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The cost of the process is also exceedingly low. At the request
of this Government, Dr. Gilbert Fowler, a specialist in the biological disposal
of sewage, was sent out from England to enquire into the septic tank installa-
tions in Bengal. He conducted his enquiries during the period from January
to April 1906, and his report is awaited by Government. The Sanitary
Commissioner reports that septic tank latrines are an entire success when used
for communities such as mills, large schools, railway workshops, and the like,
and he is now considering whether they cannot be adapted to municipal
towns. He will be asked to submit a report embodying the results of his
experiments. The Sanitary Commissioner has also made a number of sugges-
tions for the adoption in municipalities of the septic tank method as a substitute
for trenching grounds. Mention should be made in the next Sanitary. Report
as to what extent Municipal Commissioners have been able to adopt his
proposals.
The Sanitary Board.—During the year 1905 the Sanitary Board considered
the preliminary estimate of cost of a water-works project for the town of
Monghyr and the detailed estimates for the Khulna water-supply scheme.
Plans and estimates of drainage schemes in twelve municipalities and of water-
supply schemes in two municipalities were also considered. Considerable
activity was displayed by several municipalities in the preparation of detailed
schemes for surface drainage.
Vaccination.—The vaccination returns for the year are confined to the
districts now within the reconstituted Province of Bengal. The death-rate
from small-pox for the whole Province in 1905-1906 (.22 per mille) was slightly
higher than that for the previous year (.17 per mille), but compares favourably
with the average death-rate for the past 10 years which was .37. Perhaps
the most noticeable feature of the returns is the large increase in the death-
rate in Calcutta from .14 per mille in 1904-1905 to 2.34 in 1905-1906 as a result
of a severe outbreak of small-pox during the cold weather. The death-rate
in Puri was also high, that being the only district in the Province where the
protection afforded to infants is below 200 per mille. In Cuttack there has
been a steady decrease in the annual death-rate from 3.65 in 1900-1901 to .04
in the year under review, the number of successful vaccinations having
increased nearly 100 per cent. during these years. The Lieutenant-Governor
sees no reason to doubt that similar results could be obtained in the neighbour-
ing district of Puri, and he trusts that the Sanitary Commissioner will devote
special attention to this district during the coming season. The returns
generally show a satisfactory increase in the outturn of work, the total number
of operations recorded being 2,041,230 as against 1,818,231 in the previous
year; and there is also a large increase in the cases of revaccination, which
is mainly due to the special efforts made by the Corporation of Calcutta to
combat the recent, severe outbreak of small-pox. In the districts the best
returns were received from Saran, Midnapore, Jessore, Shahabad, and Nadia,
and the Lieutenant-Governor notices with satisfaction that the Tributary
States of Orissa also returned a large increase—12,142. The substitution of
vaccination from prepared lymph for arm-to-arm vaccination has recently
been sanctioned by Government, and will be introduced at once in the districts
of the Burdwan, Presidency, and Orissa Divisions and in the rest of the
Province gradually. The Lieuteuant-Governor is pleased to notice the good
work done by the Department during the year, and hopes that still further
improvement will result from the measures which have lately been taken to
improve the status and efficiency of the vaccinating staff.
The Lieutenant-Governor's thanks are due to Captain Clemesha for his
interesting report, and for the zeal and energy with which he has administered
the departments under his charge. The attention of Commissioners, District
Officers and all Local Bodies is especially drawn to those paragraphs of the
Report which deal with the questions of rat extermination and septic tank
installations.
By order of the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal,
H. J. McINTOSH,
Offg. Secy. to the Govt. of Bengal.