585
46
(e.) This could easily be done and would tend to the diffusion of elementary knowledge on this important subject. A short resumé in Chinese--though I doubt their paying much attention to it-might be placed on the notice boards at the various Police Stations.
(f.) Already done here under Dr. Thomson.
(g.) Any proof of this which comes to our notice will be at once communicated to the Governor.
(h.) This could be done. For this Colony the wire gauze must be of brass or copper, as iron will rust too quickly. Very little use will be made of this method, except perhaps in Police Stations, as the cost will be very great. All houses here have, or should have, verandahs, which are specially made use of in the summer evenings, and to shut in so much space with brass netting and teak, or other hardwood frame (soft wood is useless, as it shrinks rapidly, and a mosquito does not require much room to slip through) would add enormously to the cost of building houses.
(i.) This is unnecessary here, as they can be acquired cheaply here, and most new arrivals are early recommended to secure them for their own peace at night.
June 13, 1901.
36324
No. 60.
J. BELL.
47
As, however, the Liverpool School is prepared to spend a large sum of money and much time in the place, I think it is of the greatest importance that they should finish their work there. Under those conditions the experiment should be a success. Though no believer in the segregation of Europeans from natives as either prac- ticable or highly beneficial to the public health in permanent settlements, I think that a quarter of the town should be set aside for the better class of residences. This would lead to a more healthy mode of living than is at present adopted.
Hill stations in the neighbourhood of Freetown 'have not been a marked success. and these, to be of use to the poorer classes of Europeans, would necessitate a railway. The cost of such a railway would be great, and I am of opinion that there are sites near the town which could be rendered quite healthy at much less cost than that of building a railway.
As I have previously stated I believe a great advance in sanitary matters would be made if money were voted directly for that object, and accounted for separately. As it is, sanitation belongs neither to the Medical Department nor to the Public. Works Department, though both Departments expend some money on sanitary matters. The total sum spent on sanitation in many tropical Colonies is small and quite inadequate for the purpose.
With a separate sanitary vote, accounted for under definite headings, such as I previously suggested to you, it would be easy to see how much was spent and how much done. Under the present system this is impossible.
Dr. Manson, C.M.G., F.R.S., &c.
I am, &c.,
C. W. DANIELS.
}
DR. MANSON to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received October 17, 1901.)
21, Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square, W.,
MY DEAR ANTROBUS,
October 15, 1901. I HAD a long conversation with Daniels about his trip to West Africa in August and September. He told me many things of interest to the Colonial Office. Thinking you might like to hear the position of sanitary matters from an unprejudiced and very able and experienced source, I got Daniels to put his views on paper. Here they are. That about the railway at Sekondi is important. A very little trouble now would obviate a long expenditure in the near future.
Yours, &c.,
Enclosure in No. 60.
PATRICK MANSON.
35564
No. 61.
COLONIAL OFFICE to THE LIVERPOOL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE.
SIR,
Downing Street, October 31, 1901. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th inst.,* and to convey his thanks to you for the copy of the letter from Dr. Daniels which accompanied it, containing a report on the progress of the anti- mosquito campaign in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
41
I am, &c.,
R. L. ANTROBUS.
Seamen's Hospital Society, London School of Tropical Medicine,
DEAR DR. MANSON,
Royal Albert Dock, E., October 11, 1901.
In accordance with your request, beg to call your attention to the more important points noted during my recent visit to West Africa.
1. The peculiar position of a railway company. At Sekondi they still com- pletely ignore the importance of not making breeding grounds for mosquitoes. I understand that till railway construction is complete and railways are handed over to Government the railway works can not be controlled as regards the details of their work.
2. At Sekondi, a new station in process of formation, there is no Medical Officer of Health and no Government Medical Officer. The railway surgeons (temporary officers) are responsible to the Railway Company alone. Arrangements have been made so that they attend to sick Government officials, but they do not act as sanitary officers or report to the Government the sanitary conditions of the place.
My stay at Sekondi was only for a few hours, but almost all the places in which mosquitoes were breeding were artificial, made under European supervision, and might have been avoided.“
3. All Government Medical Officers are now trained at a School of Tropical Medicine. No such training is required for Railway Medical Officers.
Sierra Leone is, apart from mosquito breeding places, in a most insanitary condition.
In one way it is unsuitable for Major Ross's experiment, as it will be exception- ally costly, and the expense there incurred may deter others from attempting to deal locally with the matter.
35615
No. 62.
COLONIAL OFFICE to THE LIVERPOOL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE.
[Copy to Governors, Gold Coast, No. 619, and Gambia, No. 171, November 1, 1901. L.F.] SIR,
Downing Street, November 1, 1901. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th of October,† and to inform you that he has received it with much satisfaction, and cordially recognizes the efforts which are being made by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to bring about improvement in the sanitary condition the West African Colonies.
2. Mr. Chamberlain wishes every success to the scientific expeditions to which you refer in your letter, and fully appreciates the public spirit`shown by those who have so generously contributed towards their cost.
I am, &c.,
• No. 57.
† No. 58.
R. L. ANTROBUS.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TLUC.O.885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
بجنز
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