INITIATING THE CAMPAIGN 



11 



be glad to co-operate in a large measure to make the campaign 

 a success. 



In connection with this feature of the work, Derivaux 1 says: 



"Public works, and more especially railroad construction operations, 

 have long been notorious for their incidental contributions to malaria 

 hazards by creating conditions favoring the development of Anopheles 

 mosquitoes. Among these conditions may be mentioned: Badly 

 located and undrained borrow-pits, at times uninterruptedly traversing 

 thickly settled communities; improperly cut right-of-way ditches 



Fig. 51. 



(Photo by E. H. Mayooii, C. E.) 

 -Leaky railway water tower. Mosquitoes bred here in abundance 

 before control work started. 



that have not been provided with outlets; improperly placed culverts 

 and crossings, installed possibly with a view to saving a few feet of pipe 

 or yards of masonry, but preventing the off-flow of normal and storm 

 waters and at times interfering with an entire system of natural surface 

 drainage; inadequate pro vision for drainage behind or through embank- 

 ments and fills across valleys, resulting in the impounding of water or 

 interference with the normal off-flow of a natural watershed; installation 

 of leaky water-towers or failure of provision to carry off their over-flow." 



It appears well to summarize in some detail the steps which 

 railroads can take in dealing with the mosquito-borne diseases. 

 Derivaux 2 suggests the following: 



(a) "Old Construction Conditions. — Correction or alleviation of 

 Anopheles-breeding and malaria-producing conditions created in 



1 "The Relation of the Railroads in the South to the Problem of Malaria 

 and Its Control," U. S. Public Health Service, 1918. 



2 "The Relation of the Railroads in the South to the Problem of Malaria 

 and Its Control," U. S. Public Health Service, 1918. 



