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SOME TURKISH LAZARETS

AND OTHER SANITARY INSTITUTIONS IN THENEAR EAST.

BY THE BRITISH DELEGATE ON THE CONSTANTINOPLEBOARD OF HEALTH.

(With Reproductions of Photographs taken by the Author.)

IX.1

THE WATER-SUPPLY OF JEDDAH (continued).Well laters; Wells in the Town and in the lJesert.-T1tbe

TVells.--41ode of Distribution of the Water.-GeneralInadequacy of the Supply both in Quantity and Qucclty;Threatened 11’ater F’anaine.-Decision to put up Condensers.Well wys.—There are a considerable number of wells

in Jeddah, in the courtyards of the houses or "hoches."They are mostly " shallow wellp, and are often situateddangerously close to cesspools in the same yard. There area few public wells in the streets ; they are rarely properlyprotected from surface impurities. Near the Mecca Gate,however, there is a row of five large, deep wells with goodparapets round and the masonry lining in fairly good con-dition. They may be seen in Fig. 31. Well water in

FiG. 31.

Wells near the Mecca Gate.

Jeddah is always brackish ; it is said to be employed solelyfor washing or other external purposes. Anyone can comeand take the water, but it appears to be distributed mostlyby the " saggas," or men who carry the water in skins orpetroleum tins and sell it at about a penny the large skin,or a halfpenny the petroleum tin.

Outside the walls of Jeddah an infinite number of wellshave been dug in the desert. If one goes along the Meccaroad for a few hundred yards it can be seen that on eitherside of the road the desert is literally honeycombed with oldwells. The curious aspect this produces is seen in Fig. 32.The depth of these wells varies greatly ; some were only tenor 12, others 30 or 40, feet deep. When such a well is dugin the desert the water produced is at first drinkable thoughrather brackish ; at the end of ten or 15 days it becomes stillsalter and a little later it is absolutely undrinkable. Thewell is then abandoned and a new one dug. In this way thesinking of wells is a process that never ceases. There aresaid to be four districts where the wells are most abundant ;they are called Kharij-el-Hanesh, Sururia, Gholel (all threeto the south of the town), and Nisyan (to the north). Thewater obtained from these wells seems to putrefy with ex-ceptional rapidity; it is said to be impossible to keep it in ahouse longer than 24 hours. Some of the wells near Jeddahthat I looked into contained only a small quantity of stag-nant water at the bottom covered with a green scum.

1 Nos. I., II., III., IV., V., VI., VII., and VIII. were published in THE LANCET of April 27th (p. 1188). May 4th (p. 1251), 11th (p. 1317),and 18th (p. 1389), and June 1st (p. 1518), 8th (p. 1607), 22nd (p. 1741),and 29th (p. 1810), 1907, respectively.

In 1900 two specialists, one of whom was said to have donesuccessful work at Hodeidah, arrived at Jeddah with theobject of making some experimental borings for tube-wells.The first borings were made near the sea, close to the build-ing occupied by the municipality. At a depth of 80 feetthey met with salt water. A second attempt, in the northernpart of the town, led to no result, as a rocky stratum wasmet with which their instruments were unable to pierce.Then four wells were bored near the Municipal Hospital.At first each of these borings yielded three tons ofwater daily; the water is said to have been a littlebrackish but drinkable. But the yield graduallydiminished and the quality of the water deteriorated,

FIG. 32.

Wells in the desert near Jeddah : the road to Mecca on theright between sandhills.

The tubes became more or less blocked with anc7, thepumps were too weak, and all were abandoned save one.The tube of this well has a diameter of about one and a halfinches. The pump, over which a small shed has been built,is at the free disposal of the public. The depth of the well isonly some 12 metres (40 feet), as instruments for a deeperboring were not at hand. The water yielded is slightlybrackish. Another well of the same kind was bored in thegarden of the Kaimakam (Governor) of Jeddah and stillremains ; it is only used for watering the garden.

It will be seen from the foregoing that both as regardssource and quantity the water-supply of Jeddah is in a very

I Fl&. 33.

Water-barrel drawn by camel.

unsatisfactory state. The method of distribution of the wateris not less unsatisfactory. The water is distributed eitherin goat- or sheep-skins or in empty petroleum tins ; theseare carried by camels or donkeys, or (less often) by mencalled " saggas." The skins retain the complete form of theanimal during life, except for the absence of the head ; they

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have generally been long in use and they give to the water asmell and a taste that are simply disgusting to those un-accustomed to them. Recently, however, the Jeddahmunicipality has acquired a certain number of barrelsmounted on wheels and drawn by camels. One of these isseen in Fig. 33. They are a vast improvement on the oldskins and petroleum tins. Similar barrels are in use at Adenfor the distribution of distilled water.

In endeavouring to find a permanent remedy for the

present unsatisfactory state of the water question in Jeddahit was necessary to bear in mind the following considera-tions. Springs, cisterns, and wells could not be regarded asoffering a sure and permanent solution of the difficulty. As

regards spring water, it might perhaps be possible to repairthe conduits and to clean the reservoirs; but the sourcesthemselves are dependent on that most uncertain factor-therainfall. Moreover, the conduits, if repaired, would soonbe damaged again by the Bedouins or others unless (animpossible alternative) they were guarded day and night bytroops for the whole of their length. The tanks or cisternsare also entirely dependent on the rainfall ; they collectsurface waters which necessarily contain many impurities.Some of the grosser impurities, it is true, are deposited in thesmall outer reservoirs, or at the bottom of the tanks them-selves ; but after long drought, when the water is gettinglow in the tanks, it becomes quite undrinkable, and even atthe best it could scarcely be regarded as a safe waterwithout being boiled, or at least uttered.The well-water is equally objectionable. Whether artesian

wells would give good results at Jeddah is a question thatcan scarcely be regarded as settled. The tube-wells hithertosunk never went lower than about 80 feet ; the one remain-ing in use is only 40 feet deep and therefore is still probablyonly yielding surface waters. Possibly true artesian wells,going, as many of them do, to depths of 500 or 600 yards ormore, would give satisfactory results, but the cost of gettingthe expert labour required and the uncertainty of the resultwere factors to be considered.

Finally, the best solution of the difficulty appeared to bethe provision of distilled water, prepared in large condensers,and my recommendation to this effect has been adopted.The putting up of condensers of necessity involves a con-siderable initial outlay, but fortunately a way of over-

coming this difficulty was at hand. During the past year apublic subscription was raised, under the auspices of theSultan, for the repair of the conduits bringing water toMecca. Such repair was, I believe, very necessary, but

according to local information the situation at Jeddah was afar more urgent one than at Mecca. At the latter the quan-tity of water had somewhat diminished, while its quality wassaid to be excellent. But at Jeddah there was neither

quantity nor quality; the town was threatened with anactual water famine and was reduced to drinking water ofthe most unpleasant and dangerous character. So bad,indeed, had it become that the few foreign residents werereduced to the highly precarious resource of obtaining theirwater from ships calling at the port. The further recom-mendation to extend the object of the public subscription soas to include the water-supply of Jeddah with that of Meccahas been acted on, and it is hoped that the sum realised willsuffice to cover both.Though costly in the first instance, the putting up of

condensers should in the long run prove a very remunerativemeasure. A large condenser costs some .64000. That atCamaran (mentioned in an earlier article) cost 98,582 francs,including mounting and accessories ; two of the Adendistillers cost just under Z4000 each. Each of the latter

produces about 55 tons of water daily, the former about 60.The Camaran machine burns about 45 kilogrammes of Cardiffcoal per ton of water produced ; those at Aden about 42 kilo-grammes. The staff required need consist only of one Europeanengineer at about 0830 a month, and a certain number ofnative stokers and labourers. At Aden the pay of the stafffor running two machines is about £ 65 a month. If twomachines were put up at Jeddah it is probable that theywould not work night and day ; their total output would,perhaps, be about 80 tons a day, of which (say) 20 tonswould be given to officials and 60 tons sold. The total

expense, including the cost of coal, pay of staff, repairs,&c., should not exceed some 08250 (P.30,000) a month. Ifthe water were sold at the exceedingly low figure of 5s.(P.30) a ton it would suffice to sell 1000 tons a month, or 33tons a day, to cover the cost. The sale of 60 tons a daywould produce a clear profit of 27 tons, or, at 5s, the ton,

.66 15s. a day. The total annual profit would be nearly92500 a year. In practice, however, it is to be feared thatthis rosy prospect will not be fully realised, from thebeginning at any rate. Vested interests are extremelystrong ; the owners of tanks will do all they can to preventthe sale of distilled water, if they do not actually attackthe machines. The people themselves, strongly conservativeby nature, will take time to get accustomed to distilledwater in place of the other waters they have been used todrinking. In time, however, there should be no question ofthe distiller or distillers, under proper management, yieldinga handsome annual profit. This aspect of the question is,however, in truth, one of secondary importance in comparisonwith the real necessity, on sanitary and humanitariangrounds, of providing Jeddah with a certain, abundant, andsafe water-supply.

( To be continued.)

MANCHESTER.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Degree Day at the University.SATURDAY last, June 29th, which marked the end of the

academic year, was also marked by the conferring of degreesat the University of Manchester. It was a remarkable fact,for this summer and for Manchester, that the day was fine,and as it was very much a.ladies’ day the scene in WhitworthHall was a brilliant one. There was among the recipientsof degrees a large proportion of lady Masters of Artsand Bachelors of Arts. Of 44 Bachelors of Arts takingthe ordinary degree 30 were women and of the ordinaryBachelors of Science one-third were women. Illness,unhappily, did not allow of the presence of the Chancellor,the Duke of Devonshire. The degrees of Doctor of Laws andDoctor of Science respectively were conferred on BaronKikuchi, late Minister of Education in Japan, and Dr. Hales,the eminent American astronomer and professor of astro-

physics in the University of Chicago. The other degreeswere then conferred. It is somewhat interesting to note thatthe D.Sc. and M.D. degrees, four and five in number

respectively, were bestowed on men only, while the otherdegrees were bestowed on both men and women. In

zoology the one candidate was a lady and in botanythe five candidates were ladies. In the annual state-ment circulated by Dr. Hopkinson, the Vice-Chancellor,the number of students in the various faculties of theUniversity was stated as follows: All faculties exceptmedicine and technology (including 262 women students),906 ; faculty of medicine (including 14 women students),325 ; and faculty of technology (including three womenstudents), 167 ; 50 students entered both for scienceand medicine. In addition to these there were 226persons attending evening classes, 115 attending lectureson railway economics, and about 200 attending courses

of lectures on law and economics at the Bankers’ Insti-tute. This very insufficient statement is enough to showthe activity prevailing in the University and the influencewhich it is destined to exercise over the wide area fromwhich its alumni are drawn.

Unsound Meat.As long as there are rogues it may be taken for granted

that attempts will be made to sell bad meat for good andto induce people to eat all kinds of abominable and unwhole-some stuff. It is well, therefore, that the markets committeeof the Manchester corporation affords some protection to thepublic against the slink butchers and others of like mind.The need for this protection is shown by the following facts.During the four weeks ending on May 25th last, 17,820pounds of meat were condemned in the abattoir and carcassmarket, 399 pounds in private slaughter-houses, 32 poundsin the Rusholme abattoir, 20 pounds in the triperies, and14,153 pounds in the fish markets. Rabbits, black game,ducks, hares, and vegetables were also condemned in somefew cases. During the month the inspectors made 1212visits to the meat, fish, fruit, and provision shops in the

poorer parts of the city.rotten 6’?’<ttM and the CAickens.

The law, it appears, allows of spoiled or rotten grainbeing used for feeding our domestic fowls, if not for ourown feeding. The Manchester port sanitary authority hasfrom tims to time condemned a small percentage of the