144 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



suppose that when it is in working order it will not prove a decided advantage over that 

 of the past. With water carried in wagons, sledges, or on the back for half a mile it is 

 no wonder that its use is limited and that filthiness is thereby encouraged. Too much 

 emphasis can not be laid on the importance of establishing in each village a good supply 

 of easily available water. 



If the water supply of the villages is meager, the means for disposal of waste is abso- 

 lutely inadequate. Most native houses are provided with a privy, consisting of a pit in 

 the ground covered with a small wooden structure. Many of the privies are filled 

 and receive no further attention. Much of the waste, including that from cooking, is 

 thrown on the ground just outside the houses. The result is that the whole settlement 

 is permeated with filth. If underground drainage can not be provided, it seems that 

 some form of waste collection and disposal ought to be instituted. Privies might be 

 arranged with collecting pans and these, together with receptacles for household waste, 

 ought to be emptied and the contents disposed of once or twice a week as a part of the 

 community work. 



As matters are at present the natives find it easy to remain in a condition of much 

 filthiness, but with a reasonably available water supply and a simple but adequate 

 system for the disposal of waste in each village this condition might well be improved. 

 The natives are resistant to all such changes and seem to harbor a deep-seated antipathy, 

 if not a religious one, against having anything to do with community refuse. It is there- 

 fore doubtful if they could be induced easily to take these steps in reform. Such measures 

 would have to be enforced, and it would seem impossible to accomplish this without semi- 

 military methods. If the Government provides village water and institutes a system 

 of waste disposal, it might well declare the law of the land to be "Clean up and keep 

 clean or you will be sent away." 



The results of the filthiness of both villages are seen in the reports of their respective 

 physicians. At St. Paul about half the native population showed evidence of tubercular 

 trouble, and intestinal disorders were very prevalent. St. George, though not reported 

 in so detailed a manner, seemed to be in much the same condition as St. Paul. In both 

 places the work of the physician was greatly handicapped, if not made entirely ineffective, 

 by the fact that the patient was obliged to stay in a filthy house where little or no atten- 

 tion was given to physicians' directions; a bath, for instance, ordered by the doctor was 

 seldom if ever taken, for the reason that these people rarely bathe and see no relation 

 between health and personal cleanliness. In cases of desperate sickness the priest is 

 usually summoned, and if he declares that death is at hand the doctor's advice is entirely 

 ignored. The invalid is kissed by most of the community and, if death follows, the same 

 kissing is resorted to with the corpse. All these practices have religious significance to 

 the natives, but they are unhygienic and render futile the best efforts of a physician 

 bent on preventive measures. Improvement in these matters could be made by main- 

 taining in each village a small hospital and inculcating through it some idea of clean 

 living. A start in this direction has been made on St. Paul, where during the past 

 season a small hospital building has been fitted up. The need for a hospital on St. Paul 

 was so great that, although no appropriation was available, a fairly serviceable old 

 building was moved and remodeled in 1914 and furnished as well as could be done by 

 utilizing scattered material collected from various sources on the island. The physician 

 in charge, to effect much, should have a semimilitary control over the community. 



