76 THE START 



At Port Said, when plague broke out in 1900, 

 some small " incidents " occurred when the Sanitary 

 Department began soaking the houses of the native 

 quarter in a solution of perchloride of mercury. I 

 think the natives were to be sympathised with, for 

 these measures did no good, cost a great deal, and 

 entailed much discomfort. The natives also objected 

 to the plague subjects being forcibly segregated in 

 whole families. They became troublesome, and the 

 police were obliged to interfere to protect the doctors. 

 Thus people were frightened at the name of sanitation. 

 Consequently, when the anti-mosquito campaign was 

 suggested, they feared a repetition of the trouble, 

 and an outcry arose. It was easily overcome, how- 

 ever, by confining the work of the first brigade to the 

 houses of the better-educated European residents. 

 The mosquitos disappeared from these houses, not- 

 withstanding the close proximity of the native 

 quarter, which is only separated from the European 

 part of the town by the width of one street, and then 

 the natives themselves began to complain : " Why 

 are we left out ? Is this the British occupation of 

 Egypt ? " Six years before they had thrown boiling 

 oil over the doctors' heads. 



The answer was simple. Another brigade was at 

 once organised and the native quarter was cleared of 

 its mosquitos too, the natives themselves assisting in 

 the work. Now Port Said is wholly under anti- 

 mosquito rule native and European quarters alike. 



The work will soon begin to be talked about ; this 

 should be encouraged. Let everybody know of it, so 



