129
347. Khartoum.—This town, which is the capital of the Soudan, is divided
into two portions by the Nile. The population is about 41,000 ; 16,000 on
one bank and 25,000 on the other. There is little or no rainfall. There are
10 sanitary inspectors employed, 3 of whom are British and 7 natives : and when
necessary a special staff is employed in filling-in pools near the river.
348. Durban.—A town in South Africa with a population of 60,244.
Since 1905, £80,000 (Rs. 12,00,000) has been spent on filling-in and draining a
swamp near the town. A mosquito brigade consisting of 2 Europeans and 50
Indians is engaged in temporary work.
349. Klang and Port Swettenham.—Klang and Port Swettenham are
two small stations in the Federated Malay States, a country with heavy
rainfall. "When operations were first commenced the total population of the
two places was about 4,000 people. The cost of filling in swamps and draining
them was £10,000 (Rs. 1,50,000), and £410 (Rs. 6,150) is spent annually on
anti-mosquito work.
350. Free Town (West Africa).—Population 30,000, rainfall heavy.
This was almost the first anti-mosquito campaign attempted. Dr. Logan Turner
was in charge of the work and in September 1601 he had 53 men employed, at
wages of about £1 a month each. Dr. Daniels, the well known authority on
Tropical Medicine, stated in a report on the work in 1901 that—
" In the next wet season, double the men, say one hundred, should be
'' employed, and two Europeans for supervision. One European, even as able
" and energetic a man as Dr. Logan Turner, barely suffices for thorough
" supervision of the present work.
" I am aware that this will cost, apart from the expense of super-
" vision, over £100 a month instead of the £50 to £60 which, including the
"cost of labour provided locally, is now spent."
"351. Hong kong.—Hongkong is sometimes quoted as an example of a
large City in which anti-mosquito measures have been carried out with success.
The measures adopted appear to have been directed mostly against anopheles
mosquitoes and they seem to have been applied in only a few localities.
Judging from the published accounts, the measures used consisted chiefly in the
making of a few masonry channels down certain of the ravines which exist on
the island, and the keeping of these channels in good order. The cost of
this work has totalled about £6,500 or nearly one lakh of rupees. If the
authorities in Bombay confined their efforts at mosquito prevention to the
making of pucca channels on Malabar Hill, Cumballa and Bhandarwada Hills,
and the destruction of mosquitoes in those localities the work would probably
be about equivalent to what has been done in Hongkong.
352. Cairo.—Dr. H. C. Ross (brother of Major Ronald Boss), who has
carried cut anti-mosquito work in certain parts of Cairo and other places in
Egypt, writes as follows :—
" Cairo is a very much larger City than Port Said. It contains an
" estimated population of more than half a million
The town is situated on
"the east banks of the Nile... Suburbs extend north and south, but the City
"itself is compact, and, for its population, does not cover a very great
"area
Cairo is infested with mosquitoes. To destroy them throughout
" the City would he a stupendous, but not impossible, task, and it would
"involve an expenditure of about £20,000 annually."
" 353. Panama, etc.—In a recent paper by Colonel Gorgas an estimate is
given of the staff that would be required for general anti-mosquito work in
a municipality containing a population of 30,000 people housed in 6,000
houses. The estimate is as follows :—
1 Health Officer.
10 Sanitary Inspectors.
2 Clerks.
1 Chief Carpenter.
2 Carpenter Foremen.
1 Head of cleaning squad.
4 Foremen.
1 Chief of ditching squad.
1 Foreman.
60 Labourers,
B 136—83