skeptics that |
| 00:37:49 |
To prove his faith, |
| 00:37:50 |
the President decides to stage one of |
| 00:37:55 |
He and the First Lady will visit |
| 00:38:02 |
It is a decision that |
| 00:38:05 |
No American president has ever visited |
| 00:38:18 |
To grasp first-hand the difficulties |
| 00:38:21 |
Roosevelt insists on being in Panama |
| 00:38:28 |
On the second day of his visit, |
| 00:38:33 |
One inch falling in 15 minutes. |
| 00:38:37 |
It is the worst downpour in Panama |
| 00:38:43 |
With photographers never far away, |
| 00:38:45 |
the young President strolls |
| 00:38:48 |
dines in a mess hall with the men |
| 00:38:53 |
He visits the Culebra Cut, |
| 00:38:55 |
and delivers stirring prep talks |
| 00:38:57 |
telling workers that they are soldiers |
| 00:38:59 |
fighting a glorious war |
| 00:39:03 |
The laborers are impressed |
| 00:39:05 |
Their applause rivals the thunder |
| 00:39:10 |
"You, here, who do your work well |
| 00:39:12 |
in bringing to completion |
| 00:39:16 |
will stand exactly as the soldiers |
| 00:39:20 |
of the most famous armies of all the |
| 00:39:29 |
With his signature showmanship, |
| 00:39:31 |
in his famous white suit |
| 00:39:34 |
leaps aboard one of the mighty 95- |
| 00:39:39 |
The men cheer this icon of American |
| 00:39:43 |
for Americans, there is no obstacle |
| 00:39:50 |
But another war is being won, |
| 00:39:55 |
On the second day of his tour, |
| 00:39:58 |
away from the cameras |
| 00:40:00 |
to pay Dr. Gorgas an unannounced |
| 00:40:05 |
The two men walk through an |
| 00:40:08 |
It is a quiet moment of proud victory. |
| 00:40:10 |
Stunning evidence that |
| 00:40:13 |
has brought health and sanitation |
| 00:40:16 |
The Great Scare is over. |
| 00:40:21 |
Roosevelt reciprocates with |
| 00:40:24 |
has hungered for since |
| 00:40:27 |
When Roosevelt praises |
| 00:40:30 |
and cites Stevens and Gorgas by name, |
| 00:40:32 |
they become celebrities |
| 00:40:35 |
"They are doing something |
| 00:40:37 |
which will redound immeasurable |
| 00:40:41 |
which will benefit all the world, |
| 00:40:46 |
Under Mr. Stevens and Dr. Gorgas |
| 00:40:49 |
has started with every omen of |
| 00:40:57 |
While the President boasts |
| 00:40:59 |
the mountains of Panama |
| 00:41:02 |
Stevens has devised an ambitious plan, |
| 00:41:12 |
To make the plan a reality, |
| 00:41:13 |
Stevens will begin with the |
| 00:41:16 |
creating the largest man-made lake |
| 00:41:22 |
Dozens of villages must be evacuated, |
| 00:41:24 |
their residents relocated |
| 00:41:28 |
A new city, called Gatun, |
| 00:41:35 |
Surveying parties outline the contours |
| 00:41:39 |
that will cover 164 square miles. |
| 00:41:49 |
The entire region must be |
| 00:41:53 |
This job alone will take almost |
| 00:42:00 |
And with this new plan will come |
| 00:42:04 |
unlike anything the world |
| 00:42:07 |
Things that John Stevens has little |
| 00:42:16 |
Such a massive construction project |
| 00:42:21 |
and increased |
| 00:42:24 |
The very things that John Stevens |
| 00:42:36 |
Meanwhile dynamite crews risk their |
| 00:42:41 |
to loosen the mountain |
| 00:42:51 |
Stevens continues his daily routine |
| 00:42:54 |
of surveying the work |
| 00:43:07 |
96 million cubic yards of dirt |
| 00:43:11 |
along hundreds of miles of new track. |
| 00:43:13 |
Enough dirt to fill enough hopper cars |
| 00:43:22 |
The work force healthy and excavation |
| 00:43:25 |
Gorgas and Stevens have finally |
| 00:43:28 |
to bring down the mountain. |
| 00:43:31 |
It is a plan that |
| 00:43:33 |
and finally get the Canal built. |
| 00:43:37 |
But there is one more surprise. |
| 00:43:39 |
One of these men will walk away. |
| 00:43:49 |
Less than three months |
| 00:43:50 |
after President Roosevelt's |
| 00:43:54 |
John Stevens quits the project |
| 00:43:59 |
It is a mysterious gesture. |
| 00:44:01 |
He offers no reason to his workers, |
| 00:44:06 |
Not even the President. |
| 00:44:11 |
Theodore Roosevelt is deeply angered. |
| 00:44:14 |
Publicly, he conceals his anger, |
| 00:44:18 |
is unable to withstand the |
| 00:44:21 |
that he has become ill and sleepless. |
| 00:44:24 |
But privately the president |
| 00:44:29 |
Others believe that |
| 00:44:32 |
could not endure the massive |
| 00:44:36 |
or the contract system |
| 00:44:42 |
It is a secret he takes to his grave. |
| 00:44:47 |
"The reasons for the resignation |
| 00:44:50 |
I have never declared these reasons |
| 00:44:52 |
and probably never will, |
| 00:44:58 |
Nearly a century later, |
| 00:44:59 |
no one knows why the greatest |
| 00:45:03 |
abandoned the most important project |
| 00:45:06 |
Suddenly and without warning. |
| 00:45:10 |
Perhaps he sensed that the |
| 00:45:14 |
That history had anointed him |
| 00:45:16 |
then move on while others built it. |
| 00:45:25 |
In eighteen months, |
| 00:45:27 |
where others had labored in vain |
| 00:45:33 |
He provided decent housing and food |
| 00:45:36 |
And pushed through |
| 00:45:38 |
to move huge quantities of earth. |
| 00:45:44 |
Perhaps most important of all, |
| 00:45:45 |
he cast the weight of his prestige |
| 00:45:50 |
Understanding that fear, |
| 00:45:52 |
blocked the path between the seas. |
| 00:46:07 |
In 1914, seven years after |
| 00:46:11 |
Dr. Gorgas silently paddles |
| 00:46:15 |
through the freshly-cut canal. |
| 00:46:21 |
He is the first to travel voyage |
| 00:46:25 |
The official opening of the canal |
| 00:46:34 |
All around him is evidence |
| 00:46:37 |
A magnificent bridge of water |
| 00:46:41 |
and sails them smoothly |
| 00:46:49 |
After 30 years and the loss of |
| 00:46:52 |
the dream of Columbus, |
| 00:46:55 |
The union of the oceans. |
| 00:46:57 |
And the shrinking of the world. |
| 00:47:05 |
It has taken seven years |
| 00:47:08 |
The President asks the Army |
| 00:47:14 |
And though it would be |
| 00:47:16 |
it would resemble almost perfectly |
| 00:47:19 |
that John Stevens had convinced |
| 00:47:21 |
Teddy Roosevelt |
| 00:47:26 |
And it is a spectacular vision. |
| 00:47:31 |
The locks at both ends are |
| 00:47:35 |
Over 80 feet high, |
| 00:47:38 |
and stand as tall as |
| 00:47:46 |
Monstrous T-shaped cantilever cranes |
| 00:47:49 |
that can be seen from miles away float |
| 00:47:59 |
More concrete- |
| 00:48:02 |
than has ever been used in history |
| 00:48:10 |
Six million rivets are needed |
| 00:48:24 |
Gatun Lake, at 164 square miles, |
| 00:48:27 |
would be the largest man-made lake |
| 00:48:32 |
And Gatun dam, made from the spoil |
| 00:48:35 |
is the largest in the world |
| 00:48:38 |
It is a mile and a half long |
| 00:48:49 |
The Canal is the work of more than |
| 00:48:53 |
from 97 different countries. |
| 00:48:59 |
Most would not live |
| 00:49:05 |
The final bill. |
| 00:49:06 |
Over $600 million dollars. |
| 00:49:08 |
In an age when a worker was fortunate |
| 00:49:18 |
The single greatest engineering |
| 00:49:29 |
Teddy Roosevelt never returns |
| 00:49:32 |
to see his dream brought to life. |
| 00:49:34 |
He leaves office in 1909 |
| 00:49:38 |
seven months before |
| 00:49:41 |
first passes through the Canal. |
| 00:49:53 |
John Stevens finds another mountain |
| 00:49:57 |
In 1917 he is sent to Russia by |
| 00:50:02 |
to reorganize the |
| 00:50:06 |
Not until 1937, at age 83, |
| 00:50:09 |
does he return to Panama |
| 00:50:14 |
He dies in North Carolina |
| 00:50:24 |
Only Dr. William Crawford Gorgas |
| 00:50:26 |
sees America's work in Panama through |
| 00:50:33 |
By the time he returns |
| 00:50:36 |
he has completely eradicated |
| 00:50:38 |
from the Canal Zone |
| 00:50:42 |
to rates lower than most |
| 00:50:48 |
The physician's work in Panama |
| 00:50:54 |
He is appointed Surgeon General, |
| 00:50:56 |
a supreme honor for a country doctor |
| 00:51:03 |
He leads the American Medical |
| 00:51:05 |
during the First World War. |
| 00:51:09 |
In 1920 he dies a hero |
| 00:51:27 |
One man battled mountains. |
| 00:51:29 |
The other, the tiny bearers of death. |
| 00:51:35 |
This is their monument. |
| 00:51:36 |
The bridging of a continent. |
| 00:51:39 |
The union of the seas. |
