Appendix A. 65 



tributaries, which run through various portions of the same. This 

 saturation is maintained by the ordinary tides, but is markedly in- 

 creased at the high tides. These conditions cause the property men- 

 tioned to become a great public nuisance in that it is so saturated as to 

 become a breeding place for mosquitoes, which breed here in vast num- 

 bers, and the soil emits very foul and ofifensive odors. 



This condition endangers the lives of the occupants of the adjoining 

 property, and also the large number of persons visiting the seashore 

 during the summer season, which sometimes amounts to from fifty 

 to one hundred thousand people a day, who suffer from the ravages 

 of the mosquitoes bred on these premises. 



This nuisance can be abated by preventing the water from entering 

 same through the Coney Island Creek on the westerly side by making 

 the Old Shell Road a solid roadway, in lieu of the two or three small 

 bridges over the small streams, and raising the height of the roadway 

 from one to two feet. This would act as a dike, and cut off the tide 

 water entirely from the westerly side. 



On the easterly side the trestle portion of the Manhattan Beach 

 Branch of the Long Island Railroad Company should be made solid as 

 far as Emmons Avenue, and a tide gate should be constructed across 

 that portion of the Coney Island Creek between Emmons Avenue and 

 the Boulevard. This tide-gate would prevent the inflow of water, and 

 permit the draining of the land through the natural drains, in the 

 bed of the creek, although some ditches would have to be made lead- 

 ing into this creek; the greater portion of the drainage would pass 

 through what is now the natural waterways. Sanitary engineer Henry 

 Clay Weeks informs me that the Long Island Railroad Company has 

 expressed itself as being willing to cooperate with and bear (a portion 

 of) the expense in filling in the roadway and in the construction of the 

 tide-gate. 



The condition above mentioned, in my opinion, endangers the lives 

 and health of the communit}-, and the protection of the public health 

 requires the drainage of the lands herein described. 



I therefore recommend that in conformity with section 1215 of 

 Chapter 466 of the Laws of 1901 that the Board of Health issue an 

 order requiring the President of the Borough of Brooklyn, City of 

 New York, to construct drains on the said lands. Respectfully sub- 

 mitted. 



Chas. F. Roberts, ]M. D., 

 Sanitary Superintendent. 



Other Work Illustrated. 



While the actual physical work during the season of 1903 in the 

 southern part of the Borough of Brooklyn was not done at the expense 

 of the Department of Health, being paid for out of a fund raised under 

 an inspiring initial contribution of Mr. Wm. C. Whitney, the work 

 was under consultation with the Board and with its full endorsement 

 and active cooperation in connection with other branches of the city, 

 State and general government. Two editions of a report of this work 



