File No. 823.124/10.

The Secretary of State to the Secretary of War.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant,1 in which you inform the Department [Page 1283] that Colonel Gorgas has been consulted regarding an expert to take Charge of the sanitation of Iquitos, Peru, and recommends as suitable either of the following: Mr. J. A. Le Prince; Dr. M. E. Connor; Dr. Charles A. Hearne.

You add that each of these gentlemen has had much experience in tropical sanitation and can speak Spanish fluently but that you are not informed as to their willingness to accept the position in question

The Secretary of the Treasury has recommended very highly one of the assistant surgeons of the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service who has indicated his willingness to accept the position offered by the Peruvian Government. The Department has accordingly telegraphed this recommendation to the Legation at Lima and has added that your Department has also recommended three civilians now engaged in sanitation work on the Isthmus of Panama but that none of these three has as yet been approached as to his willingness to accept the Iquitos position.

Should the Peruvian Government request that either of the three gentlemen named in your letter be approached on this subject I shall communicate with you again.

I have [etc.]

P. C. Knox.
  1. Not printed.