131 



('%. 13). In the case of abandoned real estate enterprises, where 

 cellars have been dug and no further work done, such as now 

 shown on the screen, much trouble is experienced. Waste ma- 

 terial of all kinds is thrown in, and the water becomes polluted. 

 The owner or owners are usually too poor to go ahead with the 

 work or the matter is in court, so it is obviously impossible to get 

 them to fill it in. In such cases negotiations may be made with a 

 nearby building contractor to dump his dirt here "when digging 

 the new cellar ; or a nearby street may be in the course of paving 

 when some of the dirt may be used to advantage in filling. 



Worst of all is the cellar full of water under a tenanted house 

 which is caused by leaky pipes. These are usually found through 

 accident, and many a brood has emerged from these unknown 

 places. 



In all cities where no city water has as yet been put in or no 

 sewer has been laid you will always find the cistern and cesspool, 

 two of the worst sort of breeders. On the former, when the 

 water is used for washing, we put gasoline. We oil all cesspools. 



There seems to be a very high value put upon cistern water, 

 and I have heard some humorous arguments, 'such as ''cistern 

 water is so good for the complexion," and how much whiter 

 clothes were when washed in rain water. I well remember an 

 inspection of a cistern belonging to a colored family who claimed 

 there was no use in trying to exterminate mosquitoes, because 

 God put them here, and a moment later asked me if I knew of 

 a method of getting rid of bedbugs. 



. -Cisterns are easily filled with ashes from the stoves of the 

 tenants in the winter time. Getting your inspector actually to 

 dump the first scuttle full of ashes goes a long way in the argu- 

 ment. 



Worse than the cellar mentioned above for inaccessibility is 

 the roof gutter. One day during the season of 19 16 an insur- 

 ance company called us on the 'phone complaining about the 

 prevalance of mosquitoes in their office. After a thorough ex- 

 amination we found the gutter you see before you (fig. 14). 



We can learn O'f such places only through the tenants of the 

 building or from' an inspector who happens to be in a position 



