19
interpreters, Catholic priests, and missionary sisters in the work of investigation
of cases.
At the present time the sanitary affairs of the city are carried out by the
.following departments :—
(1) A department of Public Works, charged with the cleaning of the
streets and the removal and disposal of garbage. The latter is
collected in carts and loaded into garbage boats by which it is
dumped into the Mississippi river below the city limits.
(2) A Sewerage and Water Board charged with providing : —
(i) A system of public sewers for the removal of night soil and domestic
waste water. Work on this system, which comprises 375 miles
of sewers and pipes, was begun in 1903, and is now almost
complete, the old cesspools and vaults being abolished as house
connections are made. The night soil from houses not con-
nected with the public sewers is collected in barrels at the cost
of the householder, and conveyed below the city limits by
special " nuisance boats" and dumped in the Mississippi river
in m id-stream.
(ii) An adequate system of drainage for the removal of storm water.
For this very difficult problem there are seven drainage pumps,
• the water being carried off in canals and pip'es.
(iii) A filtered water-supply for the 80,000 houses in the city proper.
This work was not begun until 1905, but is now said to be as
complete as is possible in a growing city. An important result
of the system will be the abolition of the large house cisterns
which are such favourable breeding places for stegomyia
mosquitoes ; but at the time of my visit this necessary reform
had been only partially accomplished. The water-supply is
obtained from the Mississippi river and is filtered by mechanical
precipitation and other means.
(3) A Municipal Board of Health created in 1898 with power to estab-
lish, control and administer all matters of strictly and purely local
sanitation, " but for carrying out executive action it is dependent
in great measure upon the various departments of the city govern-
ment, it is organised in three departments, namely, sanitary,
food inspection and vital statistics. Anti-mosquito work is one of
the duties of the sanitary department and was commenced in
earnest during the yellow fever epidemic of 1905. Unfortunately
during the last few years, owing to the exhaustion of the special
fund which enabled a separate anti-mosquito staff to be maintained
at an annual cost of 50,000 dollars, it has not been possible to
carry on the work with the same thoroughness as was the case
between 1905 and 1908. In the Biennial report for 1908-09 it is
said that in 1900 the work was done by the city police, but that
" as divided authority in sanitary matters is never desirable " the
city had provided for the resumption of the work in 1910 by a
special force selected by the Board of Health and exclusively
responsible to its executive officers for correct performance of
duty." I have no knowledge of the plan adopted in 1911 and as
regards 1912 I was informed that owing to lack of funds no
campaign against mosquitoes was being carried on. During the
time of my visit the temperature was not higher than between
42° and 50° F. and I saw no mosquitoes of any kind, but the
President of the Louisiana State Board of Health, the British
Consul General, and other officials informed me that during the
summer months they are exceedingly prevalent and troublesome.
The common species were said to be anopheles maculipennis,
stegomyia fasciata and various calicines. The prevalence of
stegomyia fasciata must, of course, have been greatly reduced by