74 
HANITAKY NOTES. KHAETOUM 
Advantages 
of new system 
Disadvantages 
of new system 
things in the wrong way, or in the very easiest way for himself, can have any idea of the trials 
and vexations Mr. Newlove had to endure tor several weeks. On the whole, however, the 
cleaners and drivers adapted themselves remarkably quickly to the new conditions. Kfficient 
inspection means everything in such a system of sewage collection, and we may here briefly 
consider its advantages and drawbacks. 
1. AdvantMjes. — {a) There is no fouling of the soil round houses and public latrines, or 
at least this is reduced to a minimum. Latrines in the lowest class houses are often very 
filthy, and the buckets stand in a foul bed, part of which is withdrawn with the bucket. Here 
we do get some fouling, but it is not the fault of the system, and means exist for dealing with 
this type of nuisance. 
(b) There is no fouling of the soil during transit. 
(c) The fly nuisance and danger is greatly lessened, and when, as is now the case, the 
carts and their loads are sprayed with weak formalin solution, will probaldy be wholly abolished. 
{(I) The stench nuisance is very nearly absent, at any rate it is much less than in the days 
of Crowley carts. 
(c) The buckets are properly cleaned, and are returned in a state which possesses no 
attraction for flies. 
(/') It is possible in the case of houses where eases of enteric fever or dysentery exist, to 
supply special red buckets, the contents of which can be incinerated. 
{(j) The cleaners prefer the new method. 
Disadvantages. — (1) Expense, but this is covered to some extent by the prices olitained 
from the sale of buckets, while the accompanying careful inspection results in the conservancy 
rates being properly collected. As a matter of fact, the conservancy receipts in the last few 
years have risen from about £E4:00 to well over iiE2000 and this is only very partially due to 
increase in population. The initial expenditure is comparatively small, but the upkeep is 
somewhat heavy. It is well to remember, moreover, that so long as there is no waste, money 
expended on proper sanitation is money well spent, and though I have placed this item first in 
the list of disadvantages, from the point of view of the IMedical Officer of Health I would be 
justified in putting it last. 
I append a table of the total expenditure incurred, as regards the sanitation of the two 
separate towns of Khartoum and Khartoum North, during the last six years, and compare it 
with a table of receipts, the latter being almost wholly derived from the conservancy system. 
The excess of expenditure over receipts is stated in a third table : - 
Year 
Total Expenses 
Total Receipts 
Excess of Ex 
i'E 
i"E 
£E 
1903 
1,685 
848 
837 
1904 
2.070 
721 
1,349 
190.5 
3,607 
963 
2,644 
1906 
10,797 
1,575 
9,222 
1907 
6,854 
2,732 
4,122 
1908 
7,655 
3,000 
4,6.55 
Total ... 
.i;E32,66S 
. i?B9,839 
.. £E22,829 
New conservancy 
system inaugurated 
To the uninitiated these figures may, and do, appear alarming, but when one considers 
that they represent the expenditure necessary for the abolition of a faulty system and the 
establishment of an entirely new system of conservancy in two tropical towns, and further 
represent the total expenditure for six years on all matters concerned with the public health, 
