The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-07-27 00:00:00

CYPRUS.

The Times publishes the following letter respecting
Cyprus .
Sir,—A residence of nine years in the island of
Cyprus may justify me in pretending to speak with
some authority in regard to its sanitary condition.
The inhabitants enjoy good, nay, robust health ; they
live to a great age generally, and are subject to few
ailments. From the month of July to the month of
October the heat is considerable, although nothing to
be compared with the heat in India. The sirocco
winds, so distressing in both Egypt and Syria, are
greatly cooled down Illy their passage over the sea be-
fore they reach Cyprus, and daily a fresh cool breeze
springs up from the S.W., lasting from about nine
o'clock in the morning to four in the afternoon. The
thermometer in Cyprus marks the same heat in sum-
mer as it does on the coast of Syria.
The cause of unhealthiness in certain towns is quite
local and easily removed. Thus round Larnaca and
Famagousta there are marshes which infect the air and
are apt to induce fever and ague in summer. During
my residence in Larnaca I was able, by public sub-
scription, to bring under cultivation the worst of the
two marshes near that town' and to introduce by iron
pipes a good supply of water into the houses. The
effect was most salutary to the health ef the town, and
more extensive wc,rks of a similar kind, with due at-
tention to the cleansing of the town, will remove all
the existing causes of unhealthiness. Immediate atten-
tion to the condition of Famagousta is imperative. That
town is encumbered with debris, and the covered pits
from which the Turks assaulted the walla in the 16th
century are stagnant marshes to day. The whole town
should be thoroughly cleansed, the marshes dried up,
and a supply of good fresh water led into the town by
iron pipes. These are the works which were all pro-
jected and for which estimates were made while I was
in Cyprus, but the impecuniosity of the Government
and the instability of the Governors prevented their
execution. It would be wise to send out at once a
certain number of iron pipes necessary for conducting
pure water into the towns. They will be needed at
Famagousta, at Nicosia, and, with the increased popu-
lation at Larnaca, the main pipes laid down in my day
might advantageously be replaced by others of larger
volume. Famagousta with a moderate expenditure may
become what it was in the time of the Venetians, an
agreeable and healthy town capable of containing
30,000 inhabitants, it was entirely built of cut stone
taken from the ruins of ancient Salamis, and all the
stones necessary for the rebuilding of the town exist
in /oc9.
Grave State reasons unknown to common mortals, I
am bound to suppose, justify the despatch of 10,000
troops at once to Cyprus, but without such potent
reasons the measure seem a very imprudent one.
For the preservation of order in the island 1,000 men
are more than sufficient, and a frigate or two cruising
round the island would suffice to impress the natives
with the power of England. After good barrack
accommodation has been prepared--the work of two
or three months—depota of troops may then be esta-
blished throughout the island say at Limasol,
Nicosia, and Famagousta; but now to send idle men
to broil under an Eastern sun, with only huts to
cover them, is simply to inflict an amount of suffering
whieh only important reasons of State would justify.
--Your obedient servant, R. H. LANG.
Morley's Hotel, July 18.