12
filth. " Most of the houses were dilapidated wooden structures erected on piles
over swampy areas and roadside ditches which, being clogged with rubbish and
house refuse of all kinds, formed a succession of stagnant pools. There were no
systems of sewerage or water-supply, and as it was necessary for the inhabitants
to store water for use in the dry season, every house had its cistern and every
yard contained a large supply of water collecting tubs and tins which were the
source of enormous swarms of mosquitoes. The sanitary works carried on conti-
nuously since 1904, and still in active progress, have effected a remarkable
change in these conditions. Regulations now permit the condemnation and
demolition of insanitary buildings, they prohibit the erection of any building which
cannot be connected with the water-supply and sewage systems, and require that
the whole ground on which a house and its yard are built must be concreted, that
the house must be connected with the water-supply and sewage system, must
have water-closets, shower baths and sinks in the proportion of one complete set
for every 15 people, and must have no outside roof gutters and no cistern or
other receptacle for the storage of water. The alley-ways between houses must
be concreted and must slope towards the centre of the alley and towards the
street paving and drains These rules and those regarding the paving of the
streets and macadamising of the roads will bring about the result that within the
area built over there is no space that is not concreted or in some other manner
made hard and smooth so that water cannot lodge.
The radical sanitary works just outlined do not as yet extend throughout the
whole areas of the cities, and on the outskirts the conditions are very different
from those in the main sections. Much of the site on which Colon is built was
originally below the level of the sea, and, although the town proper is now on land
which by extensive filling operations has been raised from three to eight feet
above sea level, it is almost surrounded by low-lying marshes and swamps which
cannot be effectively drained; and on some of these areas there are hamlets in
the old style. In Panama city, also, the conditions on the outskirts are reminis-
cent of the original state of affairs and a number of houses remain to be sanitated
and to be connected with the sewerage system. Roof gutters and other
potential breeding places of stegomyia mosquitoes are also to be found, and the
great amount of building that is going on, as well as the extension of the existing
water-supply and sewerage systems, produce conditions requiring constant inspec-
tion and control. An idea of the nature and amount of this kind of work as well
as of other sanitary effort will be gained from the following statement which
refers to 1910—the last year for which the information is available to me :—
CITY OF PANAMA.
Anopheles brigade—
Ditches cleaned
...
...
... linear feet 1,647,760
Ditches dug ...
...
...
...
do.
3,800
Weeds and grass cut and removed ...
... square feet 1,475,426
Cesspools cleaned
...
...
...
293
Loads of refuse removed from the city
...
...
6,600
Premises cleaned by contract
...
...
...
8
Disinfection brigade—
Rooms fumigated and disinfected
...
...
...
1,399
Material used—
Crude oil
..,
...
...
... barrels
1,600
Kerosene oil ...
...
...
... gallons
246
Larvacide
...
...
...
...
do.
5,945
Inspection of houses and yards—
Houses and yards inspected
...
...
765
Persons notified to k ep premises in good condition
...
869
Warning notices complied with
...
...
..
642
Letters to Alcade requesting enforcement of sanitary rules
407
and regulations.
New buildings—
Plans submitted to health officer and approved ...
...
408